Baltimore man starts nonprofit to engage people with city's history

BALTIMORE -- A Baltimore man is working to get more people engaged with the city's history, starting a nonprofit to make his mission possible.

You may remember Evan Woodard as the magnet fishing guy, but he's always had a love of history.

To share it with everyone in the Charm City, he started the Salvage Arc Foundation. He's found a future home for it at an office space on Aliceanna Street in Fells Point.

The space currently looks bare, but Woodard has plans. He's already envisioning an educational, community space with a cafe.

He also wants to fit in a museum, filled with artifacts that have been donated to him, as well as things he's found while magnet fishing and other projects he's done.

With the Salvage Arc Foundation, Woodard aims to make the city's history more accessible and present it all in a way that's relatable.

"A lot of times when you go to museums, you just see a date next to an item, but you're actually going to learn the story behind the artifact itself," Woodard said. "Who made it, where it came from, possibly even what yard [it's from], or who used it here in Baltimore."

Architects are helping bring his vision to life, but Woodard knows it's a long road ahead.

"We're at the fundraising stage of the whole process, currently we're seeking investors or people looking to donate to our 5013c," he said.

Since WJZ first met Woodard last year, he's built quite the community through his weekly magnet fishing meetups. It's resulted in more e-scooters being pulled out of the city's waters, as well as other big finds, like a Victorian era bench.

Woodard said the history speaks for itself: people are interested and he hopes to foster that interest.

"Baltimore is a really quirky city, that's how a lot of people look at it," he said. "This is a very unique thing here and I think that it's just gonna be like a shining beacon right here in Fells Point."

The goal is to get things up and running by winter 2024.

If you're interested in learning more, you can check out the Salvage Arc Foundation here.