Tag Archives: Loch Raven

Drawing Loch Raven Dam

17 Thursday Aug 2017

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It seems that everytime someone asks me to find something for them, I find a lot more undocumented stuff. While researching information concerning the properties at Ashland, which is Northwest of the Loch Raven Dam, Baltimore, Md., I came upon a full scale drawing of the dam. I had posted a few years ago, one of my favorite photographs:

This is the photographer’s studio showing the artist’s rendition of what the dam would look like when construction is completed in 1922. All the supplies for developing the film/glass plates are on the shelves.

Later I would find a lantern slide of just the drawing.

Yesterday I found a colorized drawing. It is fairly beat up. So glad I was able to scan it.

Swimming Bathing Drowning

06 Thursday Jul 2017

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For your summer reading pleasure:

1916: A 16,000 gallon swimming pool was being built next to Lake Roland. July 19, 1917 letter from Water Engineer Walter Lee to the Baltimore County Commissioners asking that they police the area around Lake Roland as it has been reported that 10-15 persons bathe there every day. They reply that the city should get their own men to do it. June 9, 1923 letter requesting permission for the L’Hirondelle Club to be allowed to swim in Lake Roland. March 1924 newspaper clipping on drowning of boy, thirteen, in Lake Roland. The city investigation tried to place blame on the Pennsylvania Rail Road, who they say had some timbers floating about, which the boy fell off of as he used them as a raft. The PRR said it was a contractors fault, who used the timbers for some work they were doing. They also note that the boys were trespassing at the time of the incident. October 10, 1917 letter from Walter Lee to Mayor Preston notifying him of the intent of two ladies from Hampden, asking that a swimming pool be constructed on the property of the Hampden reservoir. They were also soliciting for his honor to pass a city ordinance in which they were to propose. Lee asks that if this happens, would the mayor turn the property over to Park Board? June 20, 1922 letter from Megraw to Christhilf Construction and other contractors, asking that they put in a modest bid (For charities sake) for the construction of a swimming pool at West Park (New name of Hampden Reservoir area) March 22, 1923 memo concerning the creation of a swimming pool between the upper and lower dams complete with toilet, shower facilities and a snack shack. June 20, 1924 letter from Armstrong to Siems concerning the swimming in the waters between the dams. He says it is prohibited. June 20, 1926 letter from the Baltimore Federation of Labor to Bernard Siems concerning the city using non-union workers to build the Druid Park Swimming Pool. On the bottom of this memo is a union logo: Specify UNION LABOR, have the job done Right!

Druid Park Swimming Pool

July 11, 1927 letter from Wolman to Wieghardt, “…when the pool was inspected by us a couple years ago we were informed that the Hampden Reservoir contained filtered water…the Hampden reservoir obtains all its water from the Jones Falls. In other words, the pool has been obtaining a completely untreated water from a relatively dangerous source, which has been abandoned for all municipal purposes for over 10 years…” July 14, 1927 letter refers to the Hampden Reservoir area as Roosevelt Park instead of West Park. June 24, 1930 memo from Rost to the Police Commissioner asking that the police stop the boys from climbing over the fence and swimming in the Montebello Plant II filtered water reservoir. 1932 Pools listed are: Druid Hill Colored Pool, Druid Hill White Pool, Gwynns Falls Park Pool, Carroll Park Wading Pool, Riverside Park Pool, Patterson Park Pool, and Clifton Park Pool.

