They paved paradise and put up a parking lot. Paradise was sketchy to begin with.

Part One: Contact

I had originally intended to ask my own personal minotaur for a list of his favourite places in the city past or present, telling him that I was working on a photo project and would share the results. We have an uneasy truce in the name of family, he and I, and I try to go beyond that and reconcile now and then. I asked him for this list through his wife (my grandmother) who (unlike him) both has email access and is willing to speak more than five words to me on the phone without dire need. The reply I received by email several days later was succinct.


HE SAYS HE CANNOT THINK OF ANY PLACE HE WOULD WANT TO SEE AGAIN, SORRY BUT I DID TRY.*


The rest of her missive was four printed pages (when converted into typesetting for normally-sighted people) of stories from my grandmother about her childhood, with addresses where she remembered them and building names and vague descriptions where she could not. She had provided me a list of sixteen places, each of which may or may not be still standing, some of which described multiple locations, and one vague description of a tree.

She makes a better Ariadne anyway.

Part Two: The List

I've taken out a few sentences here and there, pulled out names and fixed up the typos, but the text is otherwise exactly what I received. I have asked for and received her permission to share the text.

1. 1 NORTH STREEPER ST, ACROSS FROM PATTERSON PARK, KNOW WE LIVED THERE FOR AWHILE, BUT NOT SURE HOW LONG. IT WAS HERE THAT [a cousin of hers] WOULD RUN OUT OF THE HOUSE BUCK TAIL NAKED BECAUSE SHE DIDN'T WANT TO TAKE A BATH!

2. JUST A FEW BLOCKS EAST WAS 9 NORTH CURLEY ST. JUST OFF OF BALTIMORE ST. THERE I WAS PART OF A GROUP OF GUYS AND WHERE I MET ANDY**. HIS FAMILY WAS FROM RUSSIA AND THEY OWNED AND RAN A GROCERY STORE ON THE CORNER OF THE ALLEY. WHEN ANDY DIED, ALL THE GUYS STAYED WITH ME, I WILL NEVER FORGET HOW THEY TRIED TO PROTECT ME, WHEN I WAS ACTUALLY THE ONE WHO USUALLY PROTECTED THEM.

3. NOT FAR AWAY WAS BLOCK'S DRUG STORE, ON THE CORNER OF BALTIMORE ST. AND LINWOOD AVENUE. I HUNG OUT THERE A LOT WHEN NOT RIDING MY BIKE THROUGH THE PARK. DOC THE OWNER OFTEN LET ME WORK THE COUNTER, HE KNEW THE GUYS WOULD BUY MORE SODAS IF I WAS BEHIND THE COUNTER.

4. AH PATTERSON PARK, HOW I LOVED THAT PLACE, IT WAS MY RELIEF FROM THE CITY WHEN I WASN'T DOWN ON THE SHORE [where the family owned a lot of rural land]. I CANNOT TELL YOU HOW MUCH TIME I SPENT THERE, BUT I CAME TO KNOW A LOT OF PEOPLE FROM ALL WALKS OF LIFE. THERE WAS A TREE, WHERE I WOULD HIDE THINGS, LIKE CIGARETTES, STORIES I WROTE AND PICTURES I DREW.

5. THEN THERE IS ST. ELIZABETH'S CHURCH AND SCHOOL, ON THE CORNER OF BALTIMORE ST AND LAKE WOOD AVE. RIGHT ACROSS FROM THE PARK. IT WAS THERE ONE DAY ON A RETURN TRIP FROM COLLEGE THAT I SAW THE NEWLY ORDAINED BISHOP TAKING HIS DAILY WALK IN THE PARK. I HAD NOT SEEN HIM SINCE HIS ELEVATION SO WAS NOT SURE WHAT TO CALL HIM, I ROLLED THE WINDOW DOWN AND YELLED, "HEY BISHEY" WITHOUT TURNING AROUND HE SHOUTED, "THAT HAS TO BE [my grandmother, by first name]!"

