The exhibition “The Neighborhood Corner Bar: A Baltimore Story, 1870-1920” will open at the Baltimore Museum of Industry on Thursday, Oct. 12. The BMI is located at 1415 Key Highway in Federal Hill.

From the 1870s to 1920, corner bars, taverns and saloons became fixtures in working-class neighborhoods throughout Baltimore. Made possible by the direct sponsorship of breweries, corner bars were social centers where patrons could grab a “free lunch” with the purchase of a five-cent drink, discuss politics and labor organizing, send and receive mail, cash paychecks, and even find jobs or financial assistance. As social institutions, these watering holes reflected the segregated and exclusionary practices of their era.

Like other galleries at the BMI, “The Neighborhood Corner Bar” exhibition is immersive. The exhibition features a long wooden bar with a brass rail and mirrored cabinet in the rear, both flanked by historic beer advertisements, sample menus and photographs, many of them donated by local family members of past bar owners during community collecting events held around the city. For information, visit thebmi.org/corner-bar/