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Tiffany Reservoir

11 Tuesday Sep 2018

Posted by Ronald Parks in Baltimore, engineering, water history

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Baltimore, bridges, Dams, engineering, Gunpowder Falls, HISTORY, Jones Falls, Lake Montebello, Lake Roland, maps, POLITICS, Public Works, Research, water history

Quite an interesting find: A map from 1867. What makes this map so interesting is that in all my research I never came across any references for having the Gunpowder Falls connected to a reservoir called Tiffany. Everything I read said it would flow by gravity to a new reservoir, Lake Montebello.

First off, let my give a little history on how this water supply came about. Starting in 1836: Samuel Smith, Mayor, appoints a committee to hire the services of a Delaware Engineer named John Randall, to study and recommend a plan for the Baltimore Water Supply. In 1837 John Randall proposed that the City of Baltimore gets its water from the Great Gunpowder Falls. Suggested building two dams, one dam on the Gunpowder near Tysons Mill and the second dam on the Western Run near York Road. Water from these dams was to flow by gravity into the valley of Jones Falls to a receiving reservoir at about Elevation 300. Lake Roland is at 300’

In 1850 consulting engineers are hired to look into Randall’s proposal and then in 1852 a water commission is formed.

1854 Mr. John Smith Hollins, Mayor. Mr. Alfred Duval, Civil Engineer of Baltimore and a private citizen, presented a report to the Council recommending the development of a water supply from the Gunpowder Falls. Duval recommended the building of a dam at Raven’s Rock, the closest point on the Gunpowder Falls to the City, and a tunnel to convey the water by gravity from the dam to a receiving reservoir near Montebello. Mr. Sickles recommended to the Council the adoption of a modified version of the Duval proposal. Mr. Sickles had made extensive surveys and reported to the Mayor and City Council a plan for an ‘air-lined tunnel’ to convey the water of the Gunpowder to the City. An ordinance authorizing such a development was passed by the Council in October but was never signed by the Mayor.

1857 Mr. Thomas Swann, Mayor. Mr. James S. Suter, Water Engineer (April 14, 1857). Original plan for the Jones Falls development was modified by an ordinance adopted in July.  Ordinance instructed Water Commissioners to procure an increased supply of water from Jones Falls “agreeably to a plan heretofore reported to the Council by James Slade, Civil Engineer”. The Water Board is reorganized on April 14 and the first Water Engineer appointed was James Suter.

1860 Swann Lake, (Lake Roland) is completed on the Jones falls.

1861 both the Hampden and Mt Royal Reservoirs are completed.

1866 Mayor John Lee Chapman realizes the approaching inadequacy of Jones Falls as a continuing source of future water supply.

1867 A map of Tiffany Reservoir is drawn up.

As can be seen in this portion of the map below, the location is on the western side of Hillen Road. On a 2018 map it would be the area of Hillen Rd. and 35th St. Where Mergenthaler school is and the area where the houses are on 35th. 

Here is an early photograph of the area where Lake Montebello would be. I am assuming that this is looking east from Hillen Rd to the site of the lake.

And here is an 1880s map showing how the lake and Loch Raven Conduit was (and is) laid out. 

Returning to the Tiffany Reservoir map, a couple things of interest: On the Tiffany map you can see it says Tiffany Conduit connected to Tiffany T (tunnel) then to Herring Run Conduit. Looking close you can see that there are two colorings of this conduit; the first and third sections being blue. The middle section (Tiffany T) is black. All the black sections in this conduit are underground. All the blue ones are open channels. I believe this is where the term ‘Air-lined Tunnel’ came from? That there was not enough head pressure to completely fill the underground portions. Following the tunnel north. The Herring Run Conduit becomes the Sater’s Ridge Tunnel.

And that turns into the Mine Bank Conduit, to the dam at Loch Raven. Another symbol on this map I like is that all the roads pass over the river and streams as regular bridges. On the one below you can see where the road passes over the Gunpowder, below the dam and around the corner, it is colored in, which shows that back in 1867 there was a covered bridge at Cub Hill and Cromwell Bridge roads. 

A couple more items of interest on this map – The location of Glenn Ellen Castle.

Swann Lake (Lake Roland). The title of the Tiffany Map is somewhat wrong. It states “In connection with the Swann Lake Aqueduct.” I believe it should say “In relation to”. On this map I do not see it connected.

The Hampden (Noted as Hampton on map) and Mt. Royal Reservoirs.

