Chapter 4: East
The Roland Park public school, seen from Roland Avenue. Every area of greater Roland Park has some feature it isinstantly associated with. To the south, it is the Roland Water Tower. To the west, it is the Tudor-style shopping center. North of Northern Parkway, there is Lakeside with its mass of train and trolley history. And to the east, the icon is undoubtedly the Roland Park Elementary/Middle School, even though it is not strictly speaking within the boundaries of Roland Park proper. Though this photo is undated, it is a very early one, taken before even the addition of the first west wing, which was in place by 1929. This photo was probably taken soon after the school's 1924 opening. (Photo: unknown photographer; Anthony F. Pinto III collection.) Click photos for larger images.
Hawthorn and Woodlawn Roads
Set 1
Mapped Scene: From this 1898 map we can see that the general Plat 1 layout is already in place, though the streets still have their original (different) names. By 1911, the time of Simmons' book (as shown at right), the streets will have been renamed with the names they bear to this day. The red circle marks the photographer's position.
Scene: Hawthorn Road, looking south from Oakdale Roadin Plat 1. Plat 1 is Roland Park's earliest and most conservative plat, design-wise. It was laid out by the German-born George E. Kessler, who was engaged by the Roland Park Co. in its earliest days. Kessler only worked for the company through December 1891 and his efforts were later overshadowed by the Olmsted brothers' firm, which from November 1897 onward worked with the company to design plats 2 through 6 and other, later company developments. Kessler's importance should not be overlooked, however: his successes in Plat 1 were what allowed the company to ascend to greater heights in later years.
Commentary: This scene has changed remarkably little in a century. The trees do not extend all the way to the corner on the right as they did in 1911 but, apart from that, the vista is instantly recognizable. Here, the photographer is looking south. The photo below at set 2 was taken from more of less the same pleace, but looking west.
Set 2
Scene: Looking west from the intersection of Hawthorn and Oakdale roads (Hawthorn to left; Oakdale to right). Number 312 Oakdale, which sits at the V of the intersection, is obscured by foliage in this photo. However, it is there, behind the trees. City tax records give 312 Oakdale's construction date as 1900, but this is late, for the house appears on the 1898 Bromley map thumbnailed with set 1. Therefore it must have been present when this early 20th century shot was taken. The distinctive road surfacing so prominent here was a mixture of gravel and dirt, compacted and oiled. This method was used throughout Roland Park. Asphalt road sufaces only came about in Roland Park after annexation by the city at midnight, New Year's night 1918/1919.
Commentary: The road is now of course asphalted, but the rest of the scene is reassuringly unchanged. The hydrant is still in the same place, though the unit itself is different. (As early as 1892, the presence of hydrants was touted as a safety feature by Roland Park boosters.) The substantial first tree on the left in the modern picture above may possibly be the thin third tree on the older photo, the two nearer trees having obviously been removed.
Set 3
Mapped Scene: The house, 322 Hawthorn Road, appears on the 1898 Bromley map.
Scene: Looking west at 322 Hawthorn Road. The house's construction date is not known, but it appears on the 1898 Bromley map of Plat 1 (see map at left), owned by a certain M.J. Jory.
Commentary: This attractive house has changed little over the decades. The stone balls that once stood atop the porch-stair pedestals have been replaced by planters, but that seems to be about it.
Set 4
Mapped Scene: The 400 block of Hawthorn was one of the earlier blocks in Plat 1 to be divided. Indeed, lot 25 was the first lot sold in the entire development: 401 Hawthorn was built on it. As the 1898 Bromley map shows, by 1898 all of this block was built out.
Scene: Looking north along Hawthorn Road from its intersection at Upland Road. The house on the immediate left is 402 Hawthorn. As this occupies a double lot, there is no 400 Hawthorn. Close examination of this old picture reveals that 405 Hawthorn still had a slate roof at this point; it sports asphalt shingles today (2011). For its part, 407 Hawthorn looks to have had a cedar-shake roof, as did many Roland Park houses in the early days. Number 412 Hawthorn appears to have been decked out with a tin roof in the '40s (also now asphalt shingles). It is not known when this photo was taken but, judging by the cars, the early 1940s seems a reasonable estimate.
Commentary: The modern scene is certainly reminiscent of the 1940s photo, though nowadays trees hide many of the houses. In the old photo, the street gutter is still the original rubble gutter, now long since replaced with concrete. In the 1940s, the curb extended out beyond the gutter, which it no longer does. Directly opposite 402, though not visible in either of the "then" or "now" main photos, is 401 Hawthorn. Of this house, Miles says, "401 Hawthorn Road was the first lot [in Roland Park] to be sold. Purchased by Louis Lewis, a clothing jobber, in 1892, the cottage was finished in 1894." Sadly, I know of no vintage photos of this milestone property.
Set 5
Sense of the Scene: The massive hedge and abundant trees in front of 406 Hawthorn keep it largely hidden from the street these days, though 412, on the right, appears to be much as it was in 1903.
