On Friday, September 7, 2018, the Mid-Atlantic chapter of the international Society for the Preservation of Old Mills toured the mills of the Jones Falls in the Hampden neighborhood of Baltimore City.
Members of the Society for the Preservation of Old Mills chartered a bus from Baltimore County to the Baltimore inner harbor to start the tour at the Baltimore Museum of Industry, nearby where the Jones Falls flows into the Harbor.
The tour was led by Nathan Dennies of the Greater Hampden Heritage Alliance who has been researching the mill and labor history of the Hampden neighborhoods for several years. His research has informed a series of outdoor interpretive panels that will be installed later this fall and provide a great opportunity for a self-guided exploration.
The interpretive panels were funded in part by the the Baltimore National Heritage Area and part of Preservation Maryland’s Six-to-Fix program. Preservation Maryland is a proud neighbor with offices in the Meadow Mill building featured on the tour.
Stops along the tour included Whitehall Mill that has been developed by Terra Nova Ventures into a unique mixed-use complex that includes lofts, office space, and a restaurant and market soon to come online. A behind-the-scenes tour by Jennifer Nolley of Terra Nova Ventures addressed the mill’s history, past uses, and it’s flood-ready redevelopment.
Closing out the tour, attendees explored the Rockland Grist Mill, currently used as offices space, that has a recreated mill race and replica water wheel as part of their bucolic landscaping.