Gwynns Falls/Leakin Park in Baltimore, Maryland — The American Northeast (Mid-Atlantic)
An Old Mill Stream
Photographed by Christopher Busta-Peck, March 18, 2008
1. An Old Mill Stream Marker
If you were standing here in the early 1800s, you would have been listening to the waterwheel humming away at the Windsor Mill across this bridge. This section of the Gwynns Falls Trail is built over a three-mile millrace that carried water to power the Five Mills complex near today's Leon Day Park. These mills and others alon-e the Gwynns falls and Dead Run streams helped turn the Baltimore area into one of the nation's leading flour and textile producers.
[photograph]
A Baltimore, Calverton & Powhatan streetcar crosses the Windsor Mill Road Bollman truss bridge about 1900.
[photograph]
In the 1800s woolen and cotton mills were operating upstream from here in Wetheredsville. The village became known as Dickeysville after the W.J. Dickey Co. purchased the complex and provided housing (below) for its workers in the 1870s.
Erected by Gwynns Falls Trail Council.
Topics and series. This historical marker is listed in this topic list: Industry & Commerce. In addition, it is included in the Maryland, Gwynns Falls Trail series list. A significant historical year for this entry is 1900.
Location. 39° 18.712′ N, 76° 41.326′ W.
this page online
Regionally, this marker is in Central Maryland. It is also in the American Mid-Atlantic and in the Chesapeake Bay Region. Globally, it is in the North Atlantic Region, North America, the Western Hemisphere, the Western World, and the Anglosphere. Historically, it finds itself in what was once one of the original Thirteen Colonies and also the Antebellum South.
Other nearby markers. At least 8 other markers are within walking distance of this marker: Seeing the Forest for the Trees (a few steps from this marker); Gwynns Falls Park at Windsor Mill Road (within shouting distance of this marker); Dickeyville's Historic Legacy (about 500 feet away, measured in a direct line); Leakin Park at Winans Meadow (approx. 0.6 miles away); A Name Before a Place
Photographed by Christopher Busta-Peck, March 18, 2008
2. Trail to the marker
Marker is at the bend in the trail, on the right side.
Another marker is no longer nearby. Orianda House (was approx. 0.7 miles away but has been replaced with another marker now near it).
Also see . . . Gwynns Falls Trail Council. (Submitted on March 17, 2008, by Christopher Busta-Peck of Shaker Heights, Ohio.)
Photographed by Christopher Busta-Peck, March 18, 2008
3. Marker and bridge over the Gwynns Falls
The bridge appears to have been built in the 1930s or 1940s to replace the Bollman Truss Bridge shown on the marker.
Photographed by Christopher Busta-Peck, March 18, 2008
4. A recent look at the scene shown on the marker
Photographed by Christopher Busta-Peck, March 18, 2008
5. Utility box
This box sits on the southwest side of the bridge, presumably housing controls for the electric lights on the bridge railings.
Photographed by Christopher Busta-Peck, March 18, 2008
6. Bollman Bridge plaque
This is all that remains of the previous bridge here over the Gwynns Falls. It can be seen in the photo on the marker, about halfway up the right side of the bridge. It reads:
Built under the
supervision of Balto. County
Commissioners.
Pleasant Hunter
Robert S. Corse
Isaac Crowther, Sr.
Designed by W. Bollman
W. H. Rimmey, Builder
1877
supervision of Balto. County
Commissioners.
Pleasant Hunter
Robert S. Corse
Isaac Crowther, Sr.
Designed by W. Bollman
W. H. Rimmey, Builder
1877
Credits. This page was last revised on March 3, 2025. It was originally submitted on March 17, 2008, by Christopher Busta-Peck of Shaker Heights, Ohio. This page has been viewed 3,790 times since then and 69 times this year. Photos: 1, 2, 3, 4, 5, 6. submitted on March 19, 2008, by Christopher Busta-Peck of Shaker Heights, Ohio.
