Baltimore Fire 1904  

 
The Great Baltimore Fire of 1904
Baltimore In Ruins After The Great Fire Of 1904

WILBUR F COYLE
The Sun (1837-1987); Feb 29, 1920; - pg. A6

One black night from the home of City Hall I saw Baltimore burn. I will never forget that site. Few people have ever been privileged to look down upon the populous city and watch as his very heart was eaten. It was a terrible hollering experience – to look. Look. Look. And know that there was no force to stay the flames: the thousands of human beings must stand important and hopeless while myriads of hot, red tongues withered everything in their path.

It was as a memorable night of 7 February 1904 – the night of black despair – to which I refer: when Baltimore was swept by a conflagration almost an equal in the history of American cities: when modern building after modern building, heretofore assumed to be fireproof succumbed that with amazing rapidity. Fireproof – amiss – the term refers to something that does not exist. I saw Baltimore burn: I know. Yes, 7 February 1904 was a terrible day followed by a more terrible night. The city was stunned and thousands of individuals common exhausted by fruitless efforts to rescue their goods and merchandise had abandoned hope.

Late last night, utterly fatigued. I was at the city library, City Hall. Suddenly I remembered that hanging upon a book almost within reach was the key to the dome. I was tired – “deadbeat” – but I realized that never again with an opportunity be presented to see such a spectacle. What time it was I do not know. Because I did not know then. I took no note of time in its flight. With the key of the dome, I went from the third to the fourth floor where, in the West car door, is a door which bars the way to the dome. Just then I encountered two men from York Pennsylvania who had, on a special train that brought the fire apparatus of that city to our city I invited those strangers to go along. The little door blocking our path responded readily and we began to gradually ascent through the narrow, black Connell was laying its semicircular courts through walls of solid Masonry just where the dome shows above the roof that covers the winds of the City Hall.

The passage was [in fact is] so contracted that we had to go single file and with great caution. As we slowly rounded the curvature of approaching the point of exit above we notice through the narrow aperture the reflection of the flames. It seemed almost that the City Hall itself was on fire. This strange uncanny staircase, which upon that particular night had all the unpleasant tree suggested of a dungeon. It was connecting to a link between the lower region and a large circular mid dome apartment into which we emerged. This is, in reality, a great barrel 50 or more feet from its stone floor to the ceiling. The view in all directions is unobstructed through immense oblong windows extending almost from top to bottom facilitating and unhampered observation.

The view from the dome from the Crystal room – it may be sowed designated because of the number of character of its window – there extends a long spiral staircase which brings the traveler to the section of the dome where the clock in the apparatus that run it are installed. I had intended to climb those precipitous stairs and keep going, but I did not do so. The spectacles to those long windows of the Crystal room were almost paralyzing in its effect. One’s power of a locomotion’s seemed affected. I was utterly tired. I wanted to CARL up. To have gone higher one of added nothing to the view. It was all laid out before me – splendid old Baltimore was ablaze. It seemed to that the lower part of the city had caught fire, so near had the flames crept, and the sweeping glance to the south showed that the entire section between the building and the waterfront was read. Great columns of fire viciously stabbed at the darkness; flames passed from building to building, from block to block. Leaving nothing but blazing the breeze, gaunt gutted buildings, and desolation in the wake.

Mere words can convey no adequate idea of the terrible scene: any description must fail. It was maddening to realize that dear old Baltimore was burning like tender and that no human power could render effectual aid. This strange room was for the time being sheltered me from the dense smoke and flying embers that fitful dust sent over the dome was itself brilliantly illuminated spasmodically. The effect of the fire was startling. Flash after flash being accomplished by dull “boom” of explosions, which concussions mingled with countless other unwanted disturbances incident to the fire.

I really do not think the extent of Baltimore’s catastrophe is now appreciated. As I watched that night as flames ate their way through its heart I did not see how the city could ever recover. Think of the vastness of the destruction: from liberty Street on the west, Jones falls on the East, Charles and Lexington streets on the north, with all the buildings on the south side of Lexington Street to St. Paul Street, either going or gone, and a great battle staged on St. Paul Street to save the courthouse. Which was next in the past of the destroyer – that was the appalling situation 17 February 1904. It is beyond the imagination to picture 140 acres of a compact city like Baltimore burning or wrecked. It was terrifying to realize that there was practically no limit to which the fire fiend. Now on harnessed, might you go, it seemed as a look down upon it that the fire would take it’s course to the whole of East Baltimore contagious to the waterfront and burn, burn, burn until open country was reached. And so I am convinced it would. Had not it’s course been stayed by that filthy stream, the Jones Falls.

A grand total of 1526 buildings, many modern, its preparation of skyscrapers and in addition for lumber yards where the fuel for that disastrous combustion. Truly an appalling panorama it was as viewed by the all struck watchers away up in the dome of the City Hall. Acres blazing or in ruin, and no relief in sight how long I was in the dome I have no means of estimating. But suddenly I heard faint shouts. Which noises I knew could come only through the narrow channel of which I had climbed. I knew, too, the call was a warning, although I really felt there was no immediate danger, I lost no time in retreating through the tunnel and was soon back on the corridor on the fourth floor. It developed that a watchman, no doubt making his rounds, found the door of the dome open and, suspecting that someone was up there, had reported the discovery to the custody and of the building. The latter wisely decided to make an investigation, and as the searchers ascended it was there shouting which I heard and answered.

At that moment the City Hall was in no danger, but it wasn’t long before the doom seemed sealed. Only those who were in the building that night realized a close call it had. True, to the westward, whence the fire earlier came, the hall was then protected by the courthouse in St. Paul Street side of which was damaged and also by the granite post office the stone structures acted as a screen for the municipal building and both would have succumbed before the City Hall was attacked from the West. The threatened assault, however, did not come from that direction at all but from the southeast. I cannot recall the variations of the wind that fiery night nor the phenomenon that occurred. But it is a fact that the flames had swept from west to east and seeming well beyond that City Hall zone, slowly worked back from the South was southeast. Coming steadily toward the big structure this was the situation when I returned from my venture into the dome.

The flames approach. From the first branch Council chamber member a good view of the approach and fire would be obtained and when I went there I found the number of persons assembled. The fine chamber of commerce building a few blocks away to the southeast was ablaze midst a score of others insight and the destroyer were beating back with seeing a deliberate purpose of getting the smaller structures along Fayette Street, opposite the exposed southern when of the City Hall. It wasn’t long before all the buildings across narrow Fayette Street were ablaze and all but one, the Giddings bank building at the southeast corner of Fayette and Guilford Avenue, were utterly burned, correct, collapsed. Through the balance of the night, a determined flight was put up to save this antiquated bank and strange to say this effort was successful. With blazing structures across the street, it seemed for a period that the City Hall must certainly catch. The heavy window glass was hot and with myriads of sparks in the air seeking lodgment in the edifice, there seems little chance of escape.