Clifton Park Pool

June 10, 1933 police report on a ten year old who went swimming with three other youths and he drowned. The others left him and told no one. July 18, 1935 request from the National Guard for a shooting range at Loch Raven. Small does not want this. August 15, 1935 Brigadier General Washington Bowie writes Small back stating, “I note what you state in regard to the interference with the recreational purposes. If you had been with me last Sunday…when I saw three negroes in bathing suits swimming back and forth near where I wish to locate the range, or on a previous occasion when I found a half-dozen white boys swimming…I think you would find a rifle range more desirable than such recreational use…the portion outlined on your print is constantly used by both negroes and whites for swimming. The rifle range would at least make this unpopular.”  Bowie then goes over Small’s head to Crozier. Crozier agrees with Small. A few months later, the Mayor agrees with Small and Crozier. June 14, 1938 list of names of swimmers at Loch Raven. Officer Goetz is to arrest these people and take them to Towson jail if they are caught again swimming in the reservoir. June 14, 1945 memo from A. Bailey to L. Small concerning kids swimming in the waste lake, “The boys in the Northwood neighborhood…are using it as a swimming pool…groups up to about thirty…during the daylight and night hours, sometimes as late as 12pm. They have been warned a number of times by various employees of this division only to be cursed for their troubles…radio police have been summoned but made no attempt to stop this practice…I talked with two patrolmen while eight to ten boys were in the lake and asked that they talk to the boys…they promised they would but walked to the opposite side of the lake and blew their whistles instead. Yesterday, June 13, there were even a greater number of swimmers than any time previous, so I contacted these boys personally and told them that it was my orders to have them arrested…they paid little attention to what I said…placed twelve ‘No Trespassing’ signs up. By 9pm all signs but one were removed and destroyed. At 10pm, a great commotion was heard, a group of three boys were in swimming and one had gotten into trouble and was so far gone when they rescued him, that it was necessary to apply artificial respiration…police called and all three were taken to Sydenham Hospital. The police, at least the patrolmen, do not seem to want to cooperate with us and make no attempt to put a stop to the practice of swimming. (We) could drain the lake and keep it drained in the summer months…parents may then be willing to stop their kids, but judging from what I have seen of these people, I do not believe they have enough control over their children to prevent them from doing anything that they wish to do. Child delinquency for this section is bad, if not worse than the average for Baltimore City. August 23, 1945 memo from Bailey to Strohmeyer about unwanted visitors to the plant. Young men swimming in the waste lake, one almost drowned. Two, three year olds, alone, swimming in waste lake. One threw a fit and refused to leave. The police were called. Two teenagers running through Plant II and when told to leave, went and got their father who dared anyone to stop them from coming into the plant. An undated memorandum: “Yesterday afternoon … three young men found swimming in the Balancing Reservoir at Loch Raven in their birthday clothes.”

Gwynn’s Falls Pool – the overflow goes right into the stream, adding more pollution.

The largest of the pools back then.

Tunnel Inspection Part 2

30 Friday Jun 2017

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Over a year ago I was asked to be part of an inspection team, to walk/boat through the 12′ tunnel that connects the Loch Raven Reservoir to the Montebello Filters. This tunnel was built between 1875 and 1881. In the early years it was inspected quite often. In the 1960s it was decided, after a parallel tunnel was built in the late 1930s, to reverse the flow in this old tunnel to supply drinking water to Towson via the Cromwell Pumping Station. The old tunnel was last inspected in 1984. For that info you can see my post linked here:  https://rep5355.com/2016/04/06/tunnel-inspection/

In preparation for the inspection, I did all the necessary training – Red Cross/CPR, Confined Space, etc. Then we were told that it was too unsafe to send anyone in the tunnel. Totally bummed!

So now they have finally gotten around to inspecting the tunnel with a remote operated vehicle. It has been a long week starting last Friday. First order of business was to clear the site for the contractor to bring in his equipment.

Area cleared and the phragmites sprayed.

Next, construction mats were placed across the phrag roots – which is very soft. (And the equipment very heavy) These boards did the trick.

The equipment was unloaded. This is the inspection vehicle. It is about 14′ long and weighs 1500 pounds.

This is the tether. The sub is connected to this. It is 7 miles long, but only needs to go 5-1/2 miles.

The sub will enter at the top right. This is looking down the shaft towards the tunnel.

Here she goes.

Because this is a pipe that is in use, with drinking water, everything that enters the water was sprayed with a chlorine solution.

The control center. All this information on all these screens will be made into a report for the City to decide if the tunnel is still usable. The interesting one is bottom center. If you watch that and there is a change in the circle, say a rise in the bottom, that means the sub is going over a rock fall. You then look at the camera display and you can actually see it.

