Campus Concept

The Montebello School, which opened in 1923, overlooks Lake Montebello.  It was designed to include outdoor "play pavilions" and a separate building to house its auditorium/gymnasium.  Today, this site is known as Montebello Elementary Junior Academy, located at 2040 East 32nd Street.  

In the two views below, you can compare the remarkably unchanged facade of the building at the time of its construction and now.  The "street view" from Google Maps will allow you to click, zoom, and pan in order to interact with the environment around the building.  Can you find the outdoor play pavilions?

Image Number PP30.162 [now part of PP8] Hughes Studio Photograph Collection, 

Maryland Historical Society

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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]

Celebrating Clifton Park High

Image Number PP30.152 [now part of PP8] Hughes Studio Photograph Collection, 

Maryland Historical Society

This image of the cornerstone laying at Clifton High School in 1924 is more interesting when one considers the events preceding this ceremony, including a scandal about the substitution of sub-standard construction materials and public outcry over the school's location close to a busy traffic corridor on Harford Road at 25th Street.

Architect's Rendering

Accession Number P75-54-1481g, Hughes Company Glass Negatives Collection,

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

An architect's wash drawing shows plans for Forest Park School #69 in the West Arlington area of the city.  On January 18, 1922, the Baltimore Sun reported that 14.5 acres had been purchased between West Forest Park and Arlington for the new school, designed to accommodate 2,000 pupils and to relieve overcrowding at nearby school #64.  This  location actually straddled the boundary between the old city and newly annexed areas.  The building's cornerstone was laid by Mayor Broening at a ceremony on May 7, 1923.

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.

Education by Design

Accession Number P75-54-0005g, Hughes Company Glass Negatives Collection,

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

This architect's drawing of a school building designed by Clyde S. Adams in 1923 illustrates some of the distinctive changes that took place in new school construction in the 1920s and 1930s.  The buildings themselves were larger and more spacious than previous structures.  Elementary schools were designed to hold 850 students; junior and senior high schools were made for up to 2,500 students.  In her book, Baltimore: The Building of an American City, Sherry Olson describes some of the new features added to schools: park-like campuses, playgrounds, lawns, landscaping, and flagpoles.  Inside, the buildings were equipped with modernized electricity, natural light, central steam heating, and multiple staircases for emergency exit.

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.