The catastrophe was so widespread and appalling that the senses were actually deadened or numb and a building more or less did not seem of great Monument. I glanced about the sumptuous chamber luxurious in his heavy draperies, it’s walnut furnishings and costly carpets and I wondered whether the moment had come to put into execution a plan I had to save the most valuable objects insight – the portraits of the mayors of Baltimore. Although many of these paintings have since been removed and distributed throughout City Hall, a score or more at present hangings in the mayor’s sweet, they were at the time of the fire all in the two chambers of the Council. The great wall space in each branch was covered, the rooms, in fact, were a portrait Gallery of consequence, containing as they did effigies of the mayors from James Calhoun 1797 to Thomas G. Hayes 1903. There were other fine paintings in the group, particularly of the men – including Gen. Samuel Smith – who took part in the defense of Baltimore in 1814. Such artists as Charles Wilson Peale, Rembrandt Peale, Thomas Sully and others of a lesser population were represented. The campuses, some of which were very large and heavily framed, or of great intrinsic value and historically and sentimentally priceless.

Earlier in the night [or day for it may have been daylight] I had labored to get all the records in my custody out of City Hall when it seemed to the building was directly in the path of the fire and it was almost a personal disaster to have to abandon the portraits of those fine men who had in a sense, then the builders of Baltimore. I determined these paintings should not be abandoned. I would cut them from their frames!

This I could do quickly. For I had a trusty knife ready, and with the assistance of the others present it would not be a difficult job, I could roll the campuses up and escape with them under my arm – but when should I cut?

That was, in reality, a burning question. From the other side of Fayette St., South to the waterfront, the city was ablaze. The City Hall would be next. Nothing was now between it and the fire. Was a time to strike? I waited: I waited. The structures across the street were gone. Somehow the blistering heat did not burst the heavy window glass and ignite the hall. The showers of sparks passed harmlessly by. The miracle had been wrought. Daybreak with the terrifying spectacle it revealed was at hand. The little party in the Council chamber broke up. Such was the culminating incidents of the night spent in the City Hall while ruin reigned without. A night that followed a day into which had been crowded, and the experience of the average individual, gloom, dismay, fear amounting almost to terror.

 

In The First Hours

early in the day [7 February 1904] it was noised all over town that a great fire was spreading to unwanted proportions involving a considerable area, but no one dreamed of the impending danger. I went downtown in the early afternoon and called at a newspaper office to obtain information concerning the conflagration. I was asked by the editor to procure a plat of the S. Library St. section where the fire was raging, the purpose being to reproduce the chart immediately in connection with the story of the conflagration. I went to the City Hall to get a map and brought forth a large atlas containing, among other charts, the plat requested. Some persons on the sidewalk seeing me emerged from the hall was a mammoth atlas set up a shell and twitted me, assuming I was taking the record to a place of safety because of the fire than half a mile or so distant. Those looters must later have credited me with supernatural wisdom or discernment. Only a few hours elapsed where not only myself but other city officials were nervously hurrying wagon loads of records from the City Hall. I did not let my atlas get out of sight and before it could be used the newspaper office was in flames. By that time the volume was back in city halls library. I saw to that personally. 

Meeting the Records

Sometime later when the big Continental building at the corner of Baltimore and Calvert Street became luminous: flames streaming from every window. I thought the City Hall and post office doomed. So and others. There would be no further delay; we must move. I had engaged some teams [so I thought] to meet the emergency but who could hold conveyances under such conditions? People with frantic and offering fabulous sums to have their goods moved, in front of almost every establishment along Baltimore, Lombard, South, Calvert, and scores of Streets wagons parts and rays were backed up, loaded in hustle Austin to drive away and deposit their burdens in another building which surely fell prey to the flames. This, unfortunately, was the experience of very many. 

There were few officials at the City Hall that memorable Sunday. Mayor Robert M. McLean, clad in a fireman’s outfit, was one the fire line of the superintendent of buildings and his force was on St. Paul Street assisting in saving the Zen new courthouse. But I recall three persons I met momentarily at the hall – Mr. William A. Larkins then deputy Commissioner of Street cleaning: deputy city collector Hartman, now judge of the Appeal Tax Court, and Mr. Frank J Murphy, clerk of the same court. To Mr. Larkins and Mr. Murphy, I feel I owe a debt of gratitude. The form of voluntarily sent me a detail from history cleaning forces to assist in removing invaluable records from the city library, and Mr. Murphy suggested that I share it struck he had managed to commandeer, which with the one I seized enabled me to clear the city library of many official Street opening plats, books and other records, the loss of which would have been irreparable. 

Danger to the Library

Quite a. A force of men was carrying out these archives. The drivers were instructed not to unload the wagons under any conditions. I think the records were sent to Union Station. At all events, they were taken to the place of safety and returned immediately after the fire. Though several times were taking out this did not make a great impression on the whole equipment. Many, many books were left in the cases, but the rarest of the collection was sent away. And I loaded myself down was my arms, including first records of Baltimore town in Jonestown: the first directory of Baltimore town and fell’s point and such. As a final choice, I would have turned the crowd on the streets into the library rather than see the books destroyed, on the chance of getting some back again. Many merchants did this in an effort to salvage their stock. 

While stirring around the city all I ran into Mr. Hartman, deputy collector. We passed each other in a rush, but I reminded him that in a large attic room where the accumulated tax records of over a century which were doomed if the building caught. It was the work of days under ordinary conditions to remove these. And Mr. Hartman said the books would have to be abandoned. He was desperately intent upon getting the “live” records of his department out of harm’s way since these showed what money was due to the city from taxpayers of the volumes meant not only chaos and irreparable confusion but the loss of the municipality of millions of dollars. 

All the strenuous physical effort. Mental strain and sustained excitement was very exhausting, and having done my utmost in the circumstances to protect the city property and records in my custody I went back to the city library. Where the key to the dome suggested a trip, heretofore described, to that point. 

I remain downtown in the fire zone, or at my office until 6 o’clock that evening – Monday. 8 February 1904, I was as black as a minor when I got home and so tired I seemed in a trance – yet I was but one of many thousands in the same flight. Some were half-crazed by their losses, demoralization and disorganization were complete. Everyone had been laboring under intense excitement, accompanied by a depressing sense of irreparable loss. The city was shocked beyond measure. As I write all this seems an occurrence of yesterday rather than of 1904. It is almost impossible to conceive that a new generation has risen which has no personal knowledge of that moment this occurrence. Oft has the statement been made that Baltimore is better as a result of that fire. I made it myself, and it is true – but I always make a mental or rather sentimental reservation. It did make possible the building of a splendid system of municipal docs; it did give the opportunity to widen streets, and there is no question that in many physical respects this city has splendidly advanced. It, too, wake the people and they have since been more alive to their opportunities. The spirit of broad is an evidence of this – yet even to this day, it makes me sick to think how building after building, landmark after landmark went up in a flash of flame and a puff of smoke. 

As to chance – well possibly it is necessary to make all Baltimore look like new; to get away from the original surveys; to turn Cal paths into boulevards, to revamp, rebuild and beautify from time to time but how much of the old city individuality, or personality was destroyed in the process? 

