I posted a similar picture to this one a while ago. I shot this bridge railing over loch raven a few different ways. The difference here is that this shot was taken with my film camera and has a totally different feel to it.

The purple flamingo at home in its natural habitat; the front yard of a Baltimore County home.

When  I went to Loch Raven last month I was drawn to one specific point.  This one right here.   That island used to be connected to the main land and it was a popular spot becasue it’s right next to the open area by the roadway with easy parking.   While the reservoir is full of cool things, most of them require at least a little hiking through the woods.   So this area becomes the visiting area of choice for those who wish to enjoy nature with as little walking as possible.  In other words, everyone goes here.    So the island is a pretty well known spot, and it certainly was a point of curiosity for me on this trip.

What I really enjoyed was walking back out of the area.  On my way to the car I was following four people, about the same age as me, who I did not know and did not try to engage.   We passed a couple walking towards us who asked, “how are things?”    The goup of four’s response, “you can’t get to the island any more.”

Despite the fact that over the last century people have been moving into developments and that the hampton house is closely surrounded on two sides by developments and on another side by the beltway, the views around the house have been skillfully maintained.  Here you can see the view to the North.

Just another shot from the reservoir.

Now this is a dam.   The newly (7 or so years)  refurbished Loch Raven Dam.

You know MDP loves a good cupola, here showing the one from the Hampton house.  When I was there the other day, I really focused on the outside of the building becasue I had been inside the house a few times before and felt as though I was pretty much up to date on that aspect of the site.  However, I am racking my brain for factoids to share here and now I’m drawing a blank. 

Stink bugs are everywhere in the state of Maryland now.   However, they seem to be found in higher concentrations the farther north I go.   There were so many as I was walking through Loch Raven reservoir the other day that I realized I had never featured them on MDP and that my failure to do so was a failure to capture an unfortunate part of everyday life in Maryland.

Yesterday’s statue came from the Hampton Mansion, seen here next to an absolutely massive tree in it’s yard.  One of the things the home is known for is it’s terraced gardens.  I’m sure the tree here wasn’t this big back in the day, but at it’s present size it sits in such a way to completely block any view of the gardens from the home.

Can you name the historic Baltimore County home in the portico of which sits this statue?

Here’s a shot from the road along the banks of Loch Raven reservoir in Baltimore County.

This shot came from Bryan in Loch Raven Village (where our last photo was taken) complete with a joke about Lando Calrissian.

I know one person who will enjoy this shot of Loch Raven Village, a community just north of Baltimore.    This is part one of a two part series of this community.

Here, thanks to Bryan is a shot of the end of Towson Dodge’s life.  The dealership was owned by Schaefer & Strohminger, a well known car dealer and almost a local icon which had a smattering of dealerships throughout Baltimore County.  They are now closed, foreclosed, and auctioned off.   This is just one of the many auto dealers in the area to close up shop in the last two years.

This is the Creighton Spring House, an out building from the Crighton house in Lutherville, MD.  I can only presume that this is where the home’s inhabitants got their water.  What else would you do with a spring house?   There’s not much available to read about the spring house. It’s on the Baltimore County historic register, but with little information provided besides an address. 

I was driving around with the simple goal of hopefully just seeing a train pass by on the adjacent tracks, and thought I’d look into an office park I’d never been through.  I came across this building took it’s picture, thinking I’d figure out the significance later.   I’m still working on it.

Had some time to waste in Baltimore County on saturday morning. So I tried to go to the Fire Musuem of Maryland.  I had no idea it was the third largest such museum.   As you can see above, it was closed.  But I did find this crab.

What’s downstream from yesterday’s shot?   This is.  It’s the Thomas Viaduct, which celebrated it’s 175th anniversary last July.   This stone viaduct was an engineering marvel in it’s time.  You can’t see it from this shot, but it actually curves ever so slightly in it’s path.

