Neighborhood NEWS SPRING • 2018 THE RUXTON-RIDERWOOD-LAKE ROLAND AREA IMPROVEMENT ASSOCIATION Taking a Ride Down Charles Street INSIDE by Barbara Guarnieri For many years, the end point Membership Did you know that Dues Reminder Charles Street is one of a ride to the PAGE 3 of the oldest roads country was the in the country? It is Bellona Gun- H also one of only four powder Mills Our Area’s urban streets to be entrance (now Unsung Heroes Bellona Avenue). awarded the National PAGE 4 Scenic Byway desig- A dirt service nation (2009)! road called H Charles Street Spotlight on Charles Street started Avenue ran north the RRLRAIA life as Forest Street, from the mills Membership a primitive wagon on the edge of Committee path connecting the Sheppard PAGE 8 vacant lots along the A 1752 sketch of Baltimore Town with Charles Street along the shoreline Asylum (1861), inner basin of a 1732 Photo courtesy Baltimore Historical Society then a Bowen H Upcoming Events plan for Baltimore family farm Town. By the turn (site of an 18th century grist mill, parts PAGE 11 of the 20th cen- of which can still be seen near Bellona) H tury it had become and continued to an even more rustic lane Holiday Party in what local historian known as ‘Charles Street Avenue Extended’ the Woods John McGrain titled up to Joppa Road. In an 1898 map this PAGE 12 ‘Baltimore’s Artery of northern neighborhood is labeled Kalmia Elegance.’ Sometime Park. Property owners in the Kalmia area H in the mid-18th cen- included Henry Imwold (Dolce Donum, now Home Sales tury, the street was Pickersgill), Charles Weir (Hawthornden, PAGE 14 renamed to honor A horse drawn ‘omnibus’ of passengers on now 602 Chestnut Avenue), James Boyce Charles Calvert, Fifth Charles Street in 1885 (Chestnut Summit, now the Blakehurst H Our Architectural Baron of Baltimore Photo courtesy Baltimore Historical Society retirement community), Mrs. George Abell Heritage – and Maryland’s third (Ridge Mansion in Sherwood Park, now royal governor (1721- Eclectic Houses 51). PAGE 16 As tobacco commerce and the local population grew H in the port city, Charles Street assumed a greater Kids Corner role in civic life. By 1900 it was home to an award- PAGE 18 winning newspaper, a famous conservatory, two prominent museums, a stately railway station, a large H Spring Cleaning university, two colleges, handsome houses of wor- 2018 ship, widely respected theaters, impressive banking and brokerage institutions, elegant department and PAGE 21 specialty stores and several luxury hotels. In-town H neighborhoods of elegant brick and brownstone row homes and uptown country estates, owned or frequented by gilded-age barons, graced the popu- lar street. Well-planned green spaces adorned with patriotic monuments enlivened small city parks and Elm trees on Charles Street near Bellona Avenue offered respite for a stroll. It is not surprising that circa 1900 Photo Baltimore Historical Society Charles Street became a most beloved route for a horse or carriage ride. Continued on page 22 hoods, don’t hesitate to contact our board of Ruxton-Riderwood-Lake Roland President’s Letter governors. We’re an improvement association. Neighborhood NEWS That’s what we’re here for. Dear Neighbors, Our members are our greatest asset, and we Spring 2018 Now ‘tis spring, and weeds are hope to reach even more homes shallow-rooted; Suffer them in 2018. If you have a neighbor Table of Contents now and they’ll o’ergrow who is not a member, please the garden. invite them to join and get 1 Taking a Ride Down Charles Street involved! 2 President’s Letter William Shakespeare 3 A Message from Also, please join us yourself for Greater Ruxton Area Foundation Will’s words have a face-value some of our perennial spring 3 Membership Dues Reminder meaning: pull out actual weeds events such as our Dumpster/Do- 4 Our Area’s Unsung Heroes while they are easily yanked; nation/Shredder Day on April 21, 8 Spotlight on the RRLRAIA don’t put it off until they get a Membership Committee our next Stream/Street Clean-up better hold. But then there’s a on May 12 and Friday Night Lights 9 In Like A Lion deeper metaphorical meaning: 10 Lemon Chicken with which will be held on June 1. You Artichokes and Feta it’s wise to address all problems may find information about them, as well as 11 Upcoming Events as soon as you possibly can, before they get updates on topics such as the Village of Lake 12 Holiday Party in the Woods worse. Roland development and the West Joppa Road 13 Street / Stream Clean Efforts – Who Knows What You’ll Find! And that’s what our Community Association Royal Farms improvements on our website: 14 Home Sales in Ruxton/ tries to do. The mission of the RRLRAIA is to rrlraia.org. preserve and enhance our neighborhoods and Riderwood/Lake Roland Now that the Nature Center at Lake Roland is 15 What are Neonicotinoids – and why