Forklifts in Sparrows Point, MD

Sparrows Point is now Tradepoint Atlantic, a 3,300-acre port and logistics site on the grounds of the old steel mill. Steel making started here in 1889. By the mid-1950s it was the largest steel mill in the world, about 4 miles end to end. The mill closed in 2012, and new owners bought the land in 2014. Today the site is planned for about 15 million square feet of industrial space, much of it already built. It also has deepwater berths and about 100 miles of track run by Tradepoint Rail, which links to CSX and Norfolk Southern. Few people live on the point itself. The Census counts it inside the Edgemere area, which had 9,069 residents in 2020. Trucks reach the site on North Point Boulevard (MD 151), MD 158 and the Beltway (I-695).

From the last steel-era port buildings to the new warehouses rising across Tradepoint Atlantic, fleets follow the building stock. One side is older port and pier buildings left from the steel-mill era. The other side is large new distribution and fulfillment buildings with rows of dock doors. Which one you occupy decides mast height, tire type and battery chemistry.