Charm City Books

Charm City Books is an independent, family owned bookstore and community gathering space located in historic Pigtown. We offer new books and locally made crafts as well as classes, workshops, and a wide range of events for the community and by the community. Charm City Books is a space for everyone, a place where neighbors can connect and learn about one another through literacy and the arts.

Charm City Books is proud to be located in Pigtown, a small friendly neighborhood with one of the most culturally and economically diverse communities in Baltimore. Pigtown is located in the southwest corner of downtown, just a home run away from Camden Yards, M&T Bank Stadium, the B&O Railroad Museum, and the Inner Harbor.

Pigtown has a historic and vibrant fabric dating back to the 1840s, where it was first settled by railroad workers building the B&O line. Its name and mascot originate from that same century when cargo railcars from the Midwest would arrive in the neighborhood and open their doors to let carloads of pigs out. The hogs were then herded through Ostend and Cross Streets to South Baltimore, making this community famously known for its spectacle of pigs trotting through the neighborhood. Today, the pig is a proud symbol of the rich, deep roots, and unique personality of the community.

Our Main Street here in Pigtown (Washington Blvd) is an original member of Baltimore Main Streets (a program of the Mayor’s Office of Small, Minority and Women-Owned Businesses) and is an accredited Main Street America member organization.