Scene: A snowy day at 406 Hawthorn Road. This photo is part of longtime Roland Park resident Barrie Sigler's collection of early 20th century photos of the Granville
family, who lived at 404 Hawthorn Road. The steps in the foreground are part of the pathway leading to 404, and this child is presumably someone to do with the Granvilles. In the middle background is 406 Hawthorn and, in the far background, 412.
Commentary: This modern photo excellently illustrates just how many more trees there are in Roland Park today than there were when the place was being developed. In 1903, 406 and 412 Hawthorn were plainly in full view beyond the steps to 404. Nowadays, absolutely nothing can be seen of them from this vantage point, courtesy of the greenery in 406's front yard.
Set 6
Mapped Scene: The 1898 Bromley map of Plat 1 shows that at this time only the southern end of this block had been developed. Once built, 520 Woodlawn would occupy lots 9 and 10 (the latter not here labeled).
Scene: The photographer is standing in the middle of Woodlawn Road looking northwest at 520 Woodlawn, just south of its V intersection with Hawthorn Road.
Commentary: The vintage photo at left was taken from the late Priscilla L. Miles' 1986 booklet, Roland Park: Four Walking Tours and an Informal History. However, Miles provides no information on the house (other than what is given on the caption under it). As the house does not appear on the 1898 Bromley map, it cannot have been built by that date. As with many Roland Park houses, the once extensive wraparound porch has largely been enclosed.
Wilmslow and Keswick Roads
Set 7
Mapped Scene: The 1915 Bromley map shows the 4900 block of Wilmslow as having been completely developed by 1915.
Scene: Looking north from the intersection of Park Lane and Wilmslow Road. The foreground house is 4900 Wilmslow. The Maryland & Pennsylvania rail line ran
parallel to these houses, to the photographer's right (out of the picture).
Commentary: Though it is hard to discern from this photo because of the foliage, this charming Plat 1 block is almost identical to what it looked like in 1911. The only substantial difference is that the previously ubiquitous cedar-shingle roofs have given way to asphalt shingles (a material prohibited in Roland Park's sister developments, Guilford and Homeland). This block was built in 1909, one the last blocks to developed en masse in Plat 1 (though in fact the neighboring 4800 block of Wilmslow was not developed until later still, the mid-1920s). These houses on the 4900 block were built by the Roland Park Co. itself and were probably designed by Edward L. Palmer, Jr.
Set 8
Catalog Page: The full Shoppell's catalog page from which the picture at right is taken is reproduced above. Click thumbnail to enlarge.
Scene: A 1238 catalog house in Plat 1. In Plat 1, the Roland Park Co.'s earliest development, "catalog houses" are quite common. The company favored Queen Anne and Shingle style houses, a conservative but popular choice. The plans could be purchased ready-made from Robert W. Shoppell's Co-operative Building Plan Association in New York City, thus saving the buyer architect's fees. (Catalog houses are not found in the later Roland Park plats.) The particular design shown above, no. 1238 from Shoppell's 1897 catalog, is the single most common house in Plat 1. The 1238s are are fine houses. This editor used to live in one.
Commentary: The Roland Park catalog houses are generally not absolutely true to pattern, as buyers could and did customize them. This example of model no. 1238 differs slightly from the pattern, but does so less than any of the other 1238s I have seen (including the one where I, myself, once lived). This one is at the northwest corner of Upland and Keswick roads. Its porch roof is somewhat simplified as compared to the pattern and the front gable end is not as ornate. Apart from these minor deviations, it seems basically the same. Many of the other 1238s in Plat 1 have wraparound porches (not contemplated by the pattern) and some have purely shingled gable ends, not decorated at all.
Maryland & Pennsylvania Railroad
Set 9
Mapped Scene: The railroad is shown clearly on the 1935 Matthews map, as are the sidings at the Evergreen coal station, for which see photo set 10.
Scene: Cold Spring Lane, looking east from the bridge over Stony Run. Formerly the Baltimore & Lehigh Railway (and originally the Baltimore & Delta Railway), the
company in 1901 became the Maryland & Pennsylvania Railroad as the result of a merger. The "Ma & Pa" operated between York and Baltimore, the southern terminus being a station on North Avenue (near the present-day Baltimore Streetcar Museum on Falls Road). The southern Baltimore/Whiteford segment of the Ma & Pa line was
abandoned on June 11, 1958. The northern section continued in operation until November 1, 1980.
Commentary: The Ma & Pa tracks are gone — though the pedestrian crossing shows about where they were —and a regular stop light has replaced the flashing grade-crossing light, which was first installed in June 1931. The Loyola College dormitories now occupy what in the older photo is a snow-covered hill in the background beyond the trees.
Set 10
Mapped Scene: As shown on this segment of the 1922 Baltimore City survey map, there were two sidings between the Ma & Pa main line and the coal depot office. In the old photo, the photographer must be on the more eastern of the two siding tracks looking over the other one toward the office.
