Rukert Terminals at the Port of Baltimore dates back to 1921 when William George Norman “Cap” Rukert and his brother George borrowed $800 to buy a truck and formed the Atlas Safe Deposit and Storage Company to handle household goods.  Their entry into the maritime industry came following World War I.  Following Cap’s death in 1974, Cap’s son, Norman Rukert, Sr., continued the proactive management of the business.  As cargo facilities were expanded the Company moved rapidly into new imports including a wide variety of ferro alloys, aluminum, scrap metal, and salt, to mention only a few.  When Norman Rukert, Sr. moved up to be Chairman of the Board, Cap’s Grandsons Norman Rukert, Jr. and George “Bud” Nixon took over the direct management of this third generation family owned and operated business and under their direction the company has expanded dramatically.

Over the years Rukert developed a number of facilities in the Fell’s Point and Canton sections of the port.  The present site of Rukert Terminals headquarters at 2100 S. Clinton Street in Canton was originally acquired in 1973 when the Company entered into a lease with the Pennsylvania Railroad for their pier 5 facilities on Clinton Street.

Rukert Terminals properties include a large docking and unloading facility at the foot of Clinton Street in the area known as Lazaretto Point.  The Lazaretto Point property has always been a major focal point of their maritime activities but in the mid 1970s Baltimore City’s plans for the Fort McHenry Tunnel presented a major challenge to their survival.  Since the tunnel was to run directly under this property the City initiated action to condemn it and advised Rukert they must move out.  Skillful negotiation with the City and the support and help of Mayor William Donald Schaefer resulted in the return of the land to Rukert when the tunnel was completed.

Lazaretto Point is located directly across the Patapsco River from Fort McHenry.  The original Lazaretto Point Lighthouse was built here in 1831 and provided 95 years of service until it was torn down in 1926.  In 1985 Rukert Terminals erected a full size replica of the Lazaretto Point lighthouse on the original site.  The name of Lazaretto Point dates back to the early 1800s when the Maryland Assembly authorized the building of a hospital at this location as a receiving and treatment facility for people with contagious diseases entering the United States through the Port of Baltimore.  The Italian word "lazaretto", loosely translates as “a hospital for contagious diseases”.

In this painting the 570 foot Russian roll on/roll off ship Salvador, flagged out of Cyprus, is shown unloading aluminum ingots and a variety of containerized cargo at the Lazaretto Point docking area.  Unseen, some 70 feet directly below the Salvador , a major portion of the North/South interstate ground transportation along the Eastern seaboard passes each day on Interstate 95, one of the busiest highways in the nation.

The original of this transparent watercolor, painted by John C. Ritter, was commissioned by the Rukert Terminals Corporation to commemorate their 80th Anniversary on Saturday, September 22, 2001.  A special limited edition of 500 signed unnumbered prints (matted and sized for a 20" x 24"  frame) was produced for Rukert Terminals use at that occasion.  None of these prints are available from the artist.

A  separate signed and numbered edition of 300 prints (sized for a 14" x 18"  or 16" x 20" mat/frame) was produced by the artist on the finest acid free 90lb Arches watercolor paper using permanent and fade proof pigment based printing inks.