What is the name of the housing project that McNulty patrols in season 1?

The housing project McNulty patrols in season 1 of *The Wire* is Franklin Terrace. The project is the center of the Barksdale organization’s drug operation and becomes the focus of the police detail formed after McNulty speaks with Judge Phelan about the failure to prosecute Avon Barksdale effectively.

Franklin Terrace includes the high-rise towers and nearby low-rise buildings controlled by the Barksdale crew. The season opens with D’Angelo Barksdale being tried for killing Pooh Blanchard in one of the towers, while the murder of witness William Gant helps trigger the wider investigation. McNulty and the detail repeatedly watch and investigate activity in the project as they build a case against Avon and Stringer Bell.

A common mix-up is “the Pit,” the low-rise courtyard where dealers such as Bodie, Wallace, and Poot work. The Pit is part of the Barksdale operation, but it is not the project’s canonical name. Franklin Terrace is fictional, though it was based partly on real Baltimore public-housing locations, including the former McCulloh Homes area. The project’s towers are later demolished in season 3, reflecting Baltimore’s real-world public-housing redevelopment and demolition history.