A few months ago MDP attended an event at the Gramercy Mansion in Stevenson, MD.  The historic home is currently a meeting/wedding hall as well as a bed and breakfast.  I was glad to spend  the night there and was even more surprised to see how decadently the massive guest rooms were decorated.  So, in a dramatic change from MDP standard practices, I took pictures from the inside of the building and failed to take a single picture from the outside.

Now, while you are all in shock at this change in the status quo, I can assure you that some things have not changed.  Believe it or not, I can tie this into railroad history.  The Mansion was originally built by the president of the Pennsylvania railroad as a wedding gift for his daughter.   Some may know (and I can think of two people out there who might) that this president’s name was Cassatt, and that he was the brother of  the artist Mary.

Here’s a shot of 695 taken from a very unique vantage point.   Bonus points to whover can name it.

Courtesy of corresponding photographer, Bryan, we have today’s picture  of the home of the Rider family, which is the namesake of the Riderwood area of Baltimore County.  To those nearby: this is close to the better known neighborhood of Ruxton.   Today it houses the Baltimore County Historical Trust.

Just a picture that I enjoyed from the former bank that is now a dentists’ office in Glyndon, a place you may remember from our picture of the town’s train station, which is now a post office.

Even I won’t take the bait on this church that is located in Boring, MD.

Yesterday’s “perfectly normal” picture was a clue as to this week’s theme, which is:  The town of Boring.  It was not named for a lack of excitement, but rather for  an old post office worker (at least according to wikipedia)

So it seems appropriate to show the post office here.  There are a few places across the United States that are referred to as “Boring.”  However, I could find only one other that has its own zip code.

The town is located in Baltimore County near the Carroll county border, just north of Reisterstown.  While some may call it Boring, I can easily say that it is far from the sleepiest town I’ve seen in the state or even in the area.  In fact, yesterday’s fire hall picture was home to the local bingo game.

Just a quick monday morning snapshot of the Bel-Loc Diner in Towson.

The last time we visited Ilchester, I mentioned that there was a pedestrian bridge that currently spans the space where the Patterson viaduct used to be.  (the Patterson viaduct was one of the bridges that carried the first railroad in America.  It’s  at the north end of what is today the main area of Patapsco Valley State Park)  I couldn’t show you the very cool bridge then because the pictures were trapped on my film camera.   Because of some mechanical issues with that camera, it took me a while to get this, but, finally, here it is.

Returning to the topic of a post from about one year ago, I have fulfilled the request of one of the comments to that post by providing the view of the stack from I-695.   I was able to do this as I was stuck in traffic under the stack last night.  From the bottom level you can see all four layers of traffic.

Not on the ocean, and not in Florida, this is Miami beach park in Baltimore County.  Located on the bay, just south of Aberdeen, this park contains a few hundred feet of sandy beach.  I can’t tell you where the name came from.

Bengies, in Middle River, is the last remaining drive in theater in the state.  Go now, before it’s too late.

Near the light rail station I should have gone to is the Timonium Fairgrounds, actually called the Maryland State Fairgrounds, and home of the Maryland State Fair.

In doing some research for MDP pictures, or rather when brainstorming for subjects of MDP pictures, I’ll often look for historical markers in the vicinity of where I’ll be visiting. I’ll share a secret with you.  One of my favorite places on the internet is actually a site that accumulates these markers.  The historic marker database, whose website www.hmdb.org will take over your life if you let it.

On the site I discovered a marker next to the light rail lines in Timonium that claims there is a granite track bed from the railroad that originally ran in that spot, the right of way for which is now being used as the light rail line.  This is a remnant of a time when railroading was so new that nobody realized it was better to put tracks on cheap wooden ties lodged in rocks, than it was to put them on a solid block of granite.     However, today’s picture has nothing to do with that.   This is because MDP went to the Timonium Business Park light rail stop, and not the Timonium light rail stop, where the granite is.

So today’s picture is a mirror and a pretty cool shot from the historically insignificant Timonium Business Park light rail stop.