In my previous tunnel inspection post is a photo where the balancing shaft enters the tunnel at Cromwell. It is mostly smooth. Unlike this entry point – it looks like someone busted thru the top of the tunnel with a sledge hammer.

The sub was moving at a nice pace – looked like the Enterprise going at warp speed! Not sure what those particulates are just yet. Probably just some stirred up lime deposits.

And when I got bored, I went looking for nature. There are 3 young bucks…

A couple babies.

An Eastern-eyed Click Beetle

Bunches of other bugs.

And our night time visitor looking for food.

Saving History, One Piece at a Time

16 Friday Jun 2017

Posted by in Baltimore, HISTORY, water history

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Anyone that has been following my blog will remember my writing about a few construction projects that are water related. Such as the new buildings at Loch Raven, the contractor busting a hole in the ten foot conduit that supplies water to Baltimore, another contractor digging up the foundation to an old pumping station, the attempts to save the Clifton Gate House, the Roland Tower, the residence at Montebello, etc.

When I first wrote about the work along Loch Raven, I wrote about the house and buildings they were tearing down. After being notified of this project, I went to investigate and saw a bunch of metal signs. Not necessarily ultra historic, but a part of Baltimore’s Water Supply History nonetheless. I was able to retrieve from the contractor, 2 of the 8 that were there. The other six were taken by a company the reuses old building materials.

Here is one of the eight signs. This all happened a few months ago. The other day I received an email. One of those courtesy type ones from the big bosses downtown, trying to keep me in the history loop. Well, I was dumbfounded when I read the email. It just said FYI and had the attached photo along with two other attachments.

I couldn’t believe what I was seeing! This photo is of the marble plaque that was in the original 1881 gate house to the first Loch Raven Dam!!! i always wondered what happened to this thing.

The third attachment is a quote, only partially shown to protect the parties involved. Two marble plaques? The quote went on to say that the other one was dated 1887!! Holy crap! Only one water works related to Loch Raven was built at that time and that was the Clifton Gate House!! My eyes were playing tricks on me!! This couldn’t be!

But wait! How did this company get these things and were they really trying to sell them back to the City? City property??!! I don’t think I ever cussed in an email to one of the bosses downtown but I just couldn’t contain myself “What the hell! This is City property. How can they charge us for something that is ours?!” I suggested he gets the Environmental Police involved to check this out. If not, tell them I will give them $500 and we won’t press charges. He said he turned it over to the EP. And he did. Today I received a copy of the investigative report stating that these items were picked up by accident and would be returned to the City. And they were this afternoon!!

More on this later so stay tuned! (I want to go into a lengthy bit of comment on what we should learn from this…)

Loch Raven Property Part 2

14 Wednesday Jun 2017

Posted by in Baltimore, Dams, HISTORY, water history

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Back in December I posted information about a house that was being torn down to make way for a new Loch Raven Reservoir Maintenance building(s). Some questions came up as to who owned the house originally and how long had it been there. Just recently my blog had been read and I have been in communication with two brothers that lived there. Their grandfather was the superintendent of the property from the fifties to the eighties.

I found this photo and the accompanying info sheet on the property.

Back in 1932 a handyman lived there named William Butcher. The brother’s names are Joe and Jim Greenwood. Their grandfather’s name was William Farrell. They are going to try and find some photographs of when they lived there.

In my records is this house, occupied by Howard Finnerty.

As can be seen, this house was 1500 feet south of the dam, which puts it just north of the Butcher property.

Enlarging this photo from about 1914, you can see both houses to the left.

Another interesting house adjacent to the property was occupied by John Chenowith.

According to this record, the house was 2200 feet from the dam which kind of puts it just south of Shanghai Run, on the hill. I did find a photo that LOOKS like this house from 1914 but I am not sure.

