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Searching
for Poly
by
Christopher Vale ©2011
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In my previous story I acknowledged a book
presented to us by Gene Freimanis of West Fargo (not to be confused
with Wells Fargo.) It is a history of the first century of the
Baltimore Polytechnic Institute. The Pratt Library has three copies of
this work.
Inside is a street map from c.a. 1900 showing
the location of the “Manual Training School” on Courtland Street
back-to-back with the Baltimore City Hospital. There is a photograph of
the Baltimore Manual Training School building, that being the original
name of Poly. I decided to find it and show the scene at that location
today. However, Courtland Street has vanished.
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The school was located between East Saratoga
and E. Pleasant Street. Courtland was a smaller street between St. Paul
and Calvert. Now there isn’t a smaller street between. Instead there is
St. Paul Place, a well traveled one-way south thoroughfare. And
Baltimore City Hospital has grown the same as other hospitals to take
over blocks of downtown, only now it is called Mercy Hospital.
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The old picture is scoffed out of the book;
nothing shown there appears in modern Baltimore. The other picture is
taken from nearly the same location while avoiding getting killed in
traffic. Mercy spreads over several blocks with glass bridges spanning
the city thoroughfares. Across the road is a pleasant city park, well
kept but lonely when I was there at noon. Shaded by trees is a statue
honoring a Western Maryland Railway president. I wonder if he was an
engineer?
Chris Vale.
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