And this map portion that shows the Johns Hopkins property before it became Lake Clifton, and a race track in the lower right corner. In a few years from this map’s date, a Baltimore County water filtration plant will be built near the track; using ozone filtering technology. (I forget off hand what the date was – maybe 1907?)

And finally, on the map title is HMF v Stamp as the Chief Engineer. I could not find anything about this person until 1873 where he is listed as the contractor to build the Temporary Water Supply, from the Gunpowder to Roland Run, which fed Lake Roland. It consisted of a couple pumps near Meredith Bridge, running some pipes to dump into Roland Run.

The Tiffany Run Reservoir was never built. Lake Montebello was. Many droughts, flooding of the Jones Falls and finally and over polluted Jones Falls required the new, permanent Gunpowder Works to be built – and is still in service today.

Note: This map is too brittle and too large for my scanner.

Good Intentions, Not Always Good Results

04 Friday May 2018

Posted by Ronald Parks in engineering, Hopkins, Reservoir, water history

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Baltimore, Cromwell Park, Dams, engineering, Hiking, Loch Raven, maps, nature, photography, Research, water history

A couple weeks ago I was drawn into a discussion concerning the Balancing Reservoir adjacent to Cromwell Valley Park. I say adjacent because it is City property, in Baltimore County, part of the City’s watershed. This past weekend was the first chance that Kathy and I had to take a hike through CVP and this is what greeted us:

A poem about graffiti. What the hell? So I looked down at the balancing reservoir shaft and understood.

Someone drew, what I guess they thought, was a peace symbol and a heart. Going down the slope we saw even more.

Now I understand the reason for the poem. What idiots! I have never understood graffiti. Some that are murals are nice, but this makes no sense to me. And no, I don’t believe in that sort of “Freedom of Expression”

What does this have to do with my Post Title and opening statement? The discussion I had was with City Watershed personnel, the County, the Park and the volunteers at CVP. The area has been nicely cleared around this structure and throughout the reservoir. Unfortunately by clearing it out, it made it more accessible to more people and more people means more risk of vandalism. The discussion, both pros and cons, concerned restoring the site. Pros – historical water history. Cons – disruption to the wildlife and native plants.

Here is a 1921 partial drawing of the Balancing Reservoir.

We walked down the shaft slope and went over to the quarry, then to the spillway. View from the beginning of spillway looking toward Mine Bank Run.

A close up of the Spillway.

And of Molly not wanting to get too close. It is about a 20′ drop. There use to be a rope across there saying “Danger”

From the spillway we walked over to the dam. This dam actually has a concrete apron that extends partially down the slope towards the surge shaft. It has been pretty much cleared out, to the bird watchers and rangers dismay.

Here is the balancing reservoir in use 1922. This view is from the shaft to the dam.

This other view is looking over the old quarry. Both of these photos come from the Maryland Historical Society.

No trip to CVP would be complete without a hike to the Kilns.

New signage everywhere – kind of reminds me of an old 70s song! Descriptive signs.

My take on all this? Originally I thought it would be great to restore the complete balancing reservoir to its original construction, but I’m not so sure now. It would be nice to clear the concrete apron around the surge shaft and the concrete spillway. Not sure it would be worth clearing the dam face. Too many animals and birds in that area. And as the poem states, “volunteers…in their older years…” Who will maintain it 20 years from now? The City won’t and they haven’t. The place is only historical in the minds of people who appreciate their water source. Most people that turn on their faucets could care less about the history of how it gets there!

And for my history friends, here is a map from 1915 of the area. When the City built the new dam.

 

Swann Lake – Not the Ballet

23 Friday Feb 2018

Posted by Ronald Parks in Baltimore, engineering, HISTORY, water history

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Baltimore, Dams, engineering, HISTORY, Jones Falls, Lake Roland, maps, Monuments, POLITICS, Public Works, Research, water history

When I first started researching the water history of Baltimore, and I came across a map of Swann Lake, I just assumed that it was called Swann Lake because the Mayor at that time was Thomas Swann, who later went on to be the Governor of Maryland. 

