Online Resources

There are a number of online collections and web guides that have facilitated our research.  Here is a selection of some of those resources:

Baltimore City Maps 1900 to 1929
Historic Map Collections of the JHU Sheridan Libraries

The Geography of Baltimore City: Sources
Baltimore City Archives

Baltimore: Research Resources
Sheridan Libraries, Johns Hopkins University

PP30, Hughes Studio Photograph Collection, 1940-1956
Maryland Historical Society Library
[Please note: MDHS is in the process of redesigning their website, so this URL may change]

PP8, Hughes Collection, 1910-1946
Maryland Historical Society Library
[Please note: MDHS is in the process of redesigning their website, so this URL may change]

Mapping Pavement

Call No: GPML: G3844 .B3P2 1926 .B3,
Historic Map Collections of the Sheridan Libraries, Johns Hopkins University

This 1926 map, created by the Department of Public Works' Bureau of Highways, shows the extent of street paving in Baltimore.  The red lines indicate work done between 1923 and 1926.

For a closer look at this image, check out a high-res version directly from the source.  Please note that Growing Baltimore used a detail from this map to create the blog's header.

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...

Strayer Report

The Strayer School Survey, commissioned by the city in 1921, was an important planning document that led to significant improvements in the Baltimore's schools.  Public shock produced by the Strayer Survey led to three large loans, totaling 32 million dollars, for school construction in the 1930s. As a result of this funding, fifteen new schools were built and increases were seen in teacher salaries and schools' operating budgets.

Included below is an online version of the Strayer Report, which has been digitized by the Google Book project.  See for yourself the kinds of detailed information this survey provided about the physical conditions at the city's public schools.