Here is some of what the brothers said about growing up on Loch Raven:

• Jim Greenwood said: June 12, 2017 at 4:15 pm
According to family history, the home was built in stages sometime before the Civil War. The kitchen section was built first, then the center section, then finally the large section up front, including the porch. It was later bought by the city.
The house was always occupied by the Superintendent up until 1980 when my grandfather retired. Legend has it that General Harry Gilmor spent time in the house during his adventures in the area.
Many, many stories. I remember evacuating the house during Agnes, and ice skating below the lower dam in the winter, and hearing about Chuck Thompson at the fishing center (a celebrity!) In the 60s we’d get trapped in the house as the road became gridlocked with folks cruising in their cars and flat lands below the dam became a big parking lot/beach party every weekend. In the mid-seventies they planted trees below the lower damn and closed the road on the weekends and the hippies were replaced by bicyclists.
Despite the beautiful photos, the area between the dams was usually a mud pit with a stream of water trickling down the middle.
My grandfather kept a close eye on the place, and we always enjoyed him shouting from the front porch at people getting into things they shouldn’t get into.

• Joe Greenwood said: June 13, 2017
I think Chuck Thompson came to one of the crab feasts. Several barrels of steamed crabs from Hale’s for the then crazy sum of $100 each.
Winter was always fun for us with the salt trucks going in and out and never understood why our grandfather hated snow. Greatest sled hill in the world up behind the pumps and the old foundation up on the hill. We somewhat had the run of the place since all the workers knew us and we would despoil Uncle Bill’s penny jar and walk to Sanders’ at the juncture of Cromwell Valley. If nothing else, we could check on the dead cat along the way and occasionally didn’t catch fish off the little dam while the hippies jumped off it. It was always fascinating to talk to Clarence, who tended to come on duty in the evening to patrol and was missing a finger and was always happy to show us his pistol.
We did get in a little trouble like accidentally throwing kerosene on the workers’ wood stove.

So now the question comes up! Should this house have been torn down before doing a thorough investigation? Gilmor??

This is a historic marker up off of Mountain Road, not too far from Loch Raven. Which brings up another question – since a lot of people are so hell bent on erasing history, by removing Confederate statues – should all the Highway Markers also be removed?

Thanks to Joe and Jim Greenwood for your stories. This is what makes my job so interesting.

 

Ghost in the Conduit

18 Thursday May 2017

Posted by in Dams, engineering, HISTORY, water history

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Awhile back I had posted some photographs of the construction work at Loch Raven. The contractor hit and poked a hole through the ten foot conduit that supplies water to Baltimore from the Loch Raven Reservoir. Fortunately, another one of the conduits was in service, so the damage did not affect our drinking water supply. This conduit was installed in 1915. It is riveted, welded steel. Some portions are encased in concrete and a good portion is lined with cement.

I would like to thank Pure Technologies for giving me permission to use their photographs.

Pure crew heading into the conduit. This is near Mine Bank Run, heading towards the dam. The water would eventually be at chest level.

This was interesting and took a little research to figure it out. The smaller opening on the right connected to the 1880 rock and brick tunnel. In 1937 they built a parallel pipe line from Loch Raven to Baltimore and that is the conduit on the left. There is a valve in the smaller pipe stopping the flow of water towards Baltimore. Down stream further, the raw water pipeline becomes potable water from Baltimore, to Towson, at Cromwell.

Continuing the inspection of the conduit. Pretty good shape for being over 100 years old.

The fish like the water (Baltimore water finished in the top ten again this year in a national taste test)

Not sure what this is. Looking at the drawings I saw where there is a drainage system under the steel conduit. But didn’t see this in the drawings.

Pure finally reached their destination. The damage is a little more than we thought. The cement lining has been knocked off.

It is about a 3’x4′ section of damage.

This is the hole that the excavator punched through. There are also about 5-6 dents in the pipe.

When the inspection crew climbed out, I think they brought something with them…

Roundhouse

05 Wednesday Apr 2017

Posted by in Baltimore, engineering, water history

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A couple weeks ago the contractor called me over to the site because they struck something that is not on the drawings. This was about the 12th time in 10 days they hit something buried, not on the drawings. i go over and this is what I saw:

At first glance, it looks like an electrical ductbank, enclosed in concrete. I told the contractor I would go look in my drawings to see what I could come up with. When I retuned, unable to find anything, the contractor had cleared some more dirt from the concrete.

