BALTIMORE (AP) 鈥� Generations of Maryland workers 鈥� longshoremen, seafarers, steelworkers and crabbers whose livelihoods depend on Baltimore鈥檚 port 鈥� watched in disbelief last week as an iconic symbol of their maritime culture crumbled into the Patapsco River.
The of the historic Francis Scott Key Bridge has shaken Baltimore to its core.
鈥淲hat happened was kind of a travesty,鈥� said Joe Wade, a retired port worker who remembers fishing near the bridge as a child. 鈥淚鈥檓 not a crier, but 鈥� I got emotional.鈥�
Baltimore was a port long before it was incorporated as a city 鈥� and long before the United States declared its independence from Britain. Many of the city鈥檚 brick row houses were built to house fishermen, dockworkers and sailors. They earned a reputation for being pioneering and tough, unafraid of rough seas and long days.
It鈥檚 a cultural identity that persists among modern-day watermen like Ryan 鈥淪keet鈥� Williams, who makes a living harvesting crabs from the Chesapeake Bay.
鈥淲e鈥檙e rugged and salty,鈥� he said. 鈥淵ou build your own life.鈥�
Williams relied on the to connect his small maritime community outside Baltimore with Maryland鈥檚 Eastern Shore, the lifeblood of the state鈥檚 robust seafood industry. Many of his friends and relatives used the bridge for their daily commutes.
Scott Cowan, president of the International Longshoremen鈥檚 Association Local 333, said the union represents about 2,400 people whose jobs now hang in the balance. Shipping traffic through the Port of Baltimore can鈥檛 resume until the has been cleared.
鈥淭hey always say it鈥檚 the port that built the city,鈥� said Cowan, who followed in his father鈥檚 footsteps when he became a longshoreman decades ago.
The disaster early Tuesday marks the latest blow to a city whose storied history often gets lost in conversations about its more recent struggles: poverty, and .
Six members of a roadwork crew plunged to their deaths after a 985-foot (300-meter) lost power and crashed into the bridge, eliminating a key piece of Baltimore鈥檚 skyline and halting maritime traffic to one of the east coast鈥檚 busiest ports.
In the aftermath, some whether the span鈥檚 supporting columns should have been better protected against the gigantic container ships that would routinely pass by them. But Baltimore is an old city with aging infrastructure that often receives little attention from national politicians.
Officials have promised to , but that could take years.
鈥淭his is no ordinary bridge. This is one of the cathedrals of American infrastructure,鈥� U.S. Transportation Secretary Pete Buttigieg said during a news conference in Baltimore earlier this week. 鈥淪o the path to normalcy will not be easy. It will not be quick. It will not be inexpensive.鈥�
A storied history: Francis Scott Key, and generations of dockworkers
Baltimore became a global leader in shipbuilding early on in its history. It later became a major transportation hub with the addition of a railroad line connecting the east coast to the Midwest and beyond.
During the War of 1812, British forces attacked Baltimore in hopes of weakening its industrial and maritime prowess. But American troops successfully defended south Baltimore鈥檚 Fort McHenry, and the invasion inspired to write the national anthem after he witnessed an American flag flying defiantly overhead following a night of heavy bombing.
More than 150 years later, construction began on a bridge that would be named in his honor.
The Key Bridge opened in 1977, spanning 1.6 miles (2.6 kilometers) at the entrance of Baltimore鈥檚 harbor and allowing residents to traverse the waterway without driving through the city. It provided a direct connection between two working-class, water-oriented communities that formed during World War II 鈥� when nearby steel mills produced hundreds of massive warships to aid in the defense effort.
Baltimore鈥檚 history is rife with iconic characters, from debaucherous pirates and corrupt politicians to the treasured poet Edgar Allan Poe and jazz legend Billie Holiday. Through it all, the port was a relative constant.
It has allowed countless people to earn a decent living by showing up and putting in the hours, including immigrants and other disenfranchised groups. And it has remained an economic engine, adapting and evolving even as other local businesses have shuttered amid declines in industrial production.
It currently processes more cars and farm equipment than any other port in the country. Last year alone, it handled $80 billion of foreign cargo, Maryland Gov. Wes Moore said at a news conference earlier this week.
