Dickeyville, Monday September 21, 2009

     A Baltimore novelist named Madison Smartt Bell did the world an enormous favor a couple of years ago by taking time out to write a book called "Charm City: A Walk Through Baltimore".  Uncle Jack discovered it soon after he arrived in the city last December and it has become his Bawlmer Baedeker.  In this delightful book Bell describes his findings as he wanders on foot through many Baltimore neighborhoods, including  a few that present a clear and present danger to any strolling stranger.
     Bell is a wonderful writer and his colorful commentaries have enticed Uncle Jack and Mrs. U.J. to set forth in all directions in search of   parts of town they might have been a long time discovering on their own, such as Fells Point, Federal Hill,  Canton, Bolton Hill, Patterson Park----and especially Dickeyville.  Uncle Jack would be willing to bet that the vast majority of Baltimoreans, including those who have lived here all their  lives, have ever set foot in Dickeyville or even know it exists.
    Lucky for Uncle Jack Mr. Bell devotes an entire chapter of his slim volume to Dickeyville which he explored in the company of Laura Lippman, one of Baltimore's most celebrated novelists (and wife of David Simon, producer of  "The Wire" TV series) who was born in Dickeyville and knows it like the back of her hand.  After reading their description of this fascinating part of Baltimore he knew he would have to see it for himself---if he could find it.

          It wasn't easy.  Perhaps the major reason that Dickeyville has retained so much of its 19th century charm is that it is truly off the beaten path;  finding it can present a serious challenge to even a state-of-the art GPS system.  Readers who want to visit Dickeyville will have to rely on their own ingenuity to find it because Uncle Jack isn't  sure exactly how he got there himself and even less sure about how he found his way back to Charles Village yesterday afternoon after he and Mrs. U.J. had spent a couple of delightful hours in this amazing living museum.

    Many houses and other buildings in Dickeyville date back to the early 19th century when it was a thriving mill town on the banks of the Gwynn's Falls river, miles from Baltimore Town which has since engulfed it.
  

     This magnificent structure, originally the Odd Fellows Lodge,  now houses an art gallery on the ground floor.  .

     
         This stone warehouse across the street was for many years in the mid-20th century the home and studio of a well-known Baltimore artist named R. McGill Mackall . It appears to be occupied now but Uncle Jack knows not by whom. It was built in 1823 and looks like it could survive for a few more centuries.

     The Gwynn's Falls river, which still carries a lot of water, provided  power for the several mills and factories that were the raison d'etre for Dickeyville and its predecessors.  For a capsule history of the village go to http://www.livebaltimore.com/neighborhoods/list/dickeyville/

  
     This perfectly preserved child's playhouse is in the back yard of  a Dickeyville home.

        This back yard has had a couple of centuries to develop and looks like it could get completely out of control at any time.

     Dickeyville is the starting point for the Gwynn's Falls Trail which follows the course of the river for fifteen miles to its end at the Inner Harbor.  Uncle Jack and Mrs. U.J. could hardly believe they were walking in the middle of a booming, bustling city.  Baltimore is a city of parks, many of which are connected together by hiking/biking trails.like this one.

         And if you are lucky enough to get to Dickeyville one day be sure to heed this sign.  Not even Dickeyville is perfect in every respect, although it comes close.