Is it better than Baltimore look new and bright and smart and modern and right up to the minute – rather than an orderly, enterprising, populous city with a dash of quaintness, and suggestions of historical associations in its buildings and streets? Has a city like Boston lost anything by adhering to its old areas to early surveys, and accentuating, rather than destroying and obscuring evidence of its antiquity? Well, well, I’m getting over my head now, – let’s get back to the fire, for a brief period. 

This started at 1048 [the time registered by thermostat alarm] in the six-story brick building occupied by the J. E. Hurst company, wholesale dry goods and notion house, and German [Redwood] and liberty streets and Hopkins place. In his report Chief Engineer Horton said, “The fire raged until 11:30 AM Monday, 8 February 1904” but this does not mean necessarily it was then extinguished. As a matter of fact, it to load and burned brightly along the eastern extremity of the area until much later, an estimated 36 hours and all. There is no way of accurately computing the loss, but $125 million is the generally accepted estimate, taking all elements in the consideration. This figure is, however, more or less arbitrarily set. 

No one was killed during the fire, though some firemen sustained injuries, and there were wild rumors of many fatalities. Mayor MacLean refused all outside financial aid and he announced to the world that Baltimore would rebuild through his own efforts, which it did was amazing rapidity. Several cities, however, rendered valuable assistance at the fire – apparatus, and fighters being rushed there from several points. Written 29 February 1920 as described by the city librarian Wilbur F. Coyle – The City Librarian, describes the destruction of Baltimore by fire, 16 years ago this month February 29, 1920, as seen in the City Hall dome – the removal of the records – the plan to cut valuable portraits of mayors from their frames to save them from the flames. These are the personal Chronicles of one who from City Hall Saul Baltimore burning

A COUNTRY OF GREAT FIRES

Some of the Blazes That Have Cost Millions of Money and Many Lives 

The United States has, it is said, a record of destruction by fire not equaled by any other country. The greatest, of course, was "The Great Fire," which swept Chicago in 1871, burning over 2,124 acres, nearly covered by buildings, causing the loss of a great many lives and a property loss of more than $100,000,000. 

The Greatest Fires Baltimore had ever known up to this time were the Clay street fire of July 25, 1875, and the Hopkins Place fire of Sunday, September 2, 1888, both of which are described elsewhere. Big fires in other parts of the country have been as follows: 

Savannah, Ga., in 1820, 463 buildings and $4,000,000 value destroyed.

New York, in 1835, 530 buildings, 52 acres burned over, and $i5,000,000 of property destroyed; In 1845, 300 acres burned over, $7,500,000 value, 35 lives lost.

Charlestown, Mass., in 1838, 1,158 buildings.

Pittsburg, in 1845, 100 buildings; $1,000,000 property value.

St. Louis, in 1849, 15 buildings; $3,000,000 value; in 1851, 2,500 buildings destroyed. Philadelphia 1850, 400 buildings.

San Francisco 1831, 2,500 .building’s and a number of lives lost; property -value, $10,000,000.

Portland Maine, in 1866, over one-half the city 200 acres burned over and 1,743 buildings destroyed.

Boston; in 1872, 65 acres or mercantile section burned, including 776 buildings, nearly all of brick and stone construction; property value, $75,000,000.

In June 1889, Seattle, Wash., was destroyed, the loss being $30,000,000. Two months later Spokane- Falls burned. The loss being-$7;000,000.

At Lynn, Mass., In November of the same year $5,000,000 worth of property was consumed. Within a few days, the fire broke out in the dry goods· district of Boston and property valued at $6.000,000 was burned.

In October 1892, a fire at Milwaukee caused a loss of $6,000,000,

At Hoboken on June 30, 1900, the North German Lloyd. Piers and steamships sustained a loss of 10,000,000 and 200 lives were lost.

At Jacksonville, Fla., May 3, 1901, loss estimated at $12,000,000 and 1,300 houses were burned some lives were lost, but the number was not exactly known. . .

October 25, 1901, · In Philadelphia, 19 persons were killed and about $500,000 damage was done by a fire in Hunt, Wilkinson & Co.'s furniture warehouse, on Market street, near Wanamaker's Store.

At Waterbury, Conn., February 2 and 3 1904, Damage now estimated· at $2,500,000 was done.

New York; March 17, 1889, The Windsor Hotel fire, in which 45 persons lost their lives and a property loss of about ·$1,000,000 caused.

7 Feb 1979

The Great Baltimore Fire of 1904:
Isaac Rehert
The Sun (1837-1987); Feb 7, 1979;
pg. B1

7 February 1979 marked the 75th anniversary of the worst disaster ever to strike the city of Baltimore known as “the great Baltimore fire” what follows are two recollections of that fire

The Great Baltimore Fire of 1904:
Two Neighborhood ‘Girls’ Remember

By Isaac Rehert

It began at Hopkins place and German (now Redwood) streets, in the warehouse of the J. Hurst Company; from there it quickly spread to surrounding buildings.

For 2 ½ days, it raged, eating its way eastward in a roaring, hissing sheet of red flames across the half-mile front reaching from Fayette Street to the harbor.

Before it was contained at the Jones falls, it has consumed an area of more than 140 acres, destroying 1500 prime office and manufacturing buildings, leaving Baltimore’s entire business district a graveyard of smoking black embers.

Financial losses were estimated at between 100 million and $150 million.

Two little girls living in Baltimore during those faithful days – both now in their 80s – still recall the fear, the danger and excitement of those few days, when the destruction of the whole city seemed imminent.

One of them, Rosa Kohler Eichelberger, has written a book about it for children and young adults called “big fire in Baltimore,” just published by Steiner house a local firm.

The other, Esther Wilner Hillman, in an interview, has related a little-known facet of that stirring piece of Baltimore history.

Rosa Kohler Eichelberger

“It was a bitter cold Sunday morning, about 10 or 11 O’clock, with first got her attention where the fire engines, shrieking by every minute, with their sirens and their bells. We knew there had to be a big fire somewhere.

“We were living at 329 North Carrollton Ave. – one of those three-story houses with little white steeps. It was a beautiful neighborhood in those days with lots of teachers and doctors living in our block.

“I was eight years old. Daddy was a telegrapher for Western Union. His office was in the Equitable building, but that was one of the first buildings to go and later they set up a transmission office in the addict of Welch’s restaurant.

“There were any telephones and radios, so we didn’t know about the fire – until the claiming of the fire engines. With so many of them passing, we all ran outside and when we could see the sky to the east all lit up with flames, and the dark black smoke gathering and blowing in the distance”

that, for the little girl, was the beginning of three of the longest event-packed days of a long active life – days of anxiety, of furious chasing around town, of our order world turned suddenly to chaos, of vents that it’s themselves permanently into her mind.

She never forgot them; she could never imagine how any Baltimorean – whether he lived through the fire or not – could ever forget them.

“Later, when I was grown, I work with children in the playground athletic league, and I would ask them what they knew about the Baltimore fire. “It burned me up. They didn’t know a thing. I told him about it and they were shocked. I said to myself. Someday I was going to have to write that story.” One reason the children hadn’t heard was because of the immediate, far-flung, effective action in the city to rebuild.

