Then and now photos: South Street
South Street in downtown Baltimore has changed a lot in the past hundred years but some buildings remain.
-
Mountain mama! John Denver's 'Take Me Home, Country Roads' was inspired by Maryland, not West Virginia
Next time you hear John Denver warbling “Take Me Home, Country Roads” — or hear the group Spank perform it in the trailer for the video game Fallout 76, a version that has become a hit and an earworm over the past year or so since it came out — keep in mind that it wasn’t anywhere in West Virginia...
-
Retro Baltimore Trivia: Who was the winning pitcher the day the Oriole Bird 'hatched'?
Readers: Think you know your Baltimore? Try answering our weekly trivia question. Some weeks will be ridiculously easy, some weeks a bit more challenging. Here’s last week’s trivia: QUESTION: On Opening Day April 6, 1979, the Oriole Bird mascot was “born” (“hatched” out of a giant egg on the field)...
-
Then and Now photos: Timanus Grist Mill
The Timanus Grist Mill operated on the Jones Falls until 1915. The mill dam now known as Round Falls remains after the mill was torn down in 1933.
This Day in History
From the Vault
More on The DarkroomThen-and-now pictures from Retro Baltimore
Baltimore and the surrounding area sure has changed a lot in its centuries-long history. But many traditions and landmarks from decades ago are still around today, give or take a few variations.More
More Retro Baltimore
-
National Aquarium to unveil mural of former Baltimore mayor's seal pool swim
Former Baltimore Mayor William Donald Schaefer lives! And so does his inflatable rubber ducky. After losing a bet, the longtime mayor and two-term Maryland governor once donned a Victorian-era bathing suit and the aforesaid inflatable water fowl to immerse himself in the unfinished National Aquarium’s...
-
Baltimore blogger unearths old Maryland delicacies, from white potato pie to peanut-pickle sandwiches
About 10 years ago, Kara Mae Harris found a recipe that began a years-long obsession. It was an entry for “Maryland white potato pie” in her mother’s old “Southern Heritage” cookbook. Sweetened with sugar and lemon juice, white potato pie was a staple of the lean months in Maryland before the summer...
-
Inside Baltimore's backyard ballpark that once hosted Babe Ruth — before it burned
There was a time in Baltimore when a functioning ballpark once fit into two neighborhood blocks. The old Oriole Park, which hosted the team from 1916 until it burned in 1944, sat where Waverly, Charles Village, Abell and Harwood meet. Baltimore had the dropped down to the minor leagues and competed...
-
This week in Baltimore sports history (April 14-20): Orioles' Sutcliffe pitches another Camden Yards gem
April 17, 1992: The Orioles’ Rick Sutcliffe pitches his second straight shutout at Camden Yards, 8-0, over the Detroit Tigers. Randy Milligan’s grand slam aids Sutcliffe, who also won at the new stadium Opening Day. April 19, 1975: In a battle of lacrosse unbeatens, Johns Hopkins stops Cornell,...
-
Exploring the mills of Maryland's past
If old Maryland mills are your thing, then you’re in luck with the publication earlier this year of veteran Baltimore County historian John W. McGrain’s latest book, “Old Maryland Mills: A Portfolio.” This is not McGrain’s first book on mills. Earlier works include “Grist Mills in Baltimore County,...
More Retro Baltimore
-
Retro Baltimore Trivia: Former Gov. William Donald Schaefer described what disgraced Baltimore politician as 'one of the brightest men I have ever known in the history of politics'?
Readers: Think you know your Baltimore? Try answering our weekly trivia question. Some weeks will be ridiculously easy, some weeks a bit more challenging. Here’s last week’s trivia: QUESTION: Former Gov. William Donald Schaefer described what disgraced Baltimore politician as “one of the brightest...
-
Retro Baltimore Trivia: Zelda Fitzgerald, wife of F. Scott, was the inspiration for what Eagles song, written by Don Henley and Bernie Leadon?
Readers: Think you know your Baltimore? Try answering our weekly trivia question. Some weeks will be ridiculously easy, some weeks a bit more challenging. Here’s last week’s trivia: QUESTION: Zelda Fitzgerald, wife of F. Scott, was the inspiration for what Eagles song, written by Don Henley and...
-
The Sun Remembers: This Week in Maryland Sports History for March 31-April 6
April 4, 1988: “It’s one game,” losing pitcher Mike Boddicker says of the Orioles’ 12-0 Opening Day rout by the Milwaukee Brewers at Memorial Stadium. Baltimore will lose the next 20 games as well. April 6, 1979: Battling 35 mph wind gusts, the Orioles’ Jim Palmer stops Chicago on three hits in...
-
Zelda Fitzgerald and 'Save Me the Waltz,' the novel she wrote in Baltimore
“In this very polite Maryland atmosphere we write things,” Zelda Fitzgerald wrote in a letter while she was living in Towson. Zelda and her husband, F. Scott, came to Baltimore several times in the 1930s. Many Baltimoreans are no doubt already familiar with the story: Perhaps the most famous muse...
-
When Baltimore's streetcars stopped running
Last week’s CSX derailment didn’t interrupt MARC or Amtrak service in Baltimore, but it did bring a halt to the one place in the city where you can still ride a streetcar. Visitors to the Baltimore Streetcar Museum marvel at the trolley ride — a short trip along the Jones Falls in an antique streetcar....
-
Retro Baltimore Trivia: Maryland men’s basketball coach Lefty Driesell earned the NCAA Award of Valor in 1974 for what reason?
Readers: Think you know your Baltimore? Try answering our weekly trivia question. Some weeks will be ridiculously easy, some weeks a bit more challenging. Here’s last week’s trivia: QUESTION: Maryland men’s basketball coach Lefty Driesell earned the NCAA Award of Valor in 1974 for what reason? ...
-
Retro Baltimore Trivia: Former Maryland Gov. Harry Hughes played minor league baseball in the Eastern Shore League, before he entered politics. What teams did he play for, and what was his position?
Readers: Think you know your Baltimore? Try answering our weekly trivia question. Some weeks will be ridiculously easy, some weeks a bit more challenging. Put your best guess in the “answer” field and hit “submit.” Or comment on Instagram: @retrobaltimore. If you’d like to be recognized for a correct...
-
From 1968 to 1969, the Baltimore Bullets went from worst to first
As turnarounds go, it was a lulu. Fifty years have passed since the Baltimore Bullets won their first National Basketball Association division title — after finishing last the year before. On March 21, 1969, having clinched first place with a win over the Bulls in Chicago, the players made merry....
-
Recalling the unsolved murder of ‘the angel of Reservoir Hill’
La-Tonya Wallace was recalled as an 11-year-old, bright-eyed little girl from Druid Park Lake Drive. She was in the fifth grade at Eutaw-Marshburn Elementary School. “She vanished on a cold, dreary Tuesday afternoon in February 1988 after leaving the Park Avenue branch of the Enoch Pratt Library,”...
-
Retro Baltimore Trivia: Along with Martin O'Malley, who were the other two candidates elected in 1991 to the Baltimore City Council, representing the 3rd District?
Readers: Think you know your Baltimore? Try answering our weekly trivia question. Some weeks will be ridiculously easy, some weeks a bit more challenging. Here’s last week’s trivia: QUESTION: Along with Martin O'Malley, who were the other two candidates elected in 1991 to the Baltimore City Council,...