Scene: Looking southwest at the Evergreen coal depot office and Cold Spring Lane. The lot housing this office shed subsequently had built upon it a Bank of America building. The coal depot storage yard, to the right and out of this photo, eventually became a Sunoco gas station and, more recently, a Royal Farms store. It is a little known fact that there was a second coal depot in the area, too, about two-thirds of a mile north of this spot. It sat upon what is now the north parking lot of the Wyndhurst station shopping center, near the Roland Park swimming pool. In fact, a remnant of it may will be seen today in the form of a ruined concrete coal bunker at the northern edge of the Wyndhurst parking lot. The bunker has been partially destroyed to allow (the now thoroughly reengineered) Stony Run stream to flow throw the middle of it. Until the 1960s, however, the streambed lay rather to the east of its current location, perhaps 50 feet, throught what is now the pool. At the southern end of the coal depot (now parking lot), Stony Run turned sharply to the right (west), flowing to its current streambed. Given this, the coal yard was at that time between the Ma & Pa tracks and Stony Run. Starting at a point at the foot of the alley between Colorado Avenue and St. John's Road, a branch line ran southward from the main line to the depot. Above the bunker sat a coal trestle. A coal trestle was an elevated length of track resting on what was in effect a bridge without a solid span. The coal cars stopped above the open-bottomed span and opened their bases, whereupon the coal fell though the trestle into the yard or bunker.
Commentary: Located in the Keswick neighborhood, the house in the background is immediately recognizable, but little else remains from the 1940 photo. The coal station and its associated tracks and sidings have long since been removed. In place of the modest coal office shown at left, there now stands 200 W. Cold Spring Lane. Built in 1966, this building housed a Bank of America branch in the 1990s. By the late 2000s, it was partly vacant and had no anchor tenant. So as to give a better sense of perspective, the photographer of this modern photo is standing further back from Cold Spring than was the photographer of the vintage photo.
Set 11
Scene Relic: This relic from the Ma & Pa era was found just north of the scene shown at right. It is a length of track found and excavated by a longtime Evergreen resident when Stony Run was being engineered in 2006.
Scene: Looking southward down the Ma & Pa tracks toward Cold Spring Lane. The photographer is about 110 yards north of Cold Spring Lane. The date of this photo is unknown but is probably the late 1950s, as the coal depot appears to be abandoned. The siding leading right and in plain view here was presumably that upon which the photographer of the shot above (set 10) was standing, in that photo looking even further to the right over the more distant siding at the depot office (not really visible here). This section of the Ma & Pa line wound up operations in June 1958. The photo was taken by a lifelong Evergreen resident. The garage visible in the distance, on the other side of Cold Spring Lane, still exists today.
Commentary: This photo was taken from a spot about 10 yards west and 20 yards south of where the original photographer was, the latter's actual position currently being a rather overgrown part of the Stony Run footpath, which the old Ma & Pa right-of-way has become. (Because utility poles rarely change position, even if replaced, the original photographer's place can be gauged with some accuracy by pacing backward from the current utility poles). The garage prominent in the distance in the old photo is plainly visible here, too. On the right here is the back of the former Bank of America building.
Set 12
Mapped Scene: This detail is from the same 1922 map as that shown at set 10. The shed that is the subject of the historic photo did not exist in 1922 and so is not shown on the map. However, the building on the far right of the old photo is on the map and is marked with an arrow.
Scene: Looking northeast across what is now the Evergreen meadow. This vintage photo was taken from the area immediately north of the Bolton Street Synagogue, an area that was then the coal yard behind the depot shed shown two sets above (set 10). The grassy swath beyond the wood stacks is what is these days known as the Evergreen meadow, a popular recreation area. In the distance, at the very left of the picture, what appears to be a single house is in fact two, 200 and 207 C Street. C Street is now Cable Street. The oil tank in the center of this picture was put in place in December 1935 by Operators Coal Co. (later Operators Heat). At first glance, it looks as though it is perched on the roof of the shed. In fact, a close examination of the old photo shows that the tank is someway behind the shed, sitting on a frame perpendicular to the tracks. Just this side of the tank is a railroad tank car awaiting a cargo of oil. At the lower right of the photo is a good view of one of the Evergreen coal trestles.
Commentary: The photo to the left slightly misdescribes the view, which is more northeast than north. The tracks visible on the right in the vintage photo ran just beyond the distant trees in the modern photo. Nowadays, the old right-of-way is a much loved footpath. The modern photographer's position is just above the Bolton Street Synagogue playground (down to the right, not visible). This pulled-back position is for the purposes of perspective. The historic photographer in fact stood further forward, about where the more distant of the two light bollards is. Though largely screened by trees, 207 Cable Street can just be seen in this shot (as it can in the historic picture), beyond and just to the right of the light-green-
leafed sapling ahead the flower planter.