There was a brief mood of pessimism; but then-Mayor Clay Timanus created a “district commission,” and public officials, merchants, and financiers got to gather with plans and activities.

By the time Rosa Kohler’s playground children came along, but memories of the fire were lost in the first pink glow of Baltimore’s first Renaissance.

But she didn’t intend that it should be lost. “Later, I lived in New York, and we would have a dinner party and I would tell people I was from Baltimore and I would bring up the subject to the fire. “They look at me with eyes full of doubt and it asks, “oh did Baltimore once have a fire?”

“I had always love to Baltimore, but remarks like that – they started my inner fires raging and I began to think again about writing my book.”

Her head was still full of memories, but the first night when her mother disappeared.

“Nobody knew where she was, nobody could call or wire, we were getting information but only through the grapevine.

“Everyone was frantic, we imagine the worst, nobody slept.

“The fire was spreading the other way, but embers were blowing back in our direction, and we never knew whether our house might catch fire.

“Men wore celluloid collars in those days. And I remember one man – and Amber landed on his collar and set fire to him. They had to douse him with a bucket of water to put them out.

“That night, and every block, they set up bucket brigades on the rooftops keeping watch in case the houses of catch fire.

“Next morning mother showed up. She has spent the night with a friend on Biddle Street, helping her pack and move in case the win to turn and flames eat up that part of the city.”

She Still Recalled What the Fire Did to Her Grandfather

“He was in the shoe business. He had a factory on Water Street and three retail shoe stores. One was in the old son building on troll Street in Baltimore Street. I remember it so well, on the same floor was a shop selling Minsk badges and another for the Warner Hat Company. I used asked myself, how does the company make out selling nothing but badges?

“Daddy couldn’t go to work Monday, so he went with my grandfather to see if they could save the factory. There were hordes of people downtown. They came to go to work, just as they always did. They had heard there was a fire, but it was a workday, so they knew they had to get up and go to work.

“The military was out – and dandy fifth – keeping the spectators away from the danger zones. People standing around watching got so excited that sometimes when a wind came up, it would scatter some paper money that somehow didn’t get burnt up. But nobody would bother chasing it.

“They couldn’t save grandfather’s factory. It was completely gone. Everything stank up and burned. They found the foot of water on the floor, and they were sloshing around. Trying to find what might be left when my mother showed up.

“Nobody was supposed to get through the military lines. But mother was good-looking and somehow she made it.

“When she appeared, she looked at my father’s what feet and smiled. She said she knew it would be that way and she had bought him a pair of dry socks.

“Grandfather never rebuilt his factory; he was too old. He did reopen some stores, but he could never get used to selling shoes made by someone else. It was never the same.”

It was in her late teens that rose: the first decided she had to write a book about the fire. She had attended St. Catherine’s normal Institute, at Harlem and Arlington avenues. But she never went to college. Instead, she went to work as a recreation leader, where one of the jobs was telling stories to children.

Naturally, she would tell him about the fire. Later she wanted to be an actress, and read please with the vagabonds and with the war camp community service, the World War I organization providing recreation for servicemen.

She left Baltimore to travel with Chautauqua lectures, drama and other assorted kinds of culture to cities and small towns all over the country.

She became a professional storyteller, and one of the highlights of her career was telling stories at Hull house in Chicago where Jane Adams was at the crest of her fame.

In Chautauqua, she met her husband, Clark Eichelberger, a lecture on international affairs. He subsequently became a United Nations diplomat and has written a number of books in that area.

In the 1950s, [she was then approaching the age of 60] Mrs. Eichelberger took a course at the New York University in writing for children and shortly afterward published her first book, the Bronco close,

On the strength of that success, she has come New York publisher if he wouldn’t be interested in a long dash projected book about the Baltimore fire. He wasn’t.

“He said to me, “but you know, Mrs. Eichelberger, every little town in America has had its big fire.”

“That made me so mad.”

So she decided to write the book 1st and see if she could pedal it afterward

“I wanted children to see the fire as it actually happened. So I centered around the 12-year-old boy named Todd who wanted to become a Western Union telegrapher – he learned the moss code by practicing it on his gate latch – and he carried information to everyone about the fire.

“I get up every morning at 5 o’clock and work on this thing. Later in the day, I had my regular job and my housework to do

“getting up that early, I’ve wondered often how many millions of talented women writers have been smothered under housework. “I finished that manuscript, then I rewrote it, and then I rewrote again, again and again.

“Then I began talking to publishers, but nobody in New York was interested.

“It never occurred to me that there might be a publisher in Baltimore until one day I attended a reunion of old new dealers in Washington, and a friend of mine from Baltimore was there, and she told me about Barber hold bridge and stammer house. “I wrote to Barbara and she was interested right away.

“And that’s how it happened”

“After those kids, I personally told the story of the Baltimore fire to. I’m glad now that finally, it’ll be available to them all.

“My next book? I’m thinking about tackling my memoirs.”

Esther Wilner Hillman

There’s a Messiah on the door jam, and on the window, little decals about Israel. The walls are hung with pictures of children and grandchildren and great-grandchildren.

And there’s a big homemade greeting card tacked on the kitchen door from someone who I would say loves her.

Esther Wilner Hillman, 82 years old but looking nowhere near that age, is animatedly talking on the telephone, and the soap operas playing on the TV behind her.

But when you tell her you’ve come to hear her reminiscence about the Baltimore fire, everything stops.

Hastily she tells her friend, “I’ll call you back,” hangs up and leaves the instrument off the hook. She quickly turns off the TV. She explains that people are often here because she collects clothing to forward to poor people in Israel. And that today is her 82nd birthday, so she’s getting lots of calls.

But right now, first things first, “I’ve been waiting over 50 years to tell the story about what our Jewish people did in the Baltimore fire. Now that I’ve got a chance to do it, everything else is going to wait, even my birthday calls.”

First, though, a cup of tea – tea with maleness – that’s jelly or preservatives to sweeten it. And the cookie – you can’t drink tea without a cookie. Is it hot enough? If it isn’t hot enough, so warm it up.

Now that she's sure you’re comfortable, she begins her tail.

“I’ve tried to tell the story before, but they weren’t interested. All my life nearly every Friday I’ve been reading writing about the fire, but nobody has ever written what our Jewish people did. It was this way.” And she begins.

“It was bitter cold, just like today. We were living on sharp Street, at Camden.”

Sharp Street, she explains is the old name for Hopkins place. [It still Calls Sharp St., South of Pratt Street]

“That’s where the fire began, and Johnny Hearst place, right near the corner of German [Now Redwood] and Sharp.

She narrows her eyes and looks off into the distance, the better to see the exact corner.

“He was in the Drygoods and Notions business. So the stuff all over the South,” she looks solicitously into the teacup to be sure it isn’t yet empty, then continues her story.

“In those days, South Baltimore was a Jewish ghetto from Baltimore Street down to about Cross Street market.

“On the Shabbas, everything shut down because everybody went to see.

“But Sundays, they worked. Half a day, from 8 o’clock till two. Other days, they worked 12 hours. And they had to put in six days. Otherwise, they didn’t get their full pay. It was four dollars a week. Imagine, and today they made gets four dollars an hour.