Am I hallucinating or does that thing have a curve to it?? Holy crap, that looks like the foundation to the old roundhouse, which was the Montebello Pumping Station, built in 1914-1915. More research to do.

This hole was dug and goes about 75 feet down at which point they busted through the 1881 tunnel from Loch Raven. The pumping station was to be used to pump water from Loch Raven, into the filtration plant. This was due to the city not getting permission to raise the new dam above an elevation of 188′ (The new dam is now at 240′)

This photo shows the foundation for the pumps and the piping waiting to be placed.

Looking at the top tier here it can be seen the structure matches the first photo above. The hole in the center is the suction well.

View from the outside of the roundhouse. This is facing south towards the filtration building.

This is looking north from the the head house. The roundhouse foundation is flush with the ground level.

Nearing completion.

The pumps.

From the time this was built until about 1957, this pumping station had more than its fair share of problems – wrong size pumps, electrical problems, building being struck by lightening a few times, power surge from Holtwood Electric, water hammers that raised and cracked the foundation, etc. In 1963 the building was demolished but, the foundation remains. And now the problem is, what’s down there? Will this area support the weight of a generator and fuel tanks? And is that hole still open (there is an air vent coming out of dead center)? The tunnel underneath originally supplied water to Montebello from Loch Raven. Now this tunnel supplies drinking water to Towson, via the Cromwell Pumping Station.

This shows where the roundhouse use to be, north of Filter building.

Updates: Batcave and Drain

20 Monday Mar 2017

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When I was up Loch Raven checking on the drain pipe to the 10′ tunnel, I checked on the unknown tunnel that was busted a couple days before. The contractor took it upon himself to start digging it out before anyone could verify what it was. As said before, this thing was built prior to 1875.

Fortunately the City’s closed circuit TV guys showed up before it was totally destroyed. In the upper left shows the rocks removed, that were used to build the tunnel. From where the spool is, center of photograph, to where the front of the excavator is, is what they dug out.

Here is the remote camera. Pretty neat toy. They burnt me a dvd of the exploration.

What was unexpected was that the tunnel branched off to the right. The camera couldn’t make the turn. It went about 38′ in at both areas. This side had a built up wall at the end. The other side was collapsed, probably from them compacting the soil for the new building. Real shame that we don’t know what this was. I personally believe it was an aqueduct, to bring water from Shanghai Run or Towson Run down to the farm?

Meanwhile, back at the drain. The contractors removed the steel bars in front of the drain opening.

The flow was better but the contractor needs it opened more to drain the 10′ tunnel, so they can start repairs. I believe the above photo is at 8 turns, 20%.

And this will be at about 40%. They installed the metal plates in hopes of stopping the erosion of the shore line. I am concerned with the bed of the stream, They think it will be alright. We will find out if the steel plates start slipping downwards…

Busted Pipe

17 Friday Mar 2017

Posted by in 1972, Baltimore, Dams, water history

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As I mentioned a few weeks ago, the contractor building a new maintenance facility at Loch Raven, busted a hole in the 10′ water pipe.

The site of the new complex, along the west bank of the Gunpowder River. The caution sign is the area where they broke the pipe. It is now covered with steel plates.

Here is what the conduit looked like when it was installed in 1913. It is a steel pipe, welded and riveted together.

As the conduit was installed, they encased some sections of it in concrete, to give it some strength. Loch Raven Drive is directly above this pipe in some areas.

Looking under the steel plate I ask – how the hell do you NOT know that this pipeline is there?? In the photo can be seen above the wood stake, water pouring out of the pipe. Surrounding the stake is the rebar the contractor had to break thru in the cement to strike the steel pipe. The contractor is lucky that the dam has two independent conduits coming out of it.

There was built a parallel pipeline back in 1972. I’m not sure why or even why it is called the Parallel Pipeline. It kind of zig-zags across the river.