鈥淭he collapse of the Key Bridge is not just a Maryland crisis. The collapse of the Key Bridge is a global crisis,鈥� he said. 鈥淭he national economy and the world鈥檚 economy depends on the Port of Baltimore.鈥�
The loss of life falls on one of Baltimore’s hardworking communities
The men who died in the collapse were filling potholes during an overnight shift. While police quickly stopped traffic after the ship sent a mayday signal, they didn鈥檛 have time to alert the construction crew 鈥� a group of Latino immigrants in active pursuit of the American dream.
Two survivors were rescued almost immediately and divers recovered two bodies the following day. The remaining four victims are still missing and presumed dead.
Advocates say their deaths take on larger significance in the context of the myriad challenges facing immigrants in the U.S. The men were performing a physically grueling job for relatively low wages. They were laboring during nighttime hours to avoid inconveniencing Maryland commuters.
It comes as little surprise that these already disenfranchised workers are the ones who ended up paying the ultimate price, said Krish O鈥橫ara Vignarajah, president of the Baltimore-based immigration services nonprofit Global Refuge. Immigrants will almost inevitably be involved in rebuilding the bridge as well, she added.
The workers came to Maryland from Mexico, Guatemala, El Salvador and Honduras, seeking higher wages and better opportunities for themselves and their families.
By settling in the Baltimore area, they added to a long history of immigration that has played a key role in shaping the city鈥檚 culture and commerce. That history is inextricably linked to the port.
Between the Civil War and World War I, Baltimore became one of the country鈥檚 largest points of entry for European immigrants. In 1868, an immigration pier opened in south Baltimore not far from the historic battlefield that birthed The Star-Spangled Banner.
Many immigrants passed through the city on their way to the Midwest, but others stayed and put down roots. Those without specialized skills or advanced education worked on the docks and in the railroad yards, often alongside African Americans who came north to escape slavery. Their contributions are memorialized in the Baltimore Immigration Museum, which occupies a historic building constructed in 1904 to house European immigrants.
鈥淏altimore became a real melting pot of cultures,鈥� said local historian Johns Hopkins, who directs the nonprofit Baltimore Heritage.
In more recent decades, Latino immigrants have settled in and around Baltimore, though other cities have received larger influxes, likely because they鈥檙e experiencing more job growth.
CASA, an immigrant advocacy group based in Maryland, has been in contact with two of the families whose loved ones are among those still missing. Both men 鈥� Maynor Suazo Sandoval and Miguel Luna 鈥� were husbands and fathers who left their home countries over 15 years ago.
鈥淭hese construction workers are absolutely essential,鈥� said Gustavo Torres, the organization鈥檚 executive director. 鈥淚n a time when there is so much hatred against the immigrant community, we look to the quiet leadership of Maynor and Miguel and appreciate how they uphold our society so that Americans can live comfortably.鈥�
A key thoroughfare
Many port workers and thousands of others used the Key Bridge on a daily basis.
Along with their neighbors, they awoke Tuesday morning to news of its demise and quickly logged onto social media, still in disbelief. They watched video footage showing every detail of the catastrophic collapse, replaying the horrific sequence until it finally seemed real.
Seeing a major piece of their city鈥檚 infrastructure crumble like a toy left some Baltimoreans with an uneasy sense of shock, jolted by the realization that anything can happen.
In the days that followed, many residents stopped at various vantage points near the collapse site to survey the wreckage and pay their respects. Some recalled watching the bridge take shape in the 1970s, arching majestically across the water.
鈥淚t was always there. It was a landmark,鈥� said Niki Putinski, who spent years living in a small residential neighborhood at the base of the bridge. 鈥淚 just didn鈥檛 think something could bring it down like that.鈥�
The whole city is grieving, said Baltimore Mayor Brandon Scott, whose father moved to Baltimore as a young man to work at the port. But there鈥檚 a reason Baltimoreans are known for their grit and perseverance, Scott said.
鈥淵ou can鈥檛 talk about Baltimore 鈥� past, present and future 鈥� without talking about the port,鈥� he said. 鈥淎nd this will be the latest example of Baltimore bouncing back. That鈥檚 really ingrained in us here. We don鈥檛 give up, we ignore the noise and we keep that gritty chip on our shoulder.鈥�
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Associated Press video journalist Nathan Ellgren contributed to this report from Baltimore.
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