Giant Mechanical Blue Crab

Posted on February 9, 2011 by atomictv

Does anyone remember the giant blue crab at the Maryland Science Center? Does it still move?

Buy this crab print and other moments in Baltimore history captured by Sun photographers at The Baltimore Sun Store.

Posted in 1970s, Crabs, Inner Harbor, Museums, Roadside Attractions | Tagged | 1 Comment

Happy John Waters Day! (February 7th)

Posted on February 8, 2011 by atomictv

It’s John Waters Day somewhere
But it’s a little weird, just as it should be

By Michael Ollove (The Baltimore Sun, 2/7/2004)

We’re sitting in our office the other day when an e-mail arrives from the New Museum in New York informing us of an upcoming exhibit of still photographs by Baltimore’s own filmmaker, John Waters. The message informs us that the exhibition opens Feb. 7 – today – coinciding with John Waters Day in Baltimore.

Hmmm, we think, it’s gratifying to share the work of a favorite son with the rest of the world, but what’s this about a John Waters Day? We have one of those?

Just as we begin pulling out our calendars to see if we’ve overlooked a chance to celebrate something, another e-mail arrives. This one is also from New York – from a syndicated public radio program called Studio 360. It seems that Waters is scheduled to appear on the show, which is carried locally on WYPR, and their publicist wants to know if The Sun could include this program among other listings of events celebrating John Waters Day on Feb. 7.

Other listings? We have no other listings of John Waters Day events.

It only gets stranger. Yesterday, we open our New York Times to find the paper wishing everyone a Happy John Waters Day today.

Now this is weird. All of New York seems to be aware that we have a John Waters Day here in Baltimore, but it’s totally news to us.

Continue reading “It’s John Waters Day Somewhere” at The Baltimore Sun.

Posted in 1980s, Decades, Dreamlanders, Holidays, John Waters | Leave a comment

Happy Birthday Back River Wastewater Treatment Plant

Posted on February 7, 2011 by atomictv

Infamous Essex landmark celebrates 100 years of operation in 2011

By Keith Roberts (EssexPatch.com, 1/1/2011)

photo by William A. Andersen, M.D., Baltimore County Legacy Web

A little more than a year ago the town of Essex celebrated its 100th anniversary. In 2011, an icon that is closely associated with Essex celebrates its 100th anniversary. In this instance however, I don’t think that we will see any parties in the park. I can’t foresee any local talent lining up to perform their music. Nor can I picture local businesses and artisans selling their products at a festival

Although construction began several years earlier, the Back River Wastewater Treatment Plant began full operation in 1911. Owned and operated by the City of Baltimore, the treatment facility was built on a 466 acre site on the west shore of Back River. A gentleman by the name of Calvin W. Hendricks, a New York native, was hired as the first chief engineer of the plant.

I can recall reading somewhere a long time ago that it was a mere two years after the plant began operation that the very first lawsuit was filed against the facility as a result of the noxious odor it produced.

Continue reading “Happy Birthday Back River Wastewater Treatment Plant” at Patch.com.

Posted in Dundalk, Essex / Middle River, Roadside Attractions | Tagged , , , | Leave a comment

Poe House could close without city help, curator warns

Posted on February 5, 2011 by atomictv

Officials want historic museum dedicated to Edgar Allan Poe to be self-sufficient by next year

By Chris Kaltenbach, (The Baltimore Sun, 2/4/2011)

The long-time curator of Baltimore’s Edgar Allan Poe House says the museum could be forced to close if city officials stick to their insistence that it be well on the road to self-sufficiency by July of next year.

Baltimore officials — who last summer cut the Poe House’s funding — have ordered the city’s Committee for Historic & Architectural Preservation (CHAP) to settle on a plan to operate the museum without using public funds. The plan must be in place by July 2012.

“That’s a big order,” says Jeff Jerome, who has been curator since 1979. “I’ve been talking to other museums, and each and every one of them — first of all, when they stop laughing, they say, ‘Jeff, you should have been doing this three years ago.’ You just can’t do this in a year.”

The museum, in a North Amity Street home where Poe lived from late 1832 or early 1833 until 1835, operates on an annual budget of $85,000.

Continue reading “Poe House could close without city help, curator warns” at The Baltimore Sun.

Posted in 2010s, Baltimorons, Edgar Allan Poe | Tagged , | Leave a comment