The contractors of 1972 had their fair share of problems – like the worksite getting flooded. The lower, smaller dam is in the background.

In order for the present day contractor to fix the hole he made, the City was asked to drain the pipe.

After searching thru some old drawings, we were able to find the location of the drain pipe. This is a 12″ drain connected to a 10′ pipe.

My favorite valve guys came out to try and open it by hand but were unable to. It has been a very long time since this was open. They ended up having the contractor core drill a hole in the vault roof above the valve. They then used their valve truck to turn it.

This is at 8 turns, 20% open. This will take quite a while to drain. The contractor is impatient.

But. as you can see, opening it up too far will erode the stream bank right under this bridge. Today the contractor was given the ok to place steel plates in the stream to divert the flow away from the bank.

Meanwhile, I roamed around some and took some pics – of other than work related stuff. A stone snowman walking his stone snow duck.

Root system.

View across the reservoir. Days like this, I like my job…

 

Lewis M Keizer Farm

24 Friday Feb 2017

Posted by in HISTORY, water history

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I was called up to Loch Raven today because the contractor punched a hole through the ten foot water supply conduit, but that is a another story for another time. A lot of finger pointing going on so I should stay quiet for now…

Anyway, while up there one of the laborers approached me and asked if I was the history guy and did I want to see something? Ok. He showed me the below stone:

067

This is a nice sized marker (I hope it’s not part of a grave marker!) I recognized the name from some research I had done. So I did a quick look to see what I could find. I asked two of the workers there to load it onto my truck for me. Below are 2 photos of the old farm in 1921.

tract86a-1

This was when the city was buying up all the property around the Gunpowder Falls for the watershed, to raise the dam.

tract86a-2

It was a nice farm and the city didn’t tear it down, instead they used it as can be seen in the below excerpts:

1880 record of land acquisition and plat.
October 19, 1922 letter from assistant engineer Browne to Loch Raven resident engineer Allen, “…Megraw here today…you were to appoint a watchman for the Keiser property…a man who is now employed by Keiser known as Arc [Tracry]. Please permit me to tell you that this man has a (?) rep in this vicinity…he is a common thief. He has also deserted his wife and is living openly here in a city house with another woman…” October 23, 1922 letter, marked at top “Confidential Department Business” from assistant engineer Browne to Loch Raven Resident Engineer Allen, “I wish to advise you that [darkey] on Keiser property is about to move some property from such place during next day or so.”
November 6, 1922 memo from assistant Engineer Brown to Resident Engineer Allen, “The negro Henderson, former farm hand for Mr. Keiser, has visited this property and endeavored to start a row here. All due to his not moving his things…he comes and takes what he wants…need some direction from you as to what to do.”
January 23, 1928 letter to Armstrong from Rost, “Kindly permit Doctor Stuart Cassard to inspect the Keiser property (Near Phoenix, Loch Raven watershed). April 21, 1928 request from Girls Vocational School for tours of both Loch Raven and Montebello. July 3, 1928 letter, “To Whom It May Concern, This letter gives authority to bearer, Mr. G.S. Koller…and party to use the grounds of the Keiser property…for an outing. The request for this permission was endorsed by Mr. McKeldin, secretary to Mayor Broening.” October 10, 1928 another letter giving permission to inspect Keiser property, including the mansion house.
A different Keizer farm but a head scratcher never the less: May 17, 1948 letter from Fenwick Keyser to Small: Becoming involved with such people is a profitless occupation. They would only retaliate by harming my cattle, my dogs, or setting fire to farm buildings. All of the neighbors who own their homes around me are sober, industrious people. We are all on the best of terms. We do not shoot each other’s dogs or heap abuse on each other. I have tried to get along with your tenants. A few months ago I rounded up the escaped goats owned by the renter in the old Kiser place. He replied by killing our pet cat a few weeks later.

Nice history! But as can be seen in the 1928 note, the property was at Phoenix so what was this marker doing where the laborer found it? Eight miles away as the crow flies? A Google search also shows that Lewis Keizer had 3 patents for engine carburetors.