6. PUBLIC SCHOOL #83. I THINK THAT WAS ON THE CORNER OF FAYETTE AND GLOVER ST. THEY WOULD KEEP ME THERE UNTIL I BROKE ONE OR MORE OF THEIR SILLY RULES AND EVENTUALLY GOT SENT BACK TO ST. ELIZABETH'S

7. THERE WAS A DINKY LITTLE STORE THAT SOLD SODAS AND JUNK FOOD OFF OF FAIRMOUNT AVE AND BELNORD AVE. THE GUY THERE WOULD SELL US KIDS A CIGARETTE FOR A PENNY. WE WOULD ALSO BUY 'SEN SEN' WHICH WE CHEWED TO HIDE THE SMELL OF THE CIGARETTES. HE ALSO HAD DIRTY MAGAZINES THERE THAT THE GUYS WOULD SPEND HOURS LOOKING THROUGH.

8. ALL AROUND THE HIGHLANDTOWN AREA, I WORKED AT ANY JOB I COULD FIND. I MADE CARDS THAT TOLD FOLKS I WOULD SCRUB THEIR WHITE MARBLE STEPS FOR TEN CENTS. THESE JOBS OFTEN LEAD TO OTHER WORK, SUCH AS BABY SITTING OR WINDOW WASHING.

9. SO ON TO HIGH SCHOOL, ON EDISON HIGHWAY [Catholic High]. I WOULD GET OFF EARLY AND ROLLER SKATE FROM EDISON HIGHWAY ALL THE WAY TO MONUMENT ST AND DUNCAN AVENUE WHERE I WORKED AT WOOLWORTHS FOR FIVE YEARS, AND WAS ABLE TO PAY ALL FOUR YEARS OF TUITION, BUY MY OWN UNIFORMS, SHOES AND BOOKS.

10. THERE WAS A SMALL RESTAURANT ON THE SAME SIDE OF THE STREET, ACROSS DUNCAN GOING EAST WHERE MANY OF THE WOOLWORTH FOLKS WOULD EAT LUNCH. IT WAS THERE THAT I MET A FANTASTIC SANTA CLAUS, ANOTHER STORY I WOULD BE MORE THAN HAPPY TO SHARE.

11. WAY EAST OF THERE AND STILL ON MONUMENT ST, WAS A BOWLING ALLEY. I WAS CAPTAIN OF AN ALL BOYS TEAM, DATED ALL OF THEM AT ONE TIME OR ANOTHER, MORE GREAT MEMORIES, I DO NOT EVEN KNOW IF IT STILL EXISTS.

12. THERE WERE TWO OLD THEATERS ON MONUMENT STREET, ONE WAS THE RED WING AND THE OTHER THE STATE, WHERE THEY HAD LIVE PERFORMANCES.

13. IN THE INNER CITY AT THE DOCS WAS A SHIP THAT WENT BACK AND FORTH TO TOLCHESTER BEACH AND BETTERTON BEACH. I USED TO JUMP ONTO THE SHIP AND GO BACK AND FORTH FROM THE CITY TO THE SHORE, NEVER GOT CAUGHT EITHER. DON'T THINK EITHER OF THOSE SHIPS ARE STILL AFLOAT.

14. THEN THERE IS THE OLD 'GARRETT BUILDING' WHICH SURVIVED THE FAMOUS BALTIMORE FIRE, BUT PERHAPS HAS NOT BEEN SO FORTUNATE IN TODAY'S BUILDING SPURT.

15. RIGHT NEXT DOOR WAS A RESTAURANT THAT I WOULD LOVE TO SEE AGAIN. I BELIEVE THE NAME WAS WERNER'S. THE OWNERS WERE VERY KIND TO ME. WHEN I WAS LEAVING FOR COLLEGE, THEY GAVE ME A GOING AWAY PARTY, MY SPECIAL DESSERT WAS TOASTED POUND CAKE TOPPED WITH HOMEMADE CHOCOLATE ICE CREAM AND COVERED WITH HOT FUDGE, OMG***, IT WAS GOOD.