Here is the man himself. In the journal I am presently transcribing, I came across this entry:

October 4, 1869: The Committee on Swann Lake submitted the following report: Having examined the minutes of the Board and the records of the office, with the view of ascertaining in what way and by what authority the Lake, so long called Lake Roland received the name of Swann Lake, would respectfully call the attention to the Board the following – That Mr. Charles Manning, Chief Engineer was asked to name the principal stream that supplies the Lake, by which with great propriety the Lake could be known. Under his direction the name of Lake Roland was placed over the door of the stop house and a map of Lake Roland was presented to the Water Board with the general and final report of the Chief Engineer on the completion of the Works. In this manner the lake became known to all our citizens, by a familiar and more appropriate local name. The Board of Water Commissioners, by resolution, posed at a regular meeting on December 26, 1861, approved and adopted what had been done in the premises…to be called Lake Roland. At some subsequent period the name on the door (Roland) was erased and Swann Lake inserted and a patch was made and placed on the map stating the same. In the opinion of the Committee, these changes and defacement were entirely unauthorized and would have been improper even if ordered by the Water Board. The Board has heretofore declared its opinion as to the impropriety of designating any of the public works by the name of an individual citizen, because of his connection with the City Government and your committee sees no reason why this Lake should be made an exception of. These views have long been entertained but have thought it best to defer presenting them until the present time, when by no possibility can it be supposed that you are in any way influenced by personal or political feeling. Ask that the Lake be referenced from this point forward as Lake Roland. Unanimously resolved.

So, one has to wonder – did a political adversary go and change the name from Roland to Swann over the door? And why would the Water Engineers continuously refer to the lake as Swann Lake? Every entry that I have summarized from the 1862-1869 journal notes “The work at Swann Lake…” or as such. Here is what the work at Swann Lake looked like. Even A. Hoen and Co. called it Swann.

Wikipedia has this to say about Thomas Swann – not too good a commentary!

Many believed once slavery was abolished in Maryland, African Americans would begin a mass emigration to a new state. As white soldiers returned from southern battlefields they came home to find that not only were their slaves gone but soil exhaustion was causing tobacco crops in southern Maryland to fail. With a growing number of disaffected white men, Thomas Swann embarked on a campaign of “Redemption” and “restoring to Maryland a white man’s government”. His strategy was built on the platform of entrenching white power and displacing independent African Americans. During this same time an oyster crisis in New England caused the oyster industry in Maryland’s Chesapeake Bay to surge. Swann’s problem was that the Bay oyster trade was heavily African American. His solution; use government policy to push African Americans in the bay and replace them with, “White Labor, at reasonable rates wherever needed.” Even more egregious he enacted a law that encouraged white fisherman to harass black fisherman when he signed into law the states first ever “Oyster Code.” “And be it acted, that all owners and masters of canoes, boats, or vessels licensed under this article, being White Men, are hereby constituted officers of this state for the purpose of arresting and taking before any judge or Justice of the Peace, any persons who may be engaged in violating any provisions of this article. Furthermore, all such owners and masters are hereby vested with the power to summon pose comitatus to aid in such arrest.” Even more egregious, any property seized during an “Oyster Code” violation was auctioned off, with one quarter of the proceeds going to the white man who initiated the arrest.

Wow and as Confederate Monuments have been removed in Baltimore, I guess no one thought to remove the entrance of Druid Lake at Swan Drive that has his name emblazoned across the top of the arch!

Montebello and the Panama-Pacific Exposition 1915

22 Friday Dec 2017

Posted by Ronald Parks in Baltimore, Dams, HISTORY, water history

≈ 2 Comments

Tags

Baltimore, Dams, engineering, FILTRATION, glass plate negatives, Gunpowder Falls, HISTORY, Lake Montebello, Loch Raven, maps, Montebello, Public Works, Research, water history

Finishing up documenting a Water Board Minutes of Meetings Journal, I came across a couple of interesting tidbits concerning the connection between Baltimore and San Francisco. In 2015 we both celebrated a 100 year anniversary. Them celebrating the 1915 World’s Fair and us the building and opening of the Montebello Filtration Plant. The connection being this – February 11, 1915 It was resolved by the Water Board to send the Filtration and Dam models to the Panama-Pacific Exposition. According to the model itself, it was completed in December, 1914.

Here is a lantern slide copy of the model. If you visited Montebello during our 100th anniversary and took a tour, you would have saw the actual model.

The lighting in the hallway is terrible with all the reflections. It was too dark with the lights out and too reflective with a flash.

Here is the nameplate data on the model.

Along with this one. I did a search for information on this company but could not find much. And something else I could not find is – where is the model of Loch Raven?

Howell’s did a pretty good job replicating the filtration plant.

The plant as it looked in the 1920s.

I don’t know about anybody else, but I’d like to put little people in here…and maybe Godzilla!!

Showing what the waste lake looked like.

And the detail of the outfall structure.