“Anyway, my father worked for soul Ginsberg, whose factor was across the street from the Hertz.

“He’s going to work that morning as usual, at about 10 o’clock he came hurrying home caring these enormous books, weighed down with them. I’d never seen him look so intense and burdened. They were the ledgers from Ginsberg. “He slapped them on the chair and said to my mother, don’t let the children bother them. Tseppenin, that’s the word he used. “Then he ran back for more ledgers, and then he took my older brother, Sam, with him, back to the plant, to help them carry out bolts of cloth. Sam was nine years old. I’ve only seven. The bolts were so heavy, it took three of them to carry each one. But they kept running back and forth bringing more bolts until the police wouldn’t let them go back anymore.

“And then my father told everybody what happened. He had smelled fire and smoke, and a sent some of the workers to break the fire alarm. And then to stand at the corner ~fireman game. Remember, they were horse-drawn engines in those days.

“They saved all they could. What made it so sad was that there was a hardware store next door to the hearse, and they kept barrels of gasoline and coal oil out on the sidewalk – they weren’t allowed to keep them indoors.

“And then the fire read to them they exploded. It was terrible, after that, nobody was allowed to go back in, and the police went house to house throughout the road, telling us to get ready to move out, in case the winds shift toward the south. “We ran upstairs and carried down all our perenes (eiderdown quilts). What else do people have in those days? And then boys ran around and notified everybody who had a wagon to stay on alert – case we had to move. But thank God, the wind didn’t shift to the south.

“That night we children all slept downstairs on the perenes while our parents poured buckets of water on the roof, in case a spark should handle them.

“I remember father on the roof. And a mother on the sidewalk down below, filling the bucket and tying a rope to it so the men could port up.”

She interrupts to refill the plate holding the cookies. Do not homemade she apologizes. But you can’t get around as well as he used to.

“Now where was I? Oh, yes, sleeping on the perenes downstairs. You know, I’ll never forget that. Asked me what happened yesterday, and I won’t be able to tell you. But those days the fire, I’ll never forget.

“You know, it after just a couple of hours it was clear that it was so big that our firemen couldn’t handle it alone. So they sent help from other cities – from Washington, from Philadelphia, from door fall, from Richmond. “Of course, the firemen from out of town couldn’t go home, even the Baltimore firemen couldn’t go home. They would work for four hours, and then they were exhausted needed the rest, but in four hours they had to start again. “So the police came to our neighborhood and asked us to help. “The firemen needed hot coffee, could we keep a pot always going on the stove? And could do firemen come in and sleep in our houses? “Ordinarily we never use the parlor in winter, so it was always cold. We ate all meals in the kitchen. “But my father filled the big Latrobe stove with wood and coal, and we dragged the perenes in there on the floor, and that’s where the firemen slept. “Of course you couldn’t just give a man coffee without a bun. So my mother, like all the other women, began baking bread to feed the firemen. “I remember an old man, his name was Singer, he was very pious, and he kept a strict kosher grocery store. He sent over so many things. Without the charge, naturally. “On Camden Street, a family named Surasky kept the department store. It wasn’t like a department store today, but in those days it seemed very large to us. They sold everything. They sent boots for the firemen, and woolen socks, woolen caps, earmuffs, mittens. Whatever they had they sent, and everything was free of charge.

“My mother worked day and night, the only rest she got was on the couch in the kitchen. And my father and Sam were busy keeping the stove going day and night. “For us children, it was terribly exciting. Although strange men sleeping and eating in our house. “Since they slept around the clock, the house had to stay quiet, and my job was to watch the smaller children so they shouldn’t make any noise.

“Of course, the firemen were all black from the start, and they would wash and dry themselves on our towels – and the towels turned all black. I remember my mother standing all day over the washboard, scrubbing them clean. My father strong lines around the kitchen which were full of drying towels.

Our toilet in those days was outdoors, and we didn’t want to ask tired firemen to use that, so my father provided them buckets. I remember him and my mother caring the full buckets out and empty ones back in.

“Only the following Sunday, after it was all over, my father took us up there. What used to be such nice buildings were now all open fields. You couldn’t even tell where the streets had been.

“Everything was smoldering. I remember picking up a piece of black sender. As I held it, it still smoked.

“Back in the house, now the firemen were gone. Everything was so quiet. I remember how I missed the excitement. “But now we had to clean up. “We had no linoleums were rugs on our floors – everything was bare wood. And all the boards were black from soot. “The floors now had to be scrubbed clean. What a job that was!

“Downtown eventually was rebuilt, and the story the fire has been written and told hundreds of times.
“But nobody ever told the part our South Baltimore Jewish community played in it.

“I’ve always said that before I died, I want to tell the world that story.

“Now, thank God I’ve told it so the people will know.”

By Forrest Griffith Sr circa 1904

I Remember ... THE BALTIMORE FIRE OF 1904

FORREST GRIFFITH Sr

The Sun (1837-1987); Feb 4, 1973;

pg. SM2

I Remember ... THE BALTIMORE FIRE OF 1904

84-year-old Forrest Griffith recalls the most famous fire in Baltimore city history happening 69 years prior when he was just 15 years old he tells the story as follows

I remember the Baltimore fire of 1904… Sundays were quiet family affairs on N. Carey St. when I was a boy of 15 some families devoted to mornings to church, some to browsing through the Sunday paper, there was the usual huge dinner, which was even at midday. See the rest of the afternoon, the adults had time for a nap and the children did their homework.

A certain Sunday 69 years ago began as calmly as ever at our house 904 N. Carey, but before noon Joseph began coming in from Sunday school, told by their teachers to go directly home and stay off the streets. There was a big fire downtown.

By noon most of Baltimore new the story. For this particular Sunday was February 7, 1904, and “the big fire downtown” was what is still known in Baltimore as the fire, the biggest in local history.

The fire raged control for two days and flared up again and again in scattered spots for several more. At the end, 140 acres of downtown Baltimore has been reduced to smoldering ashes, 1500 buildings were destroyed. And the loss was estimated at hundred and $50 million.

All boys and men ran to the fire in those days, the men to help, the boys to watch. There was a sort of detached fascination in watching firemen fighting a fire in somebody else’s neighborhood. But watching the fire your own neighborhood, seeing something close and familiar burned, gave you an added tingle of apprehension. So it was with the fire on this day. We live 10 or 12 blocks – a mile or more – from this fire. It was somebody else’s neighborhood, in the matter of distance. But from our street, we could see the clouds of black smoke, shot through the sky of flying sparks. We could smell the smoke, and we could hear the distant clanging of the horse strong fire engines.

My father and I wanted to go right away. My mother didn’t want us to, afraid we might be in danger. There was a sort of compromise. Dinner was almost ready. In those days, meals weren’t prepared by defrosting heating and serving. It took an efficient housewife all of a busy morning to put a good meal together. And when she called the family in the dinner, it was unthinkable that anybody would let it sit there and get cold, earthquake, flood or fire notwithstanding. So after we had our dinner – my father and I went to the fire.