16. THE 'BLOCK' YES THAT'S RIGHT THE BLOCK! I OFTEN WALK THROUGH THE BACK ALLEY AND GOT TO KNOW THE GALS WHO WORKED THERE AS STRIPPERS. FASCINATING WORLD. HAVE NO IDEA IF THE PLACE IS STILL THERE.

OKAY, SO YOU ASKED FOR TEN AND GOT MUCH MORE. HOPE YOU DON'T MIND, JUST GOT CARRIED AWAY.

OH WAIT, THERE'S THAT TREE, THAT GORGEOUS TREE JUST OUTSIDE THE FENCE OF THE BALL FIELD IN PATTERSON PARK, I STILL HAVE PICTURES OF IT. THAT WAS THE BEGINNING OF MY LOVE FOR TREES THAT STOOD ALONE AND DREW YOU TO THEM. TONY AND I OFTEN RODE AROUND WESTERN MARYLAND LOOKING FOR THE TREES THAT HAD SPECIAL MEANING TO US.

Part Three: The Map

Before I began researching locations of named buildings past and present, I consulted the almighty Google Maps regarding listed addresses and street corners. I knew that most of these places were in neighborhoods I hadn't visited in years or had never seen at all. Many neighborhoods in Baltimore have decayed significantly since my grandmother's time and I had considered dangerous enough to avoid, whether rightfully or not. Street View's concentration of police cars from but one random day confirmed my fears. Still, most of the buildings were standing. I would just be careful about when I made the journey, and where I would leave my car.



google map

Part Four: The Journey

In the process of this journey, I had a conversation about local history and camera repair with complete strangers, witnessed the decline of neighborhoods I remembered from my own childhood and the revitalization of ones I could never have safely set foot in before. I encountered new abandonments to explore later. In a fit of synchronicity, I found street trash, all in one place, which go together perfectly for an urban altar to Baltimore once I find one last piece that ties my findings to a tradition and history I love. I listened to a busker play the flute, and gave her nearly all my change. I was begged for change and gave the rest. I was holla'd at in a good neighborhood and respectfully complimented on my hair in a bad one. I was asked if I owned property in the ghetto and was photographing it for sale. In a little over four hours, I learned more about my city than I ever would have otherwise. And I have a crazy wonderful nutty old lady to thank for it all.

*

The journey, as I recorded it at home before I embarked, would begin at the Northeastern most corner of the map, work its way to the centre of Highlandtown, around Patterson Park on foot, around and down Monument Street by car, only getting out if it was safe, then down to the Block and the docks before heading home. I did manage to follow my planned thread nigh exactly, with detours only for parking and when Google Maps failed to notice that some small alleyway streets in Highlandtown were one-way. Getting lost was the one factor I was most nervous about, even above and beyond possibly walking around with a DSLR camera in what had become a ghetto.

There is one location from the list I could never pinpoint enough to plan a stop; the bowling alley on Monument Street, of which there were too many. There is one location I stopped at but refused to leave my car, which is Paca Public School, formerly Public School 83, where there were several sketchy-looking individuals patrolling the street and I became too afraid. And there is a third, which I did mark on the map and visit, but could not even stop the car because similarly the neighborhood had become so bad and I could not find a place to pull over and park to take a picture; this is the Red Wing Theatre. Still, I saw it.

The photos below, along with their captions, tell of the rest of my journey. I will be printing the best of them and sharing them with my grandmother at the nearest possible opportunity. Thank you, sf0, for the excuse.

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* This was also in maximum font size and bright red. My grandmother is nearly blind; I may be envious of her 20-some-odd-inch LCD monitor, but it has taken me years to not internalize everything she says in email as screaming and then emotionally responding in kind. Converting everything to plaintext helps some.

** Andy, whose name I will not change even here, was the man she should have married. He drowned in a freak accident not long after they got engaged. The next day, warning signs about undertow were put up surrounding the area, and the newspaper stories claimed he'd ignored them. I am aware that everything I know about him is through her rose-tinted nostalgia, but from here it always feels like one of those tragic stories of how things should have been.

*** Yes, this woman in her seventies just said 'OMG'.