Set 13
Mapped Scene: The precise location of the old photograph is difficult to pin down, but it must have been between Cable Street and Kendall Road, the only stretch where the stream got — and to this day gets — this close to the railbed south of
Wyndhurst.
Scene: A northbound Ma & Pa doodlebug next to Stony Run. The Ma & Pa ceased running in Baltimore in June 1958, and a half-century of post-railroad erosion followed by extensive streambed engineering in 2006 have left this scene changed but still recognizable. The setting is Stony Run, just north of its confluence with the nameless stream that begins at the Homeland ponds. The photo is undated but must be after 1927, the year the Ma & Pa bought its two self-propelled EMC Gas-Electric "doodlebug" cars, nos. 61 and 62 (the latter shown here).
Commentary: Stony Run stream was extensively engineered in 2006, so one cannot use the old photo's streambed contours to locate the same spot today.
However, this location, a little south of the foot of Cable Street seems correct. The tracks used to run along the footpath visible on the far right of this modern shot.
Set 14a
Mapped Scene: The red circle shows the photographer's position. Blythewood Lake is just to the south of his position. Cold Spring and Wyndhurst are named and located as at present. Maryland Avenue is now Roland Avenue. It is probable that the fence shown a the right of the old photo is that separating the Martein and Edmonson properties, which are shown on the map. This dividing line ran parallel to, and perhaps 20 yards north of, present-day Oakdale Road.
Corrected Scene: Ma & Pa locomotive 6 northbound at Blythewood Lake. This is a fascinating photo. A number of versions of it exist, but it is invariably shown reversed (as below). All copies of the photo give the location as Blythewood Lake but, in the standard reversed form of the photo, this puts the lake in the wrong place. This initially made me think that perhaps all the photo captions were wrong. However, the above version of the photo (Roland Park resident Tony Pinto's), in addition to being the best quality, had pasted to the back of it a vital note (below and right). Though the Pinto photo was reversed in the usual manner, the note stated this to be so and also gave the shot's position as being 1,300 feet north of Cold Spring Lane. This information allowed me both to place the scene precisely and also to flip the photo electronically to give the correct view, as shown above. The train is steaming northward and it has just passed Blythewood Lake. Its position is just north of the now eastern terminus of Oakdale Road. The property-dividing fence on the right of the photo ran about 20 yards north of, and more or less parallel with, what is now Oakdale Road (which did not exist when this shot was taken).
Commentary: The modern scene bears little resemblance to the earlier one though, upon reflection, the reader will notice that the topography is correct and that the background tree line is the same shape in both pictures. The photographer here is in the front yard of one of the houses on the 4700 block of East Lane, looking south by southeast. The white house on the right fronts onto
Oakdale Road. Its back deck, visible here, is at approximately the same place as the fence in front of the wooded area shown in the old photo. The Ma & Pa right-of-way cannot be seen in the modern photo because of foliage. This shot prominently shows a driveway running up and right from the bottom left corner of the photo. The rail right-of-way, which is still there, is parallel to this driveway, on the other side of the bushes and bamboo. As for Blythewood Lake, it was artificial, the result of a dam a little way downstream. Along with other, similar ponds on Stony Run, it appeared on maps as late as the 1930s. It does not appear on either the 1950 Gross map or the 1952 U.S. Agricultural Stabilization and Conservation Service aerial photos of Roland Park (for which see this site's homepage).
Set 14b
Locomotive number, corrected: Unlike the most versions of this photo, the Pinto version is clear enough to make out the locomotive number on the front of the boiler. In the standard, southbound version of the shot, the "6" is reversed. In the corrected, northbound photo, it appears the right way around.
Standard Scene: Locomotive 6 at Blythewood, uncorrected version. This is the photo as usually presented, which problematically puts the lake north of the train, instead of south of it (though the latter is the only placement of the lake that makes sense). This is the Baltimore County Public Library version of the shot, which gives the date as "Before World War I" and the caption as "A Maryland and Pennsylvania Railroad steam locomotive at Blythewood Lake, Roland Park."
Commentary: This is the note that was stuck to the back of the Pinto version of the Blythewood Lake photo. Most usefully, it notes the reversal of the image and gives a likely date and a precise location. Neither the sender nor the receipient of the note is known. The note reads as follows. By "B&L," the writer means the Baltimore & Lehigh Railroad, a precursor to the Ma & Pa.
"7/30
"Chris,
"The picture is printed mirror imaged left to right. The locomotive is Maryland Central/Baltimore and Lehigh #6 built by Pittsburgh in 1883. Probably this is the late 1890's on the B&L. The baggage/mail car appears to be one of B&L #30, 31, 32 built in 1895.
"Now comes the speculative part. The train is northbound right at M&P milepost 3. At this point a northbound train would be coming off a 450' tangent into a 5º curve to the right. Stony Run was dammed at this point making a pond on the east side of the track. It seems to fit the picture. This locomotive would be 1300' north of Cold Spring Lane.
