Baltimore: Welcome to Hampden, Hon!

modest beauty revealed

Cierra, a local model

Small Town Pride, Meet City Neighborhood:

Welcome to Hampden, Hon!

   Only a select few Hampdenites* ever realize this, but that small and mostly obscure little stream that runs alongside I83 is the sole reason for their neighborhood's existence.

  *(Yeah, Hampden-ite is a real term...but you gotta be one to use it: DatOKwiju?)

  At the start of the 19th century (around 1802), James Hughes was the first to harness the Jones Falls to power his flour mills, and his workers needed homes.

  The invention of the cotton gin saw the conversion of local grain mills to produce cotton duck for sail-making, and by 1890 Hampden was the largest producer of this product in the world, with an 80% market share.
  The workforce that supported the mills grew to one of the largest in the nation by the turn of the 20th century, as did the need to house these workers locally ('commuter' was a term yet to be coined or even comprehended), and Hampden-Woodberry expanded to become the neighborhood it is today. 

Baltimore Ravens are recipients of that small-town pride

  

  The mills still exist today as well, but have been renovated by forward-thinking investors to house artists' studios, health clubs, and high-tech companies.

 The original mill housing community known as Stone Hill, in the 2900-3000 block of Keswick Road, is a perfect example of that small-town pride you can find all over Hampden.
 Well preserved and cared for by each generation, these handsome stone houses date back to their original purpose about 160 years ago.

 The busy mills of the early 1800s spawned a benevolence in the investor David Carroll who owned about 200 houses in the Jones Valley and rented them to the workers. 

  Some were built west of the Jones Falls, where today they cluster at the foot of Television Hill; others were built on a hill north of Mt. Vernon Mill No.2, and the final group was built on a hill on the other side of the mill.

This last group of houses had two-feet-thick stone walls, and gives Stone Hill its name.

 Hampden has always been a nearly self-sufficient community with local work,  places to worship, to recreate and to shop.
 Residents could find just about everything they needed in the shops along 36th Street, locally known as "The Avenue."

  The Avenue was the main street of Hampden and a focal point for residents. On any Saturday night the street was thronged with people shopping, seeking entertainment or visiting with friends. When the mills began closing for good in the 1960's, residents moved out of the area and the stores that were once filled with customers became vacant. 

 In the early part of the 1970's, The Avenue clearly needed a shot in the arm to help get going again. This did not come until the 1990's when, attracted by low rents, a few entrepreneurs with an eye on future growth opened for business.

 Since then the Hampden commercial district has been on an economic upswing. Today, The Avenue and the area in general are a  thriving, refreshed city neighborhood. 

 One such visionary whose name, merely muttered at any social gathering, will create a love-hate brew in the room that quickly takes over as the 'subject of the day', is the owner of Cafe Hon on the Avenue.

Resistance to change is a common thread in any small town, and most old-school Hampden residents feel exactly this way as well. The wave of entrepreneurs as new investors that followed the Cafe Hon sparked a bit of controversy among many life-long Hampdenites, but controversy is rarely a bad thing for an entrepreneur, don't you agree?

 However, whether it is fueled by dusty book stores, glitzy eateries, or retro shops aimed solely at the college students, Hampden is to this day the beating heart of Baltimore City proper, and one of first choices of city residents who want to settle down and raise a family in a close-knit  and self-reliant community convenient to everything.

  The pictures herein are from the recent Mayor's Christmas parade on Sunday Dec 4th 2011.  This annual celebration of local creativity has become a Baltimore staple event that, even after leaving Hampden many years ago, my family insists on seeing in person.

  ...We had to visit our hearts after all, didn't we..?

                                    Welcome to Hampden, Hon.

copyright, JB Stran