I used to live near the end of Pot Springs Road. my daughter and I would pack snacks in my Marine Corps napsack and walk to the shore of Loch Raven to enjoy the day. I wish I could relive those times.
Why can't you? Just be wary of Copperhead snakes. A young girl got bit while hiking along the fire trail last summer. A good friend of mine got (dry) bit in the same area while raking leaves in his yard.
I had a dear friend whose family owned a property adjacent to loch raven reservoir. Tnx for history , i had no idea of the dam. I worked in Sparrows Point mills for many years. Lots of fond memories of East Baltimore
Mr. Hopkins, your videos are great!! I know you've mentioned that your list is long, but I would love to see a few specific plates at some point: Canton Can Company, Tide Point, Fenwick Bakery in Parkville, and last but definitely not least - Wokenfuss! (IIRC Wokenfuss started out of the basement of a house in Hamilton)
My Uncle Finley was a Brick layer in the 50and part of the 60s. However he did most of his work in the mills at Sparrows Point. Each blast furnace had a Brick lining that had to be replace regularly. Lots of Baltimore brick. Also the B&O used red brick for many of their station platforms.
My grandfather was in charge of Loch Raven throughout the 60’s 70’ and retired in the 80’s. Him and my grandmother lived in the old house that overlooked the big damn…Great childhood memories
I remember reading that during World War 2 there were troops stationed in the basement of Sander's store to make sure that the dam(s) remained safe. They were eventually moved to the Maintenance Facility on the hill between the 2 dams. The old Maintenance Facility was torn down and replaced with a new one on the same site.
Thanks so much--I'd have loved to hear more about the movement of the residents and whether they were fairly compensated. Hard to cover everything in only five minutes, I know...
Before my dad died in 1974, on almost every Sunday my family and I would go to Loch Raven Reservoir to what we called Daddy’s Island in actuality a small peninsula just past the dams.
Nice video . I have fished Loch Raven since the mid 1960s. That lake has indeed silted some imo. Many former hard rocky bottoms are now weedbeeds over silt.
They covered southern hero, Baltimore Police Commissioner, Col.Harry Gilmour’s family estate, Glen Ellen castle built by his father who owned most of the land where the reservoir now sits.
Prettyboy was built a good twenty years later, at the head of Gunpowder Falls, to add more capacity. They move the water from Prettyboy to the terminal reservoir (Loch Raven) by simply opening the gates and allowing the water to flow down the Gunpowder (whereas the water from Loch Raven travels via tunnels to get to the city treatment center). The cold water from the bottom of Prettyboy is credited with keeping trout fishing viable along the Gunpowder falls.
Please add some content related to Northern Baltimore County...Hereford, Parkton etc...Prettyboy Reservoir was created soon after Loch Raven..the actual source of the Gunpowder being north of Hoffmanville..just a suggestion
I heard a rumor years ago that when the water level was low you used to be able to see the church steeple poking out of the water when going over the Warren Road bridge. I never saw it, perhaps it was really the flagpole mentioned in the video.