The waste lake dam and outfall structure being built. Notice the date – October 1914. This means that the model was built conceptually, like an artist’s rendition of something before it is there.

Of course, one research item always leads to more.

In 1884 models of the substructures were built and placed in each gatehouse, Loch Raven and Lake Montebello, to give visitors a better understanding as to how each works. (What happened to them?)
February 6, 1893 the Water Board resolved to send a display to the Columbian Exposition. This was 21 years before the Howell Microcosms were built. so what did they send?
November 18, 1935 letter from M.P. McNulty, he has just completed creating a model of the Loch Raven dams and inquires as to the dates the real dams were built. Small replies that the lower dam was built between 1875 and 1881 by Fenton and Jones, Contractor. The upper dam was constructed by King-Ganey starting in 1912 and finished in 1914 and then raised between 1920 to 1922 by Whiting-Turner. Attached to the letter was a newspaper clipping which shows a picture of the model. (This clipping is at the City Archives)
December 31, 1952 letter from William Eichbaum Scale Models informing Hopkins that they will build a new, Montebello Plant model in the existing case for $1,000.00. This was not done.
And for what appears to be a wonderful book – San Francisco’s Jewel City: The Panama-Pacific International Exposition of 1915 by Laura Ackley

 

 

High Service Reservoir

08 Wednesday Nov 2017

Posted by Ronald Parks in Baltimore, engineering, water history

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Baltimore, Druid Lake, HISTORY, maps, Public Works, Research, water history

I know this is not a very good drawing but I appreciate it nonetheless. I love the detail that went into this.

This is the pump house for the High Service Reservoir (HSR) in Druid Park. A lot of times when talking to people, when I mention the HSR, they assume I am talking about Lake Ashburton. Because the City was constantly growing the HSR steadily moved north.

110-A-98

Here is another cut away view.

WesternHighService1b

This early photograph shows the pump room.

WesternHighService1a

Here we have a photo of the exterior of the building. This photo was used by A. Hoen and Company to create the drawing used by the Water Engineer in his Annual Report for 1875. As shown below.

hsr005

This particular report had many Hoen drawings. (Lithographs).

007

Some things don’t change – today the deer were hanging out at the Dewatering Pumping Station at Montebello.

Druid Park

This is a drawing of Druid Hill Park in 1871. The HSR is lower left. In 1861 the Hampden Reservoir supplied the High Service Zones in the City. In 1873 the HSR above, was called the Pimlico Reservoir and it held 26 million gallons. In 1874 the City used water from the HSR to supply the fountain in Druid Lake (They are supposed to fix the fountain under the new contract going on now). In 1891 the Guilford Reservoir supplied the High Service and then in 1909 Lake Ashburton was the HSR.

Mariners Point Kayaking Adventure

07 Monday Aug 2017

Posted by Ronald Parks in kayaking, nature, Photography

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boats, ducks, Gunpowder Falls, heron, Hiking, kayaking, maps, nature, Osprey, photography, turtles

Although it was somewhat overcast, it was still a great day to be out kayaking.

This was our path. About 3.75 miles and took 2-1/2 hours. We love to stop and look at everything nature has to offer. It was a lot!

As I said, it was dreary out. This is leaving the boat launch, looking towards the train bridge. Last year we headed there after going left up into a cove. This year we explored to the right – Gunpowder Rivers.

A tree hanging on for dear life.

Along the shore and spreading out to the channel was a lot of sea grass. This young Red Winged Black Bird didn’t mind. Neither did we even though it took more energy to paddle through.

Avoiding the tree debris.

We counted up to about 12 Osprey on the back path of our trip. Hard to count because they kept zigzagging right over us.

Me looking up at an Osprey, or him looking down at me?

One of two families of ducks spotted.

Two of these hanging out at different spots.

Kathy told me twice what these guys are called, but I forget!

Old duck blind?

Looking close at the lone flower, off center right, you can see the humming bird.

Lots of butterflies.

They were still checking us out. We didn’t see anyone else on this part of the river.

The other heron. He flew off immediately as we approached his little area. Rough paddling here.

Heading back to the boat ramp. Lots of bigger boats zooming by.

We have no idea what this is!? It is bigger than a basketball.

We saw a few turtles along the way.

Because of how crowded the ramp was, we exited at this small landing. They have cleared it out since last time. 4 steps up and you are at the parking lot.

Until next time nature!

Saw this on Jones Road at Route 7.