We walked, and our steps quickened with every block. The closer we got the louder the noise. There were the noises of shouting men, the clattering of steel horseshoes on the cobblestones, the rattling fire engines, the shouts of the firemen. And over it all, the frightening roar of the fire itself, a wild and angry, unleashed an invincible sound that I haven’t forgotten. We got so close that the smoke paid us a cough and we had to beat out the flying sparks falling on our clothing.

The picture reproduced here is one I drew late that afternoon when we got home. It was my first glimpse of the fire. The scene is the intersection of Mulberry and St. Paul Street. Looking West on Mulberry.

My father was a salesman for the Heinz Company. When we got home, I turned over one of his business letters and sketched the picture with a pencil. I can explain my compulsion to draw the scene, except the new I had seen something terribly important. Later I outlined the pencil line with a pen. I finished the drawing with watercolors.

After the picture was done I lost interest in it. There was too much going on. While the fire burned, and for many days afterward, nobody could think of anything else. At that time I was a student at the high school at Howard and center streets. It later became City College. Classes at our school, and I presume and many other schools, were dismissed for 10 days or two weeks.

I assumed my picture had been thrown away. Then a few years later, my sister India, founded in a drawer somewhere “I like this picture,” she said, “I think it should be preserved” she took it out had it framed and later gave it to me as a birthday present.

I’m glad she did, now I wouldn’t part with it for anything.

In later years I learned to draw much better. I went to the Maryland Institute when it was located at the marketplace – and was graduated in 1912 as a gold-medal student in mechanical arts, which is to say I held my classes’ highest average for my four years there.

But my crew version of the great fire still brings back the feeling I had that day when I got my first look at it.

The picture is now a pattern of smudged browns, Blacks and grays, for the bright colors I applied on that Sunday in 1904 have long since faded to everyone except me.

A writer, who witnessed the Baltimore fire, made this sketched the day the fire began. It depicts what he saw at the intersection of St. Paul and Mulberry streets, looking West on Mulberry Street.

MILLIONS IN A FEW BLOCKS
The Sun (1837-1987); Feb 8, 1904;
pg. 1

Millions in a Few Blocks a Detailed Estimate of Loss in the Wholesale District

A careful and conservative estimate of the loss in the wholesale business district. In which the fire originated, places it at something over $11 million. This district is bounded by Baltimore, liberty, trolls and Lombard Street and contained many of the largest dry goods, clothing and shoe houses in the city, besides two prominent banks the national exchange and Hopkins place savings bank. This estimate was made for the sun last night by Mr. George E. Taylor, of the insurance firm of Jennise and Taylor, holiday water Street. Mr. Taylor set in his office dictating to a reporter of the sun until it was stated that the fire was only a few doors away when he found it necessary to remove the valuables and papers from his office.

The estimate is for each building in the section, the loss giving representing the building with its contents. According to this the heaviest losers were John E. Hearst and company, R. M. Sutton and company, and the Daniel Miller company all of which were heavily stocked with dry goods, and in each of which cases the loss in building and content was placed at 1 ½ million dollars. The Armstrong, Cator and company’s loss is estimated at half 1 million, and the great majority were hundred thousand dollars or more a piece. This district contained about 125 buildings, among them some of the finest business structures in town, which were occupied by more than 150 firms.

At 330 this Morning

At 330 o’clock this morning the fire had not crossed Jones falls on the East although a number of lumber yards on the west side of the falls were ablaze. The wind was still from the north.

West of trolls and north of Lombard the fire had practically burned out. East of trolls and south of Lombard the flames are still spreading. It was expected to reach Pratt Street before daylight. The fire probably will reach the waterfront west of Jones falls. The Lutheran Church and Broadway and Canton Avenue caught fire at 3 o’clock.

Signs of Abating

Mayor McLane and Dr. Geer have just returned from a circuit of the fire, the mayor said; “I feel the conflagration shows some signs of abating. I have received a telegram from New York stating that the fire department of that city has sent over six engines, six those carriages, six trucks and horses. These will probably reach Baltimore between six and 7:00 AM” police Marshall Farnan said: “I think the fire is practically under control.”

FLAMES SWEEP SOUTHWARD
The Sun (1837-1987); Feb 8, 1904;
pg. 2

Big buildings fire swept in a remarkably short time

Archibald McAllister, a fire patrolman, discovered the blaze. Smoke was coming from the basement of the John E Hurst and company building. The automatic alarm has registered and McAllister turned in the alarm from box 447, on the corner. When chief Burkart arrived flames were going out through the roof, and in 10 minutes, it is said, and the roof and the floors of the Hurst building had fallen. The reports of the collapse could be heard for miles.

For the Hurst building, the fire jumped northwesterly across liberty Street and attacked the building of Carr, Owens and Hindman, drugs, on the northwest corner of liberty and German streets. Then the national exchange bank, on the northeast corner, court and the fire was on its way to Baltimore Street. In less than an hour Hopkins place, liberty Street and the south side of Baltimore Street between liberty and Hanover Street was devastated.

Sparks inflaming Amberg fell in a shower almost impossible to walk through as far as Charles Street, and every building within these limits was on fire before 1 o’clock.

From Baltimore Street south on Hopkins place in liberty Street the flames were halted for a time by the high winds. Daniel Miller and company’s establishment, adjoining that of Hurst and company, caught in less than a half an hour. Mr. J. Albert Hughes, the manager, carried out a few books, but the important papers and holdings of the company, which were in a vault on the first floor, could not be reached by the time the smoke and heat drove out Mr. Hughes and a few employees who had forced their way inside. The Miller building was burned from bottom to top by 1 o’clock and the fire had jumped across Hopkins place and into the upper floors of R. M. Sutton and company warehouse, 33 and 35 Hopkins Pl. The Stanley Brown drug companies place, 31 Hopkins Pl., had burned slightly, but not until Suttons was almost destroyed in the fire burst out of the drug house.

 

TWENTY-FOUR BLOCKS BURNED IN HEART OF BALTIMORE
The Sun (1837-1987); Feb 8, 1904;
pg. 1

City’s most valuable buildings in ruins – loss Variously estimated at from $50 million-$80 million

Blaze Still Sprinting Eastward and Southward At 3:30 AM

Starting in John E. Hurst building the fires sweep South to Lombard, East of Holliday and North to Lexington, destroying wholesale business houses, banks, Continental, equitable, Calvert, B. And oh. Central, the sun, and other large buildings

Fire, which started at 1050 o’clock yesterday morning, devastated practically the entire central business district of Baltimore and at midnight the flames were still raging with his much fury as at the beginning. To all appearances, Baltimore’s business section is doomed. Many of the principal banking institutions, all the leading trust companies, all the largest wholesale houses, all the newspaper offices, many of the principal retail stores and thousands of small establishes went up in flames, and in most cases, the contents were completely destroyed.

What the loss will be in dollars no man can even estimate, but the sum will be so gigantic that it is hard for the average minded to grasp its magnitude. In addition to the pecuniary loss, will be the immense amount of business lost by the necessary interruption to business while the many firms whose places are destroyed or making arrangements for resuming business.