The scene looking out from the opposite direction of yesterday’s shot.  The alms house is situated on top of a hill overlooking the valley and, though it’s impossible to make out from this distance, the quarry I mentioned in yesterday’s post is right in the middle of that valley.

We’re moving out of Baltimore today and into Baltimore County.  If you are from out of state, you should know that those are two completely distinct jurisdictions. The city of Baltimore is not a part of Baltimore county or of any other county.  This building was originally built in 1872 as the third alms house for Baltimore county, the first two being just down the road a bit.   Today it houses the county historical society.

I used to remember this place as where my mother would go when she needed to identify an unknown kind of plant.  This sounds strange, but the reason why you would bring your plants here is because it was also home to the horticultural extension, (now just called the University of Maryland Extension) which is a community outreach program allowing citizens of the state to use the agricultural knowledge base of the school.

One more interesting piece of information about this building is that it was made from stone quarried on the premises.  That sounds strange too.  However, less than a mile from this place is a productive stone quarry that still operates to this day.

MDP is taking a break from it’s online tour of Hampden. Today we have a great picture of the Key Bridge taken on a warm sunny day. The MDP staff will be visiting lots of great places for holiday pictures in the next month so stay tuned. (this is of course subject to change)

Here’s one of the other things you can buy at the Festival of Trees: a gingerbread house.    In fact you can buy your choice of many different home made ones.  I chose to picture this one, though it was already sold.   There’s quite a bit that one can buy besides trees or gingerbread houses.   In fact, most of the festival is occupied by craft and food vendors. 

Having seen commercials for many years now, this past weekend, MDP traveled to the Holiday Festival of Trees in the Timonium Fargrounds.   A charity even benefitting the Kennedy Kreeger Institue, the festival’s main draw is the groupings of trees for sale.  Each tree was created by a different group, either a private organization or a corporate sponsor, and donated to the event.  Visitors can purchase any of the trees for a donation of $125.  Considering the fact that I saw trees without decorations for sale in Wal-Mart for nearly $100, $125 for a well decorated tree is almost a steal.   This is one of two Maryland themed trees available.   Full Size Below.

Maybe it has something to do with the fact that my first job out of college was in a bank, but I’ve always though that it would be fun to live in an old bank.  This building, located in northern Baltimore County, reads, “First National Bank” above its entryway.  However, it’s clearly a residence as the family living there was coming out the door as I was standing there taking a picture.

Last week when I featured the Brooklandville Plantation, I mentioned that it enjoyed quite a nice view over northwest Baltimore. This shot is  a part of that view.  Far to the left is Towson, and, though it looks like a rolling mountain, that space to its right is Northern Baltimore.

Found these guys in a farm on the way to the pictures of the Garrison Fort two weeks ago.   I thought it was a bit funny that there was a cow pasture just a block away from the Baltimore beltway.   I shouldn’t say funny.   I really felt glad that this was there.

This is the Brooklandwood Planation house in Lutherville, Baltimore County.  It is best known as the mansion on the grounds on the St. Pauls school, but it could be known for any number of other things.  First, it sits on top of a large rolling hill and it commands quite an impressive view of north-west Baltimore.   Second, it is in remarkably good shape, due largely to the efforts of the school to maintain its signature buildings.   Finnally,  and most importantly is its historical significance, which I will offer to you as a quote from the historic marker placed by the school and the Maryland Historical Society, right outside the building.  It reads:  “Built by Charles Carroll of Carrollton for his daughter, Mary Caton.  Site of the first Maryland Hunt Cup and Grand National Races.  Owned succesively by John Cockey, Charles Carroll, George Brown, Captain Isaac Emerson and Saint Paul’s School (Established 1849).”

An unassuming building located in a culdasac in an ordinary suburban community of ranch houses and green yards, the Garrison Fort can easily be missed.   Even driving by it, one might mistake it for a barn or an old home or any number of things.   However, this fort has beeen sitting just north of Baltimore for three centuries, and it sits today in a very well preserved state.  I can’t say much more that can’t be said by the sign outside the fort, so I’ll offer a picture of that as well.