It was a really nice day. The park needs more parking for the kayakers. Lots of parking for boat trailers. Kayakers drop off and have to go 1/4 mile to park. After kayaking we went to Big Gunpowder Falls for some pit beef. I haven’t been there in over 30 years. Lots of bikers and a live band outside. Thanks God for another great day!!

Patapsco SP, Avalon

22 Monday May 2017

Posted by Ronald Parks in Baltimore, Hiking, HISTORY, water history

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Tags

Baltimore, bridges, engineering, Hiking, HISTORY, maps, mills, nature, photography, state park, water history

Due to the possibility of rain, we decided to go hiking at Avalon in the Patapsco State Park instead of going kayaking. I have a new phone app called All Trails which is pretty cool. It documents your hike.

Although it says we were moving for 1 hour and 25 minutes, we were actually there for 3 hours. It does not record every time you stop to enjoy the sights, sounds and smells. That is indicated by the thicker line, where we deviated from the trail. Lots of honeysuckle out. The only thing I did not like about this hike was the amount of bikes flying through there. Some had bells, most didn’t.

Entering the park, one of the first things you see is the Thomas Viaduct.

This photo is from the 1930s I believe (DPW Archives). It shows an older train and a newer one from that time.

This photo I took 5 years ago, the last time I visited the park. Soon after this, my Konica Minolta camera would die on me. It was a good camera.

Of course I had to check out the old water works, or what is left of them. Here is some info on that:

On September 30, 1921, the City of Baltimore took over operation of the filters at Avalon. By the purchasing of the Baltimore County Water and Electric Company, the City received a dam and filtration plant on the Patapsco River at Avalon. After this, the filters at Herring Run, near Philadelphia Road, were abandoned and the sand taken to Avalon. Ten years later, the City stops using it.
Of interest is the following:
1923 Correspondence between Edward Rost (Mechanical Engineer), [V].B. Siems (Water Engineer), Edmund Budnitz (Federal Prohibition Director) and A. Bernard Siems (Water Engineer). Concerns sampling water at the Rockburn Branch (Patapsco River), Avalon Pumping Station for pollution caused by illicit liquor still smashed up by Government agents. How the Feds destroyed it and dumped it into the stream, causing the contamination. Excellent description of how the still was built and operated: They built a small dam with a hand pump for water, pumped through a rubber hose and iron pipe to twenty-seven wooden boxes made of pine, made water tight with muslin. They also had a vertical high pressure steam boiler. Scattered around were half gallon mason jars, corn meal and liquid mash. It was suggested by Siems that the mash be hauled away to a local farmer’s manure pit. A follow up letter to the feds by Siems asking that they clean up the corn mash they dumped everywhere, which is still contaminating the stream.

One of the many trails. According to All Trails, there are over 20 miles of trails here.

Tunnels to the other trails.

Another one.

Besides the tunnels to the other side of the train tracks, there were many storm drains. This one had a Tulip Poplar Tree flower. Fell right in place for all to enjoy.

One of our off-trail forages to the river, we came across this guy. There was also an osprey and maybe an adolescent eagle.

Up stream a ways is the swinging bridge. I could swear that when I was young, this bridge was made of rope and wood and it really swung. Now it just kind of bounces.

Five years ago. It was pretty clear under the swinging bridge.

Plein art at the entrance to Cascade Falls.

Well worn trails.

The lower portion of the falls.

Cascade Falls.

Kathy contemplating the sights and sounds of the falls. Molly contemplating how to get off that log and back to land.

Heading back, following the river instead of the trail. Dumpster?

Had trouble finding this guy. An oil tanker that was washed away during Hurricane Agnes, 1972.

This is 5 years ago. So only recently did they (Park people) allow it to get so overgrown. There is a historic marker on the trail – The Forces of Nature.

Walking along the river, found a lot of Sea Glass – actually I guess it is river glass. Also there was an electrical insulator. Found some really nice glass and porcelain. (Kathy found most of it)

A nice day and a wonderful hike. Five years ago I did this hike by myself. It is nice to have someone with me, to enjoy this.

White Boy (or Who Am I?)

09 Thursday Feb 2017

Posted by Ronald Parks in Baltimore, Genealogy, HISTORY

≈ 5 Comments

Tags

1904, ancestry, Baltimore, Genealogy, HISTORY, LIFE, maps, Research

For many years I had been told by family members that ‘we’ are part American Indian. I was even told what tribe we were part of – Delaware. Friends and co-workers told me that I ‘looked’ Indian. I was even given the nickname Cochise at work for a few years. I get really dark in the summertime and back then I had a ponytail.

