Baltimore, Maryland — The American Northeast (Mid-Atlantic)

Gas, Dredges, Beer, and Pianos

Gwynns Falls Trail

By Don Morfe, May 27, 2017

1. Gas, Dredges, Beer, and Pianos Marker

Inscription. This area of Baltimore, known as Carroll-Camden, was one of the city’s earliest industrial districts. Starting in the 1800s, it served as the home of the gas-lighting industry, breweries, and manufacturers of dredging equipment and pianos. Baltimore was an early leader in the use of gas made from coal for streetlights and other purposes before natural gas replaced it in the mid-1900s. The Ellicott Machine Corporation, begun in 1885 and now a part of Baltimore Dredges, still produces equipment used in waterways around the world. The Bauernschmidt brewery and Marr malt house operated here until the early 1900s. The Knabe piano complex employed hundreds until it moved away in 1929. Efforts are underway today to redevelop this area.

(Inscription next to the image on the lower left)
Electricity poles lean, but a gas streetlight remains upright after a snowstorm in 1911.

(Inscription above the image at the bottom center)
Bayard Street Station, which still stands, was a part of the Chesapeake Gas Works in the late 1800s.

(Inscription above the image in the upper right)
The William Knabe Piano Co. was a major employer of German immigrants. Its site is now part of the Camden Yards stadium complex.

Erected by Gwynn Falls Trail Council/ A Project of the Parks & People Foundation

By Don Morfe, May 27, 2017

2. Gas, Dredges, Beer, and Pianos Marker

The Chesapeake Gas Works Company building is in the background.

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Location. 39° 16.658′ N, 76° 38.041′ W. Marker is in Baltimore, Maryland. Marker is on Bayard Street. Touch for map. Marker is at or near this postal address: 1415 Bayard Street, Baltimore MD 21230, United States of America.

Other nearby markers. At least 8 other markers are within walking distance of this marker. Mount Clare, the Georgia Plantation (approx. 0.3 miles away); Walters Public Bath House No. 2 (approx. 0.4 miles away); 1917 – 1918 (approx. 0.4 miles away); Carroll Park (approx. 0.4 miles away); James L. (Jim) Caskey, Jr. (approx. half a mile away); Mt. Clare (approx. half a mile away); a different marker also named Mt. Clare (approx. half a mile away); a different marker also named Mount Clare (approx. half a mile away). Touch for a list and map of all markers in Baltimore.

More about this marker. From the Baltimore Heritage Organization website.

Opened in 1885 as the headquarters of the Chesapeake Gas Works Company, 1415 Bayard Street was the valve house for an immense gas production facility until a merger with the company that became BG&E near the turn of the century. In 1904, the Baltimore Gas Appliance Manufacturing Company used another building (still standing) on the site to manufacture the Oriole Stove that anchored many Baltimore kitchens. The valve house retains

Gwynns Falls Trail Mural image. Click for full size.

By Don Morfe, May 27, 2017

3. Gwynns Falls Trail Mural

Mural is on a building in Gaslight Square at Carroll Camden

much of its architectural glory and industrial past, including a working fireplace (in a gas production facility?!) and one of the main lines that conducted gas under Hamburg Street to the rest of the city. Housewerks Architectural Salvage now occupies the building as a showroom for salvaged items from historic Baltimore.

Categories. • Industry & Commerce •

Bayard Street Station image. Click for full size.

By Don Morfe, May 27, 2017

4. Bayard Street Station

Buildings in Gaslight Square at Carroll Camden

Yard at Gaslight Square at Carroll Camden image. Click for full size.

By Don Morfe, May 27, 2017

5. Yard at Gaslight Square at Carroll Camden

Credits. This page was last revised on June 4, 2017. This page originally submitted on June 3, 2017, by Don Morfe of Baltimore, Maryland. This page has been viewed 80 times since then and 15 times this year. Photos: 1, 2, 3, 4, 5. submitted on June 3, 2017, by Don Morfe of Baltimore, Maryland. • Bill Pfingsten was the editor who published this page.