This tiny window is severly disproportional to the large stone building in which it can be found.   The reasons why this building would have such a large stone face and a small open window will be made clear tomorrow.   If you want to guess what this is though, you are welcome to do so.

You might have heard in the news the other day about the two people who were killed in the street races on I-70.   Well, here’s where it happened, and you can see why they choose this place.  This is the absolute easternmost point ot I-70.  As we talked about during the post about the stack, the interstate was supposed to continue past this point into Baltimore proper.  

Community action, which you can read about here, blocked the highway in the midst of its construction, partially in order to save Leakin and Gwynns Falls Parks.  (Just a side note if you’ve read the book Homicide, David Simon essentially portrays those two parks as dumping grounds for dead bodies)  The road then stops at the point where this  picture was taken.   

Now, from the stack to this point, there is a two mile stretch of interstate quality roadway that few people ever use.  At night, when the make-shift park and ride visible in this picture is not needed for commuters, you can see how this stretch of road would appeal to street racers.

Yesterday, when I was spending some time with my parents for Father’s day, they had informed me that they recently drove past the Glyndon post office as featured in a previous MDP post.  They knew it was an old train station, but didn’t believe there were still tracks there.  Fortunately MDP had another angle of view, from behind the station.  

As for this car, which is found behind the Glyndon post office, it is from the Maryland Midland Railroad, a formerly independent short line ralroad that serves a cleint base between Baltimore county and Frederick County and Washington County.  It was recently purchased by the Genesee and Wyonming railroad, which is effectively a consolidation of short lines from across the country.  

Anybody want to guess the significance of this home in Baltimore County? 

Next to the post office in Glyndon, I found this pump and its shelter.  What I don’t know about this pump, is it’s relation to the Glyndon Volunteer Fire Co, which seems to have lent their name to the planter aside the pump.  

These grounds used to be adjacent to the railroad station, and across from the general store, which means that this would probably be a good place for a public water source. 

A few days ago, one of the frequent commentors on MDP, Jess, started her own daily photo site: http://www.pittsburghdailyphoto.com/ , and despite whatever football related rivalry we might have, MDP wishes her the best in her daily photo persuit.  In fact, to celebrate the new site, MDP is fulfilling Jess’s wishlist request from a year ago: posting a picture exemplifying the grand nature of Maryland’s highway onramps.  

This is the Stack.   The four levels of highway seen here carry 2 (really 1.5) interstates and 8 on/off ramps.   To the right, on the top of the stack is I-70, below it is one level of raps, viewable in the bottom left, then in the far left, you can see the ramps that pass one layer below, and finally just above the bush in the bottom center, you can see a piece of I-695. 

What’s interesting and unique about this is that these three elevated levels and their seemingly complex intertangling is that they actually make things easier for the driver.  Why??  Becasue there are no points in this intersection with a circular 270 degree turnaround.   Instead.  Every ramp just flows off of the right side of the feeding highway, makes a gradual left turn, goes through the stack, and ends up on the right side of the destination highway.   

While it’s great for the driver and for the flow of traffic as it requires less of a speed reduction, it is a bit of a pain to build a four level interchange.  Plus it’s visible for a good distance in each direction.  So, you want to make sure that you only build it in a location with decent traffic, where it will make a difference.  

That’s the unfortunate part.  The stack was finished in 1965, according to the markings on the top level.   However,  protests to the completion of I-70 through baltimore during the 70′s led to the final cancellation of I-70′s route through Baltimore.   As a result, I-70 would terminate at the stack.  To this day, the upper ramp that carries 70 and the flyover ramps that service it get minimal use.  The stub of what’s left of I-70 to the east (like on I-95) became a park and ride with an amazingly effective means of entering and exiting. 