"[Illegible signature]"
Set 15
Mapped Scene: Unfortunately, Stony Run— a useful landmark —is not shown on this 1950 map, dating from about the same period as the photo. However, the photographer is believed to have been standing on the steep, and still extant, embankment on the east side of the tracks— between the tracks and the stream. In those days, the stream bed was further east than now, closer to Lawndale Road.
Scene: Southbound Ma & Pa between Belvedere and Wyndhurst. The section of line described in the original caption, below, is about three-fifths of a mile long. Wyndhurst Avenue was then as it is today, while Belvedere Avenue was a residential road where today the Northern Parkway thoroughfare runs. This particular spot is almost certainly slightly to the north of the foot of St. John's Road in Tuxedo Park. The engine is standard-gauge locomotive no. 6, long a favorite with Ma & Pa fans. Not to be confused with its earlier, narrow-gauge namesake (see set 14), this standard-gauge no. 6 was built by the Richmond Locomotive Works in 1901. It was scrapped in 1952.
Commentary: Though half a century and much neglect have taken their toll on the railroad embankment, the fundamentals are still there. This modern photo was taken from a spot perhaps 100 feet north of the foot of St. John's Road, across the Stony Run stream from the Roland Park swimming pool. The photographer is facing north and the locomotive opposite is steaming south. Immediately behind the photographer is where a short spur line branched off to the southeast, which is to say toward what is now the northside parking lot of the Wyndehurst Station shopping center. In those days, this area was a coal depot similar to the one at Evergreen that is described in this website's "south" chapter. Though it it not the subject of it, the Lawndale coal depot is plainly visible on the map accomanying set 17, below. At the northern end of the shopping center parking lot are to this day the remains of one of the depot's coal bunkers. Now, Stony Run flows through the bunker. In former days, it flowed east of it.
Wyndhurst Avenue and Points East
Set 16
Mapped Scene: Notre Dame Station is clearly marked on this 1898 map. Notice that in those days Stony Run stream ran to the east of the station building, not
to its west as it does now.
Scene: Looking west along Wyndhurst Avenue from a point about halfway between Stony Run and Charles Street. Dating this photo is a matter of detective work. A crucial clue is that, as the caption below mentions, the shot appears to predate the construction of the Notre Dame Ma & Pa station (now converted to retail and known as Wyndhurst Station). Tax records give the date of the station building as 1920, but this is far too late a date. The building itself says 1901 on a (new) sign. Railway enthusiast Allen Brougham gives 1906. Perhaps most importantly, the station building is clearly marked on the 1898 Bromley map (left). The beginnings of Tuxedo park are also evident in the background of this photo. Tuxedo was platted in 1892 and construction started shortly thereafter. However, no construction has here taken place at Embla Park (in the foreground), platted in 1893. Suffice it here to say that this photo was probably taken in about 1895.
Commentary: While the photo almost certainly does predate the Notre Dame (Wyndhurst) station, this cannot be stated with absolute certainty simply by looking at the shot. It should be noted that the building is not visible in this 2009 photo either. Set back from the road at the bottom of the hill, it is here hidden by foliage, as it could just possibly be similarly hidden in the old photo too. The Embla Park development absent in the old photo now completely blocks the former view across the valley to Tuxedo Park. On the map detail, the photographer's position is marked by a red circle.
Set 17
Mapped Scene: The 1915 Bromley map makes clear that Embla Park was largely developed by that year. On the map, the Perine estate still sits where one day will be the Friends School and the Cathedral of Mary Our Queen. The coal depot that was situated where now stands the Wyndhurst Station north parking lot is marked "fuel co."
Scene: Looking east along Wyndhurst Avenue from a point about halfway between Stony Run and Charles Street. The photo was taken by the same photographer and at the same time as the previous photo (set 16), just facing the other way. Note the lack of Embla Park development, conclusively placing this photo well before 1915 (see map at left). The house visible toward the left does not show upon either of the Bromley maps, 1898 or 1915. It is, however, present on the 1876 Hopkins map (for which see the homepage), located at what is now the back parking lot of the Homeland Three Arts Club at 4 Wyndhurst.
Commentary: The embankment on the right of the scene has changed little in a century and the general contours of the land are the same.
Set 18
Scene: A vintage advertisement for Schneider's. Despite what the original caption for this photo says, this shot was not taken in front of Schneider's. The ground is far too level to be Wyndhurst Avenue and the house in the background does not correspond to the house opposite Schneider's today. According to Schneider's current owner Jeff Pratt (Andrew Schneider's grandson), the man mounting the cart is an employee of Schneider's, not Schneider himself, and the shot was probably taken somewhere else in the Roland Park area during the employee's delivery run.
Commentary: This modern photo shows Schneider's current (2010) owner, Jeff Pratt, in front of the premises today. Schneider's has always been in this Tuxedo Park building, though initially it was on the first floor (not the walk-out basement, as now) and it was a grocer's shop (not a hardware store).
