BALTIMORE GEOGRAPHY: JONES FALLS THE STREAM THAT SHAPED A CITY

[Music] Baltimore a large east coast city a port city one of the largest in the country importing and exporting Goods with practically every nation in the world how would you describe your area of the city hilly flat well that depends upon where you live and what sections of the city you are familiar with if you live in the North or western part of the city you would probably describe Baltimore as having Rolling Hills if you live in the Southeastern part of the city your description of the city would be almost the opposite a generally flat area with few Hills or inclines why is this when compared with other cities and towns in Maryland Baltimore has a rather unique location it lies between two natural geographic regions the pedmont plateau and the Atlantic Coastal plane the northern and western parts of the city lie in the pedmont region an area of Rolling Hills and narrow stream valleys the soil here is Rocky containing granite and marble among lesser known Minerals good EX examples of this region are Mount Washington Edmonson Village Northwood and Windsor Hills the Southern and Eastern parts of the city rest on the Atlantic Coastal plane a generally flat area of land examples are Oldtown Curtis Bay Brooklyn and South Baltimore the soil here is mostly sand and clay the boundary between these two regions which practically cuts the city in half running from Northeast to Southwest is called the fall line that area of land which separates the lower flat coastal plain of the south and east from the Rolling Hills of the higher pedmont Plateau to the north and west now this fall line was called such because as rivers and streams passed through the higher area passing from hard rocks of the plateau to the softer Clays of the lower coastal plain they created waterfalls Falls that could turn water wheels that performed work for early baltimoreans the many streams and rivers which flow through Baltimore windfalls Jones Falls and hering run to name but a few generally begin in the north and west and flow in a southeasterly direction before they empty into the bay these rivers and streams were very important to the growth and development of Baltimore because they provided a source of drinking water a means of transportation and a source of energy let's trace the root of one of these larger streams Jones Falls which flows Right Through The Heart of the City and see how it influence the past growth and development of the city and see how it affects Baltimore [Music] today John's Falls begins here in the beautiful cattalani spring section of of Green Spring Valley just Northwest of the city let's see what happens to it as it winds its way through farmland and field building in size and scope flowing past Old Mills and under bridges searching its way through the countryside and wending to Lake Roland [Music] [Applause] [Music] [Applause] [Music] [Applause] [Music] [Applause] [Music] [Applause] [Music] [Applause] [Music] [Applause] [Music] [Applause] [Applause] [Music] although no longer supplying drinking water to Baltimore City Lake Roland located in what is now Robert E Lee Memorial Park just north of the city is a favorite spot for boating fishing and picnicking this Dam built in 1861 created the lake as water flowed from the lake into an especially made brick conduit at 4 mil long into two reservoirs no longer existing in the city of Baltimore the first of these hamton Reservoir was located in what is now a recreational area at Falls Road near 36th Street the second was Mount Royal reservoir located at North Avenue and what is now the entrance to Druid Hill Park The Falls also provided another use it was the source of water power swiftly flowing streams crossing the fall line provided power to turn huge Mill wheels these water wheels would turn machines scenery that ground wheat into flour an ability that made the Port of Baltimore the largest exporter of wheat during the colonial period later these same Mill Wheels provided the power for making cotton materials the first cotton mill in Maryland built in 1810 was located right here in Mount Washington the Mount Washington Mill but we must travel further Downstream of Jones Falls to find the best examp examples of early Mills and see how they influence the growth of Baltimore this is the hamton Woodburry area a community that grew up around the early Mills that were built here the first Mills of course were flower mills however after the Industrial Revolution which occurred almost 200 years ago a period of history when new sources of power were discovered and new Machinery invented Mill owners found it more profitable to convert the flower mills into cotton Mills the cotton was used to make cotton duck a heavily woven fabric used in the making of sails for early sailing vessels at one time in the last century Baltimore supplied over 2/3 of the world ships with cotton duck for their sales one of these Mills was called Clipper Mill after the famous Baltimore sailing ships although Clipper Mill is no longer in operation it lend its name to a major Street in the area Clipper Mill Road as more and more Mills sprang up in the area more and more workers were hired at one time Mount Vernon Mills alone provided jobs for over 1,700 people since these Mills provided many jobs people wanted to live nearby after all there were no cars to drive to work in those very early days of the Mills so clusters of Mill houses were built owned by the companies and rent it to the workers for a rather small fee one of the best examples of these clusters of Mill houses is the community of Stone Hill just north of old Mount Vernon Mill number two most of the workers houses built in this area were duplexes two house houses that share a common wall they were well constructed with granite blocks the stone walls were well over a foot in thickness in the early 1920s the workers paid $150 a week for their rent at that time the average mill worker earned between $7 and $15 a week a manager's house was about three times the size of a worker's house a few of the these houses still exist this workers Community