West Baltimore Street

West Baltimore Street. . , The development and use of this area was heavily influenced by the presence of two rail yard areas owned by the Baltimore and Ohio Railroad and the Western Maryland Railway. Hood Street was named after John Mifflin Hood, a former Confederate army engineer and long-time president of the Western Maryland Railway, (1874-1901)., Since the closing of the rail service in this area in the later half of the 20th Century, the West Baltimore Street area, which always had an industrial character, began to see a revitalization with the construction of residential development by the Hagerstown Housing Authority. In the 1960s, this site was occupied by the H.L. Mills filling station. The control building featured a cupola on the roof., "Potomac Towers" was completed by the Housing Authority Board in 1972. The C. Williams Brooks mid-rise development was dedicated in 2011. It was named in honor of T. Andrew Williams and his granddaughter, Carolyn Williams Brooks., Mr. Williams served on the Board of Commissioners of the Housing Authority Board from 1975 until his death in 1989. Ms. Brooks was appointed to the Housing Authority Board in 1990 and began serving as chairperson in 1992. As of 2022, she continues to serve in her role as chairperson., The cupola you see before you, now used as a centerpiece of this open space area, is the same cupola that stood for many years on the roof of the Mills building. This building was demolished in 2010., [Captions:] , This photo of the downtown area was taken from an airplane around 1938. The Housing Authority lands are in the lower center portion of this photo., T. Andrew Williams, Carolyn Williams Brooks, The H.L. Mills fueling station as it appeared up on its opening in 1961.