 |
 |
 |
 |
 |
 |
|
|
Northeast Baltimore has undergone a transformation from a rural area into a "city suburb," an experience shared by many similar U.S. metropolitan areas. Eric L. Holcomb traces this prototypical process from the region's origins as a hunting ground of the Susquehannocks, through its earliest settlement by whites in the eighteenth century and its idealization as a picturesque landscape during the nineteenth century, to its rise as a suburb in the twentieth century. Located where the piedmont descends into the tidewater, Northeast Baltimore as a rural area functioned in a symbiotic relationship with the historic city of Baltimore, beginning with the establishment, among settled family farms, of large country estates as retreats for Baltimore merchants. Holcomb reveals how Northeast Baltimore's landscape evolved as its economic and cultural ties to the city were strengthened through changes in urban transportation, markets, and demographics. Holcomb's obvious passion for the area combined with his thorough research in geographic indicators such as land ownership patterns provides a lush empirical foundation for this richly illustrated history. Eric L. Holcomb is a city planner specializing in historic preservation with the Commission for Historical and Architectural Preservation of the City of Baltimore. Kathleen G. Kotarba is Executive Director of the Baltimore City Commission for Historical and Architectural Preservation. |
The University of
Virginia Press