Set 19
Mapped Scene: The 1915 Bromley map gives an excellent idea of the pre-development Homeland tract, the eastern part of the Perine estate. Note that the much-loved Homeland ponds predate the development of the suburb. (The stream they feed to this day flows into Stony Run at Evergreen.)
Scene: Looking north up Charles Street — then "Charles Street Avenue" — from a point a few paces north of the present-day Friends School main entrance. Today, Charles Street still has its "avenue" suffix once north of the city/county line, but not within the city.
Commentary: The contours of the land have changed little since 1923. The "For Sale" sign prominent in the old photo at left stood just about exactly where present-day Enfield Road intersects with Charles.
Set 20
Period Advertisement: Then, as now, private schools were a popular option for the well-to-do residents of the Roland Park Co.'s developments. This advertisement for the Friends School appeared in the May 1941 edition of Gardens, Houses and People, the company's magazine.
Scene: The Friends School lower school under construction. Looking west from what is now the front parking lot of the Friends School at the instantly recognizable lower school, with its semi-circular multi-purpose room.
Commentary: This building has changed very little since the older photo was taken. Skylights have been added, as has an addition to the north (partly visible on the right). The castle-style embrasures and merlons along the roof line have for some reason been leveled. Apart from these minor matters, the building looks just about exactly the same.
Evergreen
Set 21
Mapped Scene: Built in 1896, the school is as plain as day on the 1898 Bromley map of Plat 1 and Evergreen. Here, Prospect Avenue is today Schenley Road and, to the west, Orbison Avenue is now Hawthorn Road.
Scene: The main entrance of the former Schenley Road School. The photographer is looking east at a group of children standing on the front steps of what subsequently was called the Schenley Road School. (At the time this photo was taken, Schenley Road was called Prospect Avenue.) According to the Evergreen community website, "The original structure was built in 1896 with the front portion added on in 1905. The school provided elementary education for the community children. The school house is presently a unique and beautiful family home."
Commentary: There is little to add to the assessment of the Evergreen webmaster, that the building now is indeed "a unique and beautiful family home."
Set 22
Mapped Scene: Built in 1894, the Evergreen Methodist Protestant church appears on the 1898 Bromley map. At the time of the map's production, Keswick Road was still called Notre Dame Avenue.
Scene: Looking west at the old Evergreen Methodist Protestant church. This is a fascinating photo. A hard copy of the photo was deposited at the front door of the
Evergreen community webmaster's house by an anonymous wellwisher in late July 2010. No name was given and no note accompanied the picture. Judging by the men's clothes, the shot was probably taken in the 1910s. The photographer is standing in the middle of Keswick Road looking west at the façade of the former Evergreen Methodist Protestant church at 4622 Keswick. The men are presumably congregants of the church, though it is anyone's guess as to why no women are present. The man in the very back row, just to the right of the center of the door and holding a large, open book, is probably the minister (and the book presumably a Bible). Interestingly, the man on the far left of the third row appears to be Asian, unusual at the time for this area. In the church's heyday, the Evergreen Methodists met several times a week.
Commentary: The Evergreen church was long ago decommissioned and is today an attractive private house. It looks much as it did in the 1910s, though there is now an addition at the back that juts out at either side. The church's cornerstone was laid in October 1894. The Methodist Protestant Church was founded in 1828 as an offshoot of the Methodist Episcopal Church. In 1939, the majority of Methodist Protestants rejoined other Methodist denominations to form the United Methodist Church. A few Methodist Protestant churches remain, most of them in the American southern states.
Set 23
Mapped Scene: The scene is the intersection of Cold Spring Lane and Schenley Road, whose northwest corner both the photographer and the subject are standing at.
Scene: Looking northeast at 410 W. Cold Spring Lane. This photo was sent to me in 2013 by longtime Evergreen resident Jenny Hughes, who is herself the subject of the photo. At the time of this photo, Jenny's family had only fairly recently moved to Baltimore. The photo was taken by Jenny's father, Kees Westra. This Texaco gas station stood at 410 W. Cold Spring Lane for many years. The location subsequently housed a Hair Cuttery and later S'ghetti Eddie's pasta and pizza restaurant, a local favorite. The location is now the home of Evergreen Veterinary Care.
Commentary: In this modern photo, only a few things may be said to be unchanged from the vintage photo, namely, the two water-meter covers at the center and lower right, the stormwater runoff drain on the other side of the street, and 4507 Schenley Road (top left in the old photo and just visible through the trees in the modern photo).The vetinary surgery that has replaced the gas station is mostly hidden by the hedge on the east side of the street. The USPS mailbox has been moved a few feet northward, for some reason, and now a metal electrical box sits about where once there was a stop sign.
