sive training center, Camp Bainbridge, and at Patuxent set
up the United States Naval Air Station.

The first airway access (1919) to Baltimore was at Logan
Field; the first passengers by air came twelve years later.
By 1941 a Municipal Airport was in full operation. Such
attempts were dwarfed by an ambitious plan for a large
airport, work on which commenced May 1, 1947. On
June 24, 1950, the Friendship International Airport opened,
a 3,200-acre field providing for air travel to all parts of
the globe. At a cost of $15,000,000, Baltimore had one of
the largest airports in the United States.

A great road and bridge building program began with
the end of World War II. Agreements reached in 1947 to
survey ground and water for a bridge over the Chesapeake
made probable an ambitious scheme, talked of for over forty
years. On November 3, 1949, the first actual work on such
a bridge began, culminating in its opening July 30, 1952.
It is a four-mile structure (over seven, if approach roads
are considered) with suspension spans allowing clearance
for craft to a height of 187 feet. Nearly two thousand vehi-
cles an hour can cover the six-minute trip. A year after
opening, over $3,500,000 had been paid in tolls; the cost, cov-
ered by a bond issue, was $45,000,000. By December, 1952,
the Washington-Annapolis Freeway opened between An-
napolis and Route 301; a new bridge across the Severn
opened in June, 1953 to fill the last gap in a direct link be-
tween the Chesapeake Bay Bridge and the Freeway. The
Baltimore-Washington Expressway opened in its entirety
early in 1954. Eventually, dual highways will run between
the Delaware State line and the District of Columbia and
Virginia. Another fine road, connecting the District and
Frederick, will replace Route 240. To further facilitate
traffic through Baltimore, an under-harbor tunnel from
Fairfield to Canton, costing $130,000,000 (including ap-
proach roads), was completed in November, 1957.

Various State institutions, particularly those for medical
and mental care, have undergone great improvements.
Three chronic disease hospitals have been opened, one in
Wicomico County, one in Baltimore City, and one in Wash-
ington County. The third, which opened in 1957, provides
facilities for the care of tubercular patients as well as for
the chronically ill. A 300-bed hospital for tubercular pa-
tients has also been provided at Mt. Wilson. A twenty-six-
bed maternity ward has opened at Miners Hospital. The
University of Maryland has opened a 100-bed psychiatric
institute in Baltimore. Patuxent Institution, for the cus-