There is little doubt that many men, formerly prosperous, will be ruined by the events of the last 24 hours. Many of them carry little or no insurance, and it is doubtful if many of the insurance companies will be able to pay their losses dollar for dollar, and those that do will probably require time in which to arrange for the payment.

Appalled at the Silence

All day and all night throngs crowd at the streets, blocking every Avenue to the fire district and moving back out of danger only when forced to do so by the police on duty. Many of the spectators Saul they’re all the way up in flames before their eyes, and there were men with hopeless faces and the spring expressions seen on every hand. In fact, the throng seemed stunned with the magnitude of the disaster and scarcely seemed to realize the extent of it all.

They stood around usually in days silence, and only occasionally with the word of despair be heard. That they were almost disheartened was apparent to the casual observer, and there is little wonder, for the crushing stroke fell with the suddenness and lightning from the cloudless sky.

Starts in Hurst Building

At 1050 o’clock in the morning the automatic fire alarm box, number 854, in the basement of the wholesale dry goods house of John E Hurst and company, German Street and Hopkins place, sounded an alarm. Almost before the alarm had reached the various engine houses the entire building was boring mass of flames from top to bottom.

Gasoline Explodes

After burning fiercely for perhaps 10 minutes there was a loud explosion from the interior of the building as the gasoline tank he used for the engine in the building let go. Instantly the immense structure collapsed and the flying, blaming the breeze caused the flames to be communicated to the adjacent buildings on all four corners.

By this time the first of the fire apparatus had reached the scene and was quickly put to work, but the fire had already gone beyond control and swift with irreversible and irresistible force and credulous swiftness on its devastating way. It was known that the configuration would prove vastly destructive, but not one of those who witnessed it at this time of imagined for an instant the terrible results of this would ensue.

Chief Horton Disabled

Chief engineer Horton, of the fire department, was quickly won the ground, but scarcely had he begun to direct the force of firemen when a live trolley wire fell on him at the corner of liberty and Baltimore streets, knocking him senseless, and he had to be carried to his home and placed in bed. By this accident, the city was deprived of the services of its most experienced and trusted firefighter, and although district chief Emerich, who succeeded chief Horton in command on the ground, did apparently all that was possible, those present could not but regret that chief Horton was not there.

Mayor McLane came down and was on the ground until a late hour in the night. He walked around the burning district and conferred with various officials as to the steps necessary to be taken and various stages of the fire.

It is thought the loss will be over $50 million.

Aid from Washington

For general alarms, force is the least sent in and within half an hour after the first alarm, every piece of fire apparatus in Baltimore was on the ground and at work. Realizing the gravity of the peril a telegram was sent to Washington for aid and two engines from that city were placed on a special train and hurried to the city over the Baltimore and Ohio Railroad in record-breaking time. It was said that the trip was made in 37 minutes.

It was an all aspiring site to witness the progress of the flames. A building eight or 10 stories in height would suddenly break in the flames from top to bottom almost in an instant and wood burning fiercely until with a crash that would be heard for blocks the walls would collapse and the spot is marked only by a heap blazing ruin. The crash of falling walls is almost incessant and now and then could be heard the muffled form of an explosion as some gasoline tank or chemical substance became ignited by the heat and let go with a terrific force.

Many Firemen Injured

Every minute almost the lives of the firemen were in imminent danger from falling walls or leaping flames, and more than 50 of them were carried from the ground more or less severely burned, and dismayed by the danger or hopelessness of the task, however, they continued the unequal struggle, and took the hose into narrow alleys, where the flames ward menacingly overhead on both sides of them, and directed streams of water where it was thought of some effect could be produced.

Long matters were placed against the walls of fiercely burning buildings and brave firemen climbed up and broken windows and turned streams of water into the doom buildings until the walls weighed and rocked and the crowd of onlookers shouted to them to come down, and many turned away their eyes and momentary appreciation of a fatal calamity.

Apparently, every person in Baltimore was in the vicinity of the fire, and the various streets leading to the fire district will Paxil during the entire day. The entire police force, in charge of marshal Farnan and deputy Marshal Manning, was on the ground and with ropes succeeded in keeping the crowds back from the dangerous points. As the fire spread further and further the ropes were shifted and the crowds moved back one block at a time.

Great Building Gone

Dissection devastated contains the largest and most modern buildings in the city and this renders the calamity the more appalling. Immense office buildings, 10 and 20 stories high, large modern wholesale houses made of brick and steel, all disappeared as it builds of the flimsiest material.

The exact origin of the fire is not known, but the explosion which started spread of the flames to other buildings is said to have been caused by gasoline engine in the Hurst building Mr. S. F. Ball on Fayette Street who was standing on the corner of Sharp in Baltimore Street when the fire first broke out, said that in less than 10 minutes the entire Hurst building was a boring mass of flames from top to bottom. When the explosion occurred Mr. Ball was cut on both hands and a whole was cut through his hat by flying fragments of glass.

To Lombard St.

From German Street fire spread rapidly to Lombard Street, leaping from building to building, and sometimes skipping two or three buildings at a time and in this way a block would become ignited in a remarkably short space of time. At Lombard Street the fire paused for some time and the large building of Guggenheimer, will, and company stood for a time apparently undamaged. It was eventually doomed, however, and all arrangements were made for Dynamiting it in order to save the Lloyd L. Jackson building, just across Lombard Street. The Guggenheimer, well and company building suddenly burst into flame and in a very short time the floors began falling in with a crash, the heaviness of graphing machinery, when many times, causing a detonation that made many think the place was really being dynamited. The walls quickly followed the floors and the Jackson building was saved after a hard struggle.

A number of other buildings on the south side of Lombard Street became ignited, however, and both sides of that Street from liberty to Charles or practically ruined, the houses on the north side being completely destroyed and those on the south side, with the exception of the Jackson building, badly damaged

Across Sharp Street

Meantime the flames had swept through the block to the east and quickly began destruction of the buildings on the west side of Sharp Street. With scarcely a pause they jumped over to the east side of Sharp Street and the large roller buildings on that side of the street began to sparkle and burn. Hardly had a portion of the fire apparatus been shifted to meet the new point threatened when the fire was sweeping madly across to the west side of Hanover Street, and there the scene was repeated. Almost before the firemen realize the fact the building on the east side of Hanover Street was blazing.

To Baltimore Street

At this time the scene in this portion of the burning district was magnificent in its spectacular grandeur. Looking up Hanover Street to Baltimore nothing but a seething boring mass of flames, mingled with dense smoke, could be seen. Baltimore Street itself was a boring furnace. On every side were flying senders, the war of the flame was broken at frequent intervals by the crash of falling walls and now and again the detonation of some explosive sound it along with other sounds of destruction.