Set 24
Scene: View northward toward Video Americain at 400 W. Cold Spring Lane. A hundred or so feet east of the Texaco station shown in the previous set, there stood for many years a popular independent video-rental store called Video Americain. At its peak, Video Americain had six stores in Delaware and Maryland (it had begun in Delaware). This Evergreen location at 400 W. Cold Spring was last to close (March 16, 2014), killed off like the other five by online streaming services. (The Charles Village store closed in 2012.) At this Cold Spring Lane location, there had once been an Amoco gas station, a photo of which may been seen in Munro's Greater Roland Park book. There was also a Sunoco filling station at 206 W. Cold Spring, now the location of a Royal Farms store and previously the location of a storage yard for the coal depot shown at set 10.
Commentary: In the "now" photo above (taken from slightly further back than the vintage image), there is visible at the far right the gas station that currently occupies 346 W. Cold Spring Lane, as it has for decades. Modern readers may wonder how the three-quarter-mile stretch of W. Cold Spring Lane between Charles Street and Roland Avenue could have supported four service-station locations: 206 (Sunoco, defunct), 346 (now Carroll, previously BP and, before that, Citgo), 400 (Amoco, defunct) and 410 (Texaco, defunct). The answer is that, until the early 1960s, Cold Spring Lane bore proportionately far more traffic than it does now. Until 1962, there was no Northern Parkway, that location being occupied by the quiet, residential Belvedere Avenue. Consequently, the bulk of northern Baltimore's east/west traffic went along Cold Spring instead. With the massive widening of Belvedere into Northern Parkway in the early 1960s, much of Cold Spring's traffic was lost to the new parkway (mercifully, as far as local residents were concerned). The reduced flow along Cold Spring shrank the gas stations' customer base, eventually leaving only the Carroll Station, which now mostly serves area homeowners.
Set 25
Mapped Scene: The photo at left was taken at the mouth of the short alley between 4505 and 4507 Wilmslow Road, the latter then called Ashland Avenue.
Scene: A Ford Model A coupe on Wilmslow. The hardcopy print of this photo was mailed to the owner of 4505 Wilmslow Road in 2012. The subject is thought to be Jimmy Lavery, a resident of 4505 during the interwar period. Here he is facing southwest at the mouth of the short alley between what are now 4505 and 4507 Wilmslow Road, though in those days the road was called Ashland Avenue. The house in the background is 4507. The photo is undated, but the car — which is presumably Lavery's, but which could be the neighbor's — is a Ford Model A coupe, sold between 1928 and 1931. The car does not look particularly new, perhaps dating the photo to the mid-1930s.
Commentary: Nearly a century later, the alley is still used for homeowner parking. The formerly shingle-clad 4507 Wilmslow is now decked out in vinyl siding.
Along Roland Avenue
Set 26
Mapped Scene: The "Miller house" appears on Roland Park maps as early as 1898, though at this early stage the owner is given as Christian Ax. Here "Elmhurst" is obviously Elmhurst Road and Capron Avenue is today Upland Road.
Scene: The Miller house at 4809 Roland Avenue. Here, the unknown photographer is looking northeast at the large, double-turreted house that still dominates the 4800 block of Roland Avenue. Tax records give 1895 as the year of construction, and certainly the house is evident on the 1898 Bromley map — with the Ax household given as the owners. The owner was stated to be "Geo. Miller" by the time of the Bromley 1915 map, a name which stuck thereafter. This photo carries no date but the book it appears in was published in 1953, so obviously the shot predates that.
Commentary: By the 1990s, Roland Avenue's grande dame had been turned into apartments. More recently, it has been restored to its former glory as a single-family home. It is, at least as far as external appearances go, to all intents and purposes identical to how it looked in the old photo.
Set 27
Construction View: The Roland Park Presbyterian church's old south façade was demolished in the 1950s to permit the enlarging of the church. This photo of the church shows it with the façade removed
Scene: The Roland Park Presbyterian church as seen from the trolley tracks. Standing on the Roland Avenue street car median, the photographer is looking more or less east at the well known Roland Park Presbyterian church. State tax records do not give the year of the church's building. It does not appear in the 1898 Bromley Plat 1 map, though it does appear on the 1915 Bromley map. According to the congregation's website, "On May 8, 1900, eleven men and ten women met in the home of John T. Hill to discuss the idea of forming a Presbyterian church in the then-new Roland Park neighborhood of Baltimore.... The cornerstone of the church building was laid on July 10, 1902, and seventeen months later on December 6, 1902, dedication services were held." The stone building cost $15,000.
Commentary: The church building now is considerably different, and bigger, than the one dedicated in 1902. The portico that once adorned the south façade of the church is now gone as, indeed, is the whole façade. The new façade extends considerably further south than the original. With the church's 50th anniversary in 1950, a committee determined on the need considerably to enlarge the church building — by "literally tearing the structure apart and rebuilding it with added spaces," in the words of a former pastor, Donald C. Kerr. The reconstruction cost was $250,000 and the church was rededicated on May 1, 1960.
Set 28
Scene: Looking east at the Bians house, then styled 117 Roland Avenue. This house is on the east side of the 4500 block Roland Avenue. Now styled 4511 Roland Avenue, its address was originally 117 Roland Avenue. The old Bians house has seen its lot considerably deforested in recent times but, apart from that, there is no mistaking the place.
