5 Maryland Towns Where Famous Movies Were Filmed
Maryland's film history runs deeper than most people realize. Baltimore has carried entire movies on its back, from John Waters' cult oddities to big-studio dramas and Marvel movies, while quieter spots like Burkittsville and Towson have found themselves frozen on film for entirely different reasons. One became the eerie home of The Blair Witch Project, while the other helped shape the stories of some underappreciated films. It may be that filmmakers love parts of Maryland for its grit and others for its serene beauty, but there's no doubt that the corners of this state helped define the stories that landed here.
Baltimore
Baltimore has shown up in enough movies to solidify its place in film history. You can't talk about this Maryland city without mentioning filmmaker and actor John Waters. Not only did he heavily feature Baltimore in his cult classic, Pink Flamingos, but he also set his 1988 musical, Hairspray, there. The 2007 Hairspray remake opens with an establishing shot of Baltimore before shifting to Toronto backdrops, but the city's DNA is embedded in the movie's setting and even some of its song titles. While Sleepless in Seattle is primarily set in the aforementioned city, Meg Ryan's character Annie Reed's life unfolds around the old Baltimore Sun building on North Calvert Street, with scenes filmed at a diner on East Saratoga and in the rowhouses in the neighborhood of Fells Point.
Johns Hopkins University sits in for Harvard in David Fincher's The Social Network, and even Captain America: Brave New World came through to shoot Walter Reed-related scenes in town. What these films don't show off, however, is the energy and personality of this historic city. Perhaps nothing sums up Baltimore as much as its humongous annual late spring festival, Artscape. It's a collision of culture, art, and community and transforms this Chesapeake Bay city into a canvas with fairs, exhibitions, classes, and after-dark programming. Year-round, you'll find some of the most beloved attractions in Baltimore's Inner Harbor, including the National Aquarium.
Saint Michaels
Saint Michaels spot along the Miles River, just west of Easton, gave Wedding Crashers exactly the mix of waterfront calm and old-school Eastern Shore architecture the movie needed. The Inn at Perry Cabin became the film's luxe backdrop, and the Chesapeake Bay Maritime Museum doubled as the setting for the boat-to-wedding leap that lands Owen Wilson in the middle of a reception. That entire sequence was shot on the museum's grounds, storms and schedule chaos included, until the cast finally got one clean take.
Away from the movie locations, Saint Michaels keeps everything close together. Talbot Street runs straight through town with indie shops, seafood spots, and cafes in restored buildings. A short walk leads to Muskrat Park beside the harbor. It's quiet, compact, and edged with flower beds and even a cannon or two.
Annapolis
Not only is Annapolis famous for being the Maryland state capital, but also for being home to the U.S. Naval Academy. This renowned institution was the backdrop in the 1992 action/thriller, Patriot Games, starring Harrison Ford, Sean Bean, Samuel L. Jackson, and James Earl Jones. It was one of the few major productions allowed to film in the yard in the early '90s. Ford's Jack Ryan gets ambushed outside the academy's gates, lectures inside its halls, and moves through a campus that sits at the mouth of the Severn River.
Parts of Syriana and Body of Lies later came through town as well, but none used Annapolis as directly or as visibly as Patriot Games. Step beyond the Academy walls, and the city folds into tight, colonial-era streets that run toward the water. Main Street funnels into City Dock, where Ego Alley pulls boats through a narrow inlet lined with ice cream shops and long-standing storefronts. A few blocks uphill, the Maryland State House opens its doors for self-guided visits, and the equally fascinating Kunta Kinte-Alex Haley Memorial marks the edge of the waterfront.
Towson
Towson rarely gets the recognition it deserves in film circles, even though Guarding Tess, the 1994 Shirley MacLaine/Nicolas Cage comedy-drama that never got its due, staged its kidnapping sequence at Loch Raven Reservoir, just a few minutes from downtown. The same forested shoreline later turned up in The Invasion, Tuck Everlasting, and Absolute Power with Clint Eastwood, making it one of the most heavily used filming spots in Baltimore County. Towson itself landed plenty of screen time too: Serial Mom with Kathleen Turner was filmed at a house on Lake Drive and at a shopping center on Taylor Avenue, and the Old Baltimore County Courthouse appeared in scenes.
Of course, film history is not the most famous thing about Towson; that would be Towson University, whose campus flows straight into the blocks along York Road. The Towson Town Center mall pulls students and locals into its maze of restaurants and shops, while Towson Square adds a movie theater and hangout spots right across from it.
Burkittsville
Burkittsville, tucked in Frederick County's Catoctin Valley, earned horror immortality thanks to The Blair Witch Project (1999), which set its fictional woods just outside this quiet town. The production relied on nearby forests, including Seneca Creek State Park (about 40 minutes away), and captured the eerie rural streetscape that Burkittsville preserves almost perfectly. Main Street threads through 19th-century homes, churches, and parsonages, backed by farmland and the rising slopes of South Mountain.
The David Arnold House & Farm at the western entrance once hosted Vermont Brigade troops during the Civil War, while the Resurrection German Reformed Church served as Sixth Corps Hospital "D." The South Mountain State Battlefield, just a mile from town, recreates pivotal 1862 battles, with occasional reenactments attracting history enthusiasts.
Maryland's towns offer more than history or scenery; they've become stages where stories unfold on screen. From Towson's suburban streets to Burkittsville's preserved Main Street, filmmakers have tapped into the state's authentic settings to give each story a tangible sense of place. Whether it's a comedy like Wedding Crashers, a thriller like Patriot Games, or a horror film like The Blair Witch Project, these towns provide both backdrop and character, letting audiences experience familiar landscapes in unexpected ways.