But then, Ancestry DNA happened. Come to find out, I’m probably one of the whitest white boys you’ll ever meet! Who knew! So I started doing the research through the Ancestry site and there is a lot of interesting information out there. Most notably, one relative of mine was the owner of Congress Hall here in Baltimore, where the second Continental Congress met (1776-1777). (Henry Fite). It burned down during the Great Fire of 1904.

So this is me. There is a lot of research to do yet on my family history. I often wonder what the hell they were thinking back then with the naming of the children? More times than not I wonder what other researchers are thinking when they add people to their family trees – Example: One person has listed that a parent of a relative was 10 when they had their daughter? All that is just to say that you need to be careful what you add to your own tree. Look at dates. And now, I can look at my ethnicity thru the DNA.

Who knew??

dna-map

Montebello Waste Lakes

05 Tuesday Jul 2016

Posted by Ronald Parks in Baltimore, water history

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aerial, Baltimore, drone, engineering, FILTRATION, Health, HISTORY, Lake Montebello, maps, Montebello, POLITICS, Public Works, water, water history

Yes, there are two waste lakes at Montebello. The large one that people use every day as a park and a smaller one, hidden from view, on the filtration plant property. The large one was at one time (1881-1915) used as drinking water. The small one (1915) has always been used to settle out the waste by-products of the filtration process.

To the dismay of the Filter Engineer, he was forced to allow the Model Yacht Club to use the small lake for their club activities in the late 1930s. Sometimes when he was pissed off, he would drain the lake down. At the start of WWII, for security reasons, the club could no longer use the lake.

wl1939

wl1939b

Because of the amount of water processed and the waste created by this process, the lakes would need dredging. It was a lot easier to dredge the smaller one than to do the big one. Unfortunately, the dredged material would be pumped into the big lake. That one was to be dredged every 30 years. An optimal plan would be to dredge the small lake every five years.

wl1978

In 1978 thru 1984, the small lake was dredged.

wl1984

What was called a “sonic survey” took place in 1984, this was to show the nearby residents what needed to be done to the lakes. Both lakes were partially drained to show the amount of sludge build-up.

wl2003

This is a google map aerial of the lake in 2003. The brown sludge build-up is the overflow from the small lake. (Note that Google Map dates are not always correct)

wl2007

2005-2007 a portion of the small lake was dredged and a little over 1/3 of the big lake. Why? Money constraints. They should have completely dredged both lakes, but consulting engineers and politics dictates what goes on.

wl2010

By 2010 the small waste lake is practically filled, again (to the lower right of the 4 square basins) and it is now flowing into the large lake (Hard to see but it is in the lower right corner)

wl2015

By 2013 the big lake starts filling up rather quickly. The small lake is full

wl2016b

In 2016 it was decided to start dredging the small lake, only partially??

wl2016

The present day dredge cutting a path thru the sludge. The waste lake is about 30 feet deep here. they have only reached 17 feet (Photo courtesy Merrill Bros. drone)

What Baltimore Could Have Looked Like 1916

30 Thursday Jun 2016

Posted by Ronald Parks in Baltimore, HISTORY, water history

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Baltimore, engineering, Geology, HISTORY, Jones Falls, maps, POLITICS, Public Works, water history

Here is a 1916 map of the Geological Survey showing the proposals of Senators Ogden and Campbell. They each had their own ideas on how Baltimore should look back then.

BaltiEnlarg1916r

I like how this map shows the reservoirs and the water supply conduits. Of interest to me is the reservoir at Philadelphia Rd. and the Mt Royal Reservoir. There was another Mt Royal one built in 1845. This new one received a name change for some reason.

1845 Original Mount Royal Reservoir:  Started construction of a new reservoir on the east side of Jones Falls above the Belvedere Bridge.

1846 Original Mount Royal Reservoir: The new reservoir replaced the old reservoir located on Calvert Street, and in addition, supplied water to the section of the City east of Jones Falls.  The new reservoir was 18 feet deep, with seven acres of water surface, and a capacity of 15 million gallons.  According to the Maryland Historical Trust Maryland Inventory of Historic Properties Form for the City of Baltimore, Loch Raven Dam, submitted to MHT 1-17-96, this 15 million gallon reservoir was also known as Mount Royal Reservoir.  This Mount Royal Reservoir was built near the location known in the year 1996 as Pennsylvania Station. By 1862, this Mount Royal Reservoir would be abandoned; and, the name of the Mount Royal Reservoir would be transferred to a new reservoir at a different location. (From early water history notes, R. Vann)

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