the wonderful quality of life we are fortunate complete, there is a plethora of interesting is it important that we rid to enjoy here. our gardens of them? activities happening for residents of all ages. 16 Our Architectural Heritage – We work in partnership with other nonprofit We hope to see you there soon! Eclectic Houses organizations, like the Greater Ruxton Area Thomas Brown 18 Kids Corner Foundation, and local government, to stay in- 19 Lake Roland Events – Mark Your Calendars! formed about opportunities for improvement, 20 West Towson Elementary but we welcome our members’ suggestions Honored as a Blue Ribbon School as well. As an Association member, if you 21 Spring Cleaning 2018 learn of projects or opportunities that would enhance the quality of life in our neighbor- Board of Governors President – Thomas Brown 1st Vice President – Tom George 2nd Vice President – Laura Shmerler Treasurer – Trish Fallon Secretary – Paddy Morton Vanguard Project Community Input Meeting Gina Adams Cynthia Allen The Community Input Meeting for the Vanguard project located at 6241-6247 Falls John Baer Road (CPC Falls Road Project also known as the Village of Lake Roland) is scheduled Harry Bond Jeffrey Budnitz for Monday, April 9, 2018, from 7 p.m. – 9 p.m. at the Church of the Good Shepherd, Ward Classen 1401 Carrollton Avenue, 21204. Additional information about this project and the Debbie Codd Baltimore County development process is available at rrlraia.org. Joe Derr Susan Law Lauren Madsen Courtney Middelton West Joppa Road Royal Farms Site Improvements Planned Michael Muldowney Linda Murphy Work will soon begin on the Royal Farms site at the corner of W. Joppa Road and Shannon Putman Thornton Road. The parking lot will be reconfigured to alleviate the congestion that Rachel Seba Carlton Sexton currently exists. Improved landscaping, signage and storm water management are also planned. The store, which is located in a flood plain, will not be expanded. Executive Director Peggy Squitieri Newsletter Committee: Neighborhood NEWS is published three times a year by The Ruxton-Riderwood-Lake Roland Area Courtney John Baer Rachel Seba Graphic Production: Improvement Association, Inc., P.O. Box 204, Riderwood, MD 21139, tel: 410-494-7757. Middelton, Barbara Guarnieri Laura Shmerler DesignConcept.com Deadlines for copy, including announcements and calendar items, are February 15 for Spring issue, Chair and Editor Nancy Horst Gay Wagner Printing: July 15 for Fall issue and October 15 for Winter issue. Advertisers contact: [email protected]. Debbie Codd, Lauren Madsen Nettie Washburn MtRoyalPrinting.com Advertising Shannon Putman The masthead photo on the front page, courtesy of Nettie Washburn, offers an angled view of Rider House’s architectural detail. 2 A Message from Greater Ruxton Area Foundation Dear Fellow Community Members, planned for 2018 – stay tuned for more information! I am very pleased to serve as the new president of GRAF. A Balti- Please visit our website, ruxtonfoundation.org and ‘Like’ us on more native, I’ve been a Ruxton resident for 16 Facebook in order to learn more about our years and have enjoyed being an active member organization and see what we’re doing to of the GRAF board for the past three years. help beautify our community. We encourage Formed in 2002, the Greater Ruxton Area Foun- you to get involved – through volunteering dation (GRAF) is a §501(c)(3) entity dedicated for our events, making a monetary donation to the beautification and preservation of our or simply collecting trash while you’re out community. While the two organizations work walking your dog or enjoying the scenery together on various efforts, GRAF (the Founda- that Ruxton has to offer. And don’t forget tion) is independent from the RRLRAIA (the to maintain your trees by ridding them of Association). GRAF relies on volunteers to serve invasive ivy! as board members and, more importantly, it re- I look forward to serving on this board of lies on donations from community members and fantastic, dedicated volunteers including organizations to fund its ongoing projects. Thank Bob Aumiller, Graham Boyce, Sibley Classen, you to our past and present donors! Kevin Flynn, John Lalley, Bliss McCord, Hugh GRAF recently completed its 11th project (plant- Purvis, Sam Santarelli, David Sawyer, Deirdre ings adjacent to the fence at Bellona Avenue Weadock, Chris West and David Whitman. and Rolandvue Road – featured in the Fall 2017 All the best, edition of NeighborhoodNEWS) and is dedicating Dan Middelton resources to maintain each completed beautifi- cation effort. At least one additional project is A neighborhood street party Membership Dues to kick off the summer... Reminder If you have already paid your 2018 dues, thank you! If not, please send them with the directory listing card and please provide your email address.