Archive for the ‘Hampden’ Category
Abolitionist Elisha Tyson’s Summer Home on Stone Hill
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Quaker abolitionist Elisha Tyson established a successful milling business along the Jones Falls during Baltimore’s early stages as an American town. In the 1790s his Woodberry Flour Mill was rapidly turning grain to flour, providing a conduit between the regions farmers and the city’s burgeoning port. The radical Tyson embraced philanthropic ideals, using his acquired wealth to give back to the city’s less fortunate.
Tyson was an advocate of African-Americans, fighting for their freedom as well as providing institutions to better their welfare. In 1801 Tyson and Archbishop John Carroll founded the Baltimore Dispensary, the city’s first free health clinic for all citizens regardless of race or gender. Three years later he and Mayor Edward Johnson helped open the Baltimore House of Industry to provide vocational training and housing for the disadvantaged. That same year Tyson, along with Robert Goodloe Harper, John McKim, Andrew Ellicott and other Baltimore business men, successfully lobbied local government to pipe sufficient and sanitary water to the town’s growing residents.
Along with fellow business associates, Tyson helped fund and organize the Falls Road Turnpike (once a Native American trail and now Falls Road) that connected his and other Jones Falls mills to the harbor. He may have used the route as part of an Underground Railroad system operating in the area. Hideouts are rumored to still exist under the Greenway Cottages on 40th Street. He even directly challenged City Council on several occasions, successfully influencing legislation on the out-of-state sale of slaves. Legend claims that no less than 3000 blacks joined his grand funeral procession in 1824. Tyson was buried at Friends Aisquith Street Cemetery until 1906, when his remains were moved to Green Mount.
Elisha Tyson built his summer home on the east bank of the Jones Falls sometime between 1790 and 1804. The Quaker incorporated the Woodberry Flour Mill in 1790 and eventually erected his residence directly above the enterprise. The house faces the former estate of Colonel Nicholas Rogers IV, now known as Druid Hill Park. The Tyson gristmill stood where the Mount Vernon Mill No. 1 and No. 2 buildings stand today.
In 2005 local preservationists Robyn Lyles and Mark Thistle purchased the Stone Hill, Hampden property. The two diligently restored the Tyson house to its original form. Materials were removed, restored and reused when possible and previous alterations, though minimal, were undone. The entire process took four years and around a half million dollars. Completed in 2009, the address won the 2010 Baltimore Heritage Preservation Award.
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Roland Water Tower
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The Roland Water Tower is located in north Baltimore between Hampden, Roland Park and the Hoes Heights neighborhoods. It stands in a small park at the intersection of West University Parkway and Roland Avenue. The structure was built by John Stack & Sons following the design of local architect William J. Fizone. Completed in 1905, the tower only served its intended purpose for twenty-five years, but over one hundred years later it continues to draw attention.
In the past year a fence has been put up around the tower. Pieces of terra cotta have fallen from the 148-foot tall spire marking the area below as a hazard. The Roland Park community has initiated a plan to restore the water tower and surrounding park. Renovation is estimated to cost two million dollars.
WWII Servicemen Memorial in Hampden
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This WWII Servicemen Memorial sits at the corner of Keswick Road and 33rd Street in Hampden. The stone monument resides in a small community park a block south of the historic Northern District Police Station building.
WWII Servicemen Memorial in Medfield
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This WWII Servicemen Memorial stands near Weldon Circle in the Medfield Community of Baltimore. The inscription on the back reads: “freedom of worship and speech, freedom from fear and want,” while the front states: “to the men and women of this community who served during the second world war, that freedom and justice might prevail.”
Boy Scout Statue in Hampden
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Sisson Street & Wyman Park Drive (Street View)
GPS: 39° 19′ 17.54″ N 76° 37′ 40.88″ W
History
Dating back to 1937, this sculpture is by R. Tait McKenzie and is also known as the Ideal Boy Scout. It stands outside the Morris and John D. Schapiro Scout Service Center, headquarters of the Baltimore Area Council. McKenzie’s sculpture has been duplicated for more than thirty Boy Scout centers across the nation. A small version of this sculpture was originally crafted as a desktop statuette by McKenzie in 1914. Between 1914 and 1937, a total of five scouts served as models for the completion of the life-sized statue which is a composite of these individuals. The Boy Scouts are one arm of the worldwide scouting movement which was formed in 1907.
Notes
The re-purposed Stieff Silver building is across the street to the north, and it houses the Scout Shop of Baltimore City, along with other businesses and non-profits. Across from Stieff Silver is a section of the Jones Falls Trailhead, an excellent bike path which drops down a switchback to follow the Jones Falls along Old Falls Road. Or, you can cross the bridge to the west into Druid Hill Park, home of many monuments, sights and some great under-used bike paths.
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