This is Rockland Mill, part of a complex of historic buildings along Falls Rd, just north of Baltimore, which remain in remarkably good shape thanks to the care of the community and their owners.  

There’s something unique about the Post Office in Glyndon, MD.  

If you can’t guess from this picture, you can check out the link to the full shot here:

That’s right, it’s an old train station.  There’s even a Maryland Midland hopper car sitting behind the station.  Glyndon was popularized as a community after the Western Maryland railroad built a station there.  The town, like Sykesville earlier this week, was built around the railroad.   It seems only appropriate that some piece of its railroad heritage survives today in this station. 

This picture shows the Cockeysville Distilling Company building.  One of the few remanants, along with last week’s smokestack picture of Maryland’s proud Rye producing heritage.   

The Cockeysville area was known for it’s Rye long before this building was built as it was home to the original Sherwood distillery.  The Sherwood brand was built by the Wight famly in the late 1800s, based out of their distillery which was locaed  just a bit across the street from this building, near what is today called Wight avenue. 

The name Sherwood, which still remains on a nearby road and church, seems to have first come from the famous forest, to then be used as the name of the Taylor family’s estate in Cockeysville.  The estate lent land to be used for the Sherwood church, which still stands on Sherwood road, and then somehow the name ended up (begrudgingly or not) on bottles of rye being produced across the street. 

After Prohibition, and when the distillery was no longer under Wight ownership, it was moved to Westminseter.  Not too much later, it was sold to a whiskey conglomerate and the MD works were shut down.  

When that happened, one of the Wights, who had had some success with “medicinal” Sherwood offshoots during prohibition decided to come back to Cockeysville and build the Ryebrook brand.  

The building is totally repurposed, as you can tell, and the painted surface that says “Home of Ryebrook” is barely visible at all anymore, but the words Cockeysville Distilling Company are still clearly visible. 

I have to give a lot of credit to this website:

http://www.ellenjaye.com/maryland-menu.htm

which is amazingly descript and thoroughly researched.  For more info on MD rye, be sure to check them out.  I’ll also be on the look out for photographic proof of the remnants of the MD Rye industry.  

Also of note: there was a Braddock brand rye too; obviously named after the man who so remarkably rode through the state on his way to Pennsylvania. 

This was a different state in 1818.  For one thing, a law was passed REPEALING an earlier law that prevented swine from wandering through Salsibury.  Another thing of note: there was no Carroll county.   It had not yet been carved out of Baltimore and Frederick counties.  So, when the town of Westminster was incorporated by chapter 128 of the acts of 1818, it was incorporated into Frederick county.  

Why is this relevant?  Well you may remember from Tuesday’s post that there is a good deal of controversy over the date when Westminster was truely incorporated.   Someone even went so far as to paint the date 1838 on a wall to further their point.    However, there was much doubt in the air.  While the town’s charter references the 1838 date, the state archives’ website clearly claims that the town was incorporated in 1818.  Fortunately that site offered a reference: The 1818 acts of Maryland, chapter 128.  That is what you see before you.

It was not easy to find.  After many online sources were exhausted, I had begun to believe that someone was really trying to cover up the 1818 acts.   This didn’t totally deter the MDP legal staff. (consiting largely of MDP contributing esquire, Gump who bravely brought me to the one circuit court within close distance that had a legal library open late enough to allow visits after work, and Jess whose comments and research started this journey)   Thanks to a trip to the Baltimore County Law Library, we have this copy of the 1818 acts, which shows that Westminster was incorporated under the acts of 1818, which were actually passed in 1819.   There are no cameras allowed in the library, so for today we have a Maryland Daily Photocopy.

So why does the mural say 1838?  We know that the town would later become a city, but that was not until well after 1838.   We also know that the town charter is from 1838, but does that mean you can ignore the 1818 acts?  Does it mean that a town isn’t really incorporated until it has a charter?  I don’t know.     I’ve enjoyed this journey, but I don’t know where to turn next.