Second Site Added

Accession Number P75-54-A242g, Hughes Company Glass Negatives Collection,

Courtesy of the Photography Collections, University of Maryland, Baltimore County

By 1928, a second water treatment plant was added to the Lake Montebello facilities, which expanded across Hillen Road.  This image documents a filtration building at the Hillen site.

Improvements on Hillen

Accession Number P75-54-A254g, Hughes Company Glass Negatives Collection,

Courtesy of the Photography Collections, University of Maryland, Baltimore County

In 1923, a "balancing reservoir" was added to Lake Montebello as part of the Loch Raven dam raising project.

New Demands

Accession Number P75-54-0832g, Hughes Company Glass Negatives Collection,

Courtesy of the Photography Collections, University of Maryland, Baltimore County

The newly annexed territories of 1918 tripled the geography of the city, and the new municipal drinking water system quickly had to adapt to meet these demands.  This photo shows row upon row of filter beds in the north and south galleries of the Filter Building at Lake Montebello.

State of the Art in 1915

After several months of delays, the Baltimore Sun reported on August 6, 1915 that the Lake Montebello plant in Northeast Baltimore had begun filtering water for public consumption.  The Hughes Company photos, taken July 12, 1915, show the brand new facilities just a few weeks before full-scale operations began.  These images show the beauty of the plant's interior and exterior architectural features. 

Accession Number P75-54-0830g, Hughes Company Glass Negatives Collection,

Courtesy of the Photography Collections, University of Maryland, Baltimore County

Accession Number P75-54-0834g, Hughes Company Glass Negatives Collection,

Courtesy of the Photography Collections, University of Maryland, Baltimore County

Increased Demand at Loch Raven

Accession Number P75-54-A393g, Hughes Company Glass Negatives Collection,

Courtesy of the Photography Collections, University of Maryland, Baltimore County

The Loch Raven damn, built in 1915, was raised in 1923 to 240 feet in order to meet residential and industrial demand.  This image, taken in 1920, shows the damn at its original height of 188 feet.

Late to the Game

Accession Number P75-54-0489g, Hughes Company Glass Negatives Collection,

Courtesy of the Photography Collections, University of Maryland, Baltimore County

Originally in this blog, I set out to explore changes to the water systems in Baltimore -- both drinking water and waste water utilities.  What I found, however, is that the Hughes Collection did not support my interest in the history of the city's sewer system.  The story of the development of the sewers, although interesting, actually predates the 1918 annexation.

Researching Schools and Water

Some of the books and online resources used to research these themes are available here.  Or, to view the complete bibliography for these two topics...