also had a company store at the Mount Vernon mill store people could buy such items as lamp oil and clothing this was the home of David Carol he was the owner of Mount Vernon Mills this fine old Manion has been standing for over 130 years there are remains of even older Mills mills built over 100 years ago just south of Mount bernon Mills anyone making a visit to this area would be curious indeed as to what function the ruins of this circular brick work performed there are many old remains such as these throughout the length of the falls traveling further Southward along the Falls well hidden amongst the Shrubbery and somewhat buried below the 29th Street bridge is the beautiful eye-catching round Falls since these Mills needed special Machinery to operate it was only natural that the pool and Hunt machine shop located itself in the hamon Woodbury area it was in this area of p and Hunt that the huge Iron Dome of the capital building in Washington DC was constructed in addition Robert P one of the firm's owners donated some land to the city which later became the site of Robert P Junior High School even though Jones Falls no longer runs Mill wheels in the hamon Woodbury area other Industries and businesses are located here today still providing employment for an old but thriving Baltimore Community as Jones continued its way Southward into the city it caused serious problems to those who lived along its banks heavy rainfalls created a rush of water and often overran the stream bed causing disastrous floods even the special retaining walls that were built could not control the raging water during a heavy rainfall notice in this old photograph how the flooding damaged buildings along the Stream The Falls even influenced the architecture of some of the buildings located along its banks notice in the background of this old photograph how the Falls makes a curve this Old Post Office garage located between bidle and Preston streets which now houses a private company was built along this very same curve many years later notice how the building is also curved since it was built directly in the old stream bed of the falls in fact on either side of this curved building one can still see the remains of the old retaining walls of the falls as more and more industry came into the city during the 19th century Jones Falls was more abused than used by its population a dumping place for untreated sewage it wasn't too many years previous to this that this once beautiful stream provided drinking water and trout as well well as an inland Waterway for boats during the first part of this Century it did stop the great Baltimore fire of 194 from moving further east but shortly after that because of the tremendous amounts of oil and sludge that were dumped into the stream The Falls itself caught fire thus a new Hazard developed the city leaders now had a real problem on their hands what to do with the stream that had be become a sewer and flooded many residential areas during heavy rainfalls well the answer to the problem as proposed by the city fathers was to cover it up at least in the downtown area by directing it into huge underground tunnels to compare the old uncovered Falls with its present status look at this 70-year-old photograph taken during the actual construction of the Falls Way looking south from Center Street to this current shot taken from approximately the same location several weeks before the water tunnel opened a luncheon was held inside one of the keynote speakers told those in attendance that we have come to bury Jones Falls not to praise it as you travel along the Falls Way today you notice the curving road because you actually riding on top of Jones Falls to show another comparison before and after the cover up look at this old photograph of Jones Falls looking South note the tall building on the left with the Triangular top it's St Vincent dep Paul's church with this present day shot from about the same location looking northward Beyond Pratt Street one can see the Jones Falls reemerging from its underground passage as it continues its Journey Southward finally flowing into the Inner Harbor today the city of Baltimore is still being shaped by the falls as well as other City streams soil erosion produced by rivers and streams especially during a heavy rainfall has resulted in washed away streets and even huge con conrete retaining walls like this to combat the soil erosion process the city of Baltimore has turned to a method of control that was used by both the ancient Egyptians and Romans thousands of years ago a process whereby baskets are tied together and loaded with stones to form a retaining wall this process is called G un brick in containing a river or stream by the gabrian brick process the stream is first diverted along another path and the river bed is cleared of mud and deepened a rock material is then placed in the Stream bed after The Rock has been evened out the stream bed is then covered with a very tough plastic material flat baskets about 3 ft wide and about 1T deep are pulled into position over top of the bed these baskets are then tied together and then they are filled with a rock material when the bed is completed the sidewalls are constructed these baskets again are wired to adjacent baskets and filled with a crushed rock material after the rocks are placed into the basket they must be evened out by hand to assure that there will be little shifting of the stone once in the baskets the tops are then placed into position and wired on to the filled baskets the area behind the sidewalls is filled in with dirt and tamped down tightly the stream bed is nearly ready for use the spaces between the stones will fill with soil vegetation will begin to grow this vegetation will eventually cover the wire and stone baskets thus giving a more natural setting at one time a source of water a source of power and a means of transportation for early baltimoreans Jones Falls no longer serves or seriously threatens the city but if one looks carefully he can find streets buildings and even an expressway influenced by Jones Falls the stream that shaped a city [Music]