Commentary: For readers wondering why this house is now on the 4500 block, instead of the 100 block, of Roland Avenue, the answer is this. For Roland Park Co. purposes, Roland Avenue was considered to start on the north side of Cold Spring Lane. The street numbers started there. The lowest number was 100; there was no unit block. This numbering system still obtains on the north/south non-through streets in plats 1 and 2 that do not pass through Evergreen (i.e., Hawthorn, Ridgewood and Woodlawn roads, and Goodwood Gardens). In contrast, through streets such as Roland Avenue and Keswick Road,and non-through streets that pass through Evergreen (Schenley and Wilmslow roads), use the regular city numbering system. Under the city system, blocks immediately north of Cold Spring are numbered in the 4500 range. Keswick Road and Roland Avenue were converted to conform to the city numbering system sometime after the city's annexation of Roland Park at midnight on New Year 1918/1919. I do now know why the citynumbering system was not extended to all Roland Park north/south roads.
Set 29
Mapped Scene: The Krug house does not appear on the 1898 Plat 1 map by Bromley. Indeed, there is only one house on the east side of the road, the current 4501 Roland Avenue (then 101 RolandAvenue).
Scene: A view of the Krug house at 109 Roland Avenue. Like the house depicted in the set above, this one, too, is on the east side of the 4500 block Roland Avenue. The Krughouse — a distinctive one — now has the address 4505 Roland Avenue, though it used to be numbered 109. The house nowadays beyond the Krugs' has not, in this historic photo, yet been built. This helps us date the photo. It is said to date to 1928, but this cannot be so. The 1915 Bromley map shows this block as being complete, so we know that by the mid-1910s there was already a house beyond the Krug house. The photo must date to the period between 1898 and 1915. The photo appeared in a book published in 1928, apparently leading someone mistakenly to assume the photo was taken that year too.
Commentary: To continue the issue of street numbering started with the set above, readers may be wondering why this house is now the third house on the block (4501, 4503, 4505), when apparently it used to be the fifth (101, 103, 105, 107, 109). The answer is: double lots. The east side of the 4500 block of Roland has seven houses on it. But Bromley's 1898 map of Plat 1 shows it to have been platted for 11 (obviously smaller) lots. Under the old numbering system, the houses were numbered by the actual lot they occupied, not by their place in the sequence of buildings. Therefore, a house on the odd-numbered side of the road, occupying the fifth lot, would be 109, even if there were only two houses below it (but these occupying double lots).
Set 30
Scene: Roland Park Elementary/Middle School as seen from the west side of Roland Avenue, just north of Deepdene. Note the streetcar tracks in the middle of the median strip, the latter screened by privet hedges. Note also that by this time, 1929, a small west wing has been added (far left of the photo). This wing is absent from the banner photo of the school at the top of this page.
Commentary: Though it is not strictly speaking in Roland Park proper, the RPEMS is all the same one of the general neighborhood's signature buildings. The original Roland Park public school, as distinct from the one in Evergreen, was called Todd's Academy. It was located at the intersection of Roland Avenue and St. John's Road. (The location is shown in the "west" section of this site.) The current RPEMS building, the subject of this set, was opened in 1924. Initially, the school taught students through the 9th grade; now instruction is through the 8th. The late 1920s west (left) wing was greatly expanded in 1986.
Set 31
Scene: Class photo at the main entrance of Roland Park Elementary/Middle School (then Roland Park Public School No. 233), taken in 1962. "Mr. Williamson" is presumably the teacher in the middle of the back row. Notice the civil defense "Casualty Clearing Station" sign to the right of the door; this photo was taken at the height of the Cold War.
Commentary: The basic scene is unchanged. If you look carefully to the right of the door, you will see the rust outline of the civil defense sign prominent in the 1962 photo and also that of the lamp bracket. (The site of the other lamp bracket, left, is hidden by the yellow poster.)
Set 32
Bird's Eye View: This 1958 aerial view of Gilman shows very well how much the school has developed its buildings over the past several decades. At the far left is Belvedere Avenue, then a minor two-lane residential road. In 1962, it was widened into the current Northern Parkway, a major six-lane thoroughfare.
Scene: This is the Gilman School's distinctive Carey Hall, as photographed facing east from Roland Avenue. Originally called the Boys' Country School, Gilman moved to the Roland Park area in 1909. Roland Park Co. President Edward Bouton actively encouraged the location around Roland Park of schools and like institutions. Assuming, perhaps optimistically, that the grounds around them would never be developed, he regarded them as providing a "green belt" girding Roland Park.
Commentary: Taken 79 years later, the photo above shows a scene very little changed. The ivy has gone from the building and the foreground lawn has more trees and shrubs than previously, but that is about all. The flagstone path is a replacement (the new flagstones are less regularly shaped than in the old photo), but is is nonetheless a good facsimile.