In 1928, Glenn L. Martin moved his rapidly growing aircraft manufacturing facility from Cleveland, Ohio to Baltimore, Maryland, where he purchased 1200 acres of land in the small suburb of Middle River. Though crude, the region boasted water, rail, and road access. Martin used a downtown warehouse in Canton for one year before employees took ownership of the newly constructed "A" Building on October 7, 1929. By 1942, three more additions were made to the facility, along with a 500 acre airstrip with a terminal building and six hangars.

Martin designed over 85 different types of aircraft, producing more than 11,000 copies. During peak production in World War II, the Glenn L. Martin Company employed over 53,000 people, including several thousand women, working 24 hours a day. Production of the B-26 Marauder, in particular, was so great that two additional plants had to be built.

By 1961, the Martin Company had merged with American Marietta, a paint and aggregate firm, to form Martin Marietta, with corporate offices based in Bethesda, Maryland. With greater capital, the company moved into the design of space products with achievements including Gemini, Titan, Apollo, Pershing, and Patriot.

After a "merger of equals" with Lockheed Corporation in 1995, the Baltimore plant still stands after more than 70 years. Known as Lockheed Martin Naval Electronics & Surveillance Systems-Marine Systems, top products are the MK 41 VLS shipboard launching system, as well as SWATH and SLICE hullform technology.