Dynamite Used

After crossing Hanover Street there was little to oppose the one rushing flames and the blaze continued its destructive course without a check to Charles Street. Prior to this time there have been many talks of dynamiting the material was on the ground and Mr. Roy C. Lafferty, the government expert, who would come from worse and especially to take charge of the work of dynamiting the buildings, was on the ground with his apparatus and readiness. By the time it was thoroughly realized that the flames were completely beyond control and only desperate measures could be expected to relieve the situation. In this straight city engineer Sindall and Mr. Lafferty lady charge in the building adjoining Armstrong, Cator, and companies on the West and set it off. The building fell with a crash but the blazing ruins ignited the Armstrong building and the situation was if anything made worse.

Armstrong, Cator and company’s building burned rapidly. A largely charged dynamite was let off in it, but the structure failed to collapse and the idea of destroying it with dynamite was abandoned.

The flames by this time were raging fiercely all along German Street to Charles Street and it was then that Mr. Lafferty set off six charges of dynamite, each charge containing 100 pounds, in the building at the south-west corner of Charles and German streets the tremendous force of the explosion tore out massive granite columns that supported the building and left it with apparently almost no support, but those walls failed to collapse and stood until the flames had crossed Charles Street and were eating into the block between Charles and light streets.

The Carrollton Goes

The fire had meantime been communicating to a row of buildings on South Charles Street, between German and Lombard streets, and all those places, occupied principally by wholesale produce and grain dealers, were in flames.

Shortly before midnight, the Carrollton hotel was in flames and the wire was sweeping toward Calvert Street with irresistible fury.

The firemen working on the south side has succeeded in checking the flames at Lombard Street, and as the wind was blowing from the Northwest there was no danger of it spreading further in that direction. The Western limit had also been reached and Howard Street and the danger was now on the east and north.

The progress of the flames toward the north had in the meantime been so rapid as to be simply appalling. From structure to structure the blue, looking up the massive buildings as if they were composed of paper. In the block between German and Baltimore Street, they flew along, and almost before it could be realized the building along Baltimore Street were blazing from the roof to the basement.

Mullins in Ruins

For a time it was hoped the fire could be kept from crossing to the north side of Baltimore Street and the firemen made a desperate effort to prevent it. The effort was useless, however, and soon the tall, narrow buildings of Mullin’s hotel began to dart out tongues of flames from several stories and in a few minutes, the entire building was an immense flaming torch. At almost the same instance the remainder of the building between sharp and liberty streets were blazed and the fire began its march to the North. The small two and three-story buildings on little sharp Street burned comparatively slowly in this narrow space and to Washington companies fought a plucky battle with the devouring element.

They were Hammond in on both sides by fire and directed the streams at the buildings from which smoke and flames were pouring, at a distance of only two or 3 yards.

Across Charles Street

it was utterly, heartbreakingly useless. The flames darted rapidly from place to place, and soon the entire south side of Fayette Street was in a grasp of the flames. Down Fayette Street, to Charles Street, they swept, and in a space of time that seemed incredibly short, the building occupied by J. W. Pots and company was evidently doomed.

Seeing that nothing could save it Mr. Fendall, acting under instruction from chief Emerich, decided to destroy the building with dynamite, in the hope of preventing the fire from crossing Charles Street. The explosion was successful in accomplishing the object, and the entire corner collapsed instantly, but this had apparently, no effect upon the progress of the fire, for almost before the sound of the falling walls had died away the building on the east side of Charles Street began to blaze, and it was evident that the block between trolls and St. Paul Street was doomed.

Calvert and Equitable Company

And desperate, but futile, effort to prevent the fire from going any further to the east, building after building was done dynamited in this block, but it was all of no avail and the fire proceeded steadily forward. The daily record building was soon in flames, and not many minutes later the fire had leaped over St. Paul Street and the lofty, massive Calvert building began to admit smoke and flame. The Equitable building, just over a narrow alley, quickly followed, and these two immense buildings gave forth a glare that lighted the city for miles around.

It was thought that the fire could be prevented from crossing to the north side of Fayette Street and here again a desperate stand was made by firemen. Again it was useless, and soon the large building Hall, Haddington, and company, on the northwest corner of Charles and Fayette Street, was blazing brightly. With scarcely a pause the fire darted across to the east side of Charles Street and began to lap up to handsome building of the union trust company, while at the same time the large buildings to the west of Hall, Haddington, and company, occupied by wise brothers and Oppenheim, Oberndorf and company, were in flames throughout.

 

DEVASTATING FIRE IS STOPPED AT LAST
The Sun (1837-1987); Feb 9, 1904;
pg. 2 Declared under control at 5 PM after raging 30 hours

Leaps the Falls into East Baltimore

The Loss Now Estimated At From $75 Million to $150 Million

On Philpott Street – Business Heart of City a Scene of Desolation

After 30 hours defiance of all human agencies, the fire which began at 11 o’clock Sunday morning was officially declared under control at 5 o’clock tonight. In the burned district extending from liberty on the West, the Philpott Street on the East, and from Pratt Street on the south to Lexington Street on the north small islands of fire continue in a desolate waste but they have all ceased to menace adjoining property.

Up to last night, the loss was conservatively estimated by Mr. Alexander Brown and various prominent real estate and insurance men at from $75 million $250 million. These estimates are of course rough and not intended to be accurate for there is as yet no way of arriving at a definite estimate.

It is impossible for the human mind to conceive the magnitude of the disaster and it is utterly beyond the power of man to approximately depict the extent of the ruin and the far-reaching and disastrous consequences of the calamity.

Imagine a beautiful modern city of over 600,000 souls, with all the building, needs to house the population and the thousands of buildings needed to provide for its material prosperity and enterprise. Wholesale houses, built with all the massive stability that modern architectural ingenuity can suggest: elaborate financial establishments constructed with an eye to substantial richness and ornate design, lofty skyscrapers of handsome finish and magnificence of detail wearing far above the earth: elaborate retail stores, fitted in the expensive and artistic manner necessary to attract 20th-century buyers: immense containing all the latest and most expensive, machinery for supplying the critical needs of the present generation in the shortest possible time and in the least expensive manner. All of these and many more buildings, occupying block after block of busy streets and comprising the very center of commercial life, from which the entire population must draw its sustenance, either directly or indirectly.

The men of wealth were dependent solely upon this section for their annual income and the humble toiler was equally dependent upon it for his daily bread. The small merchant and Ardisson looked to the workers of this district for his patrons add prosperity and one and all the city inhabitants must derive their support from the products and profits of this section.

All this essential portion of Baltimore’s property and almost existence, is gone like the mists of morning, wiped out in a day, and in magnificent array of buildings the visible sign of our greatness and place among the cities of the land is tumbled around the ears of the citizens like house of cards knocked over as if in a wanton sport by the titanic hand of the giant fire

Ruin and Devastation

The erstwhile busy streets which echoed to the rumble of traffic are now choked and blocked from curb to curb was half burnt bricks, tangled masses of wires and long electric poles, and the citizens who tread them almost daily for years of the long life fails to recognize them. On each side, where formerly the vision was bounded by solid rows of bricks, the eye passes through the dismantled shells of towering walls or forms unobstructed to more distant scenes of ruin and devastation; where 48 hours ago the trolley cars applied unceasingly and the vehicles in traffic or pleasure wound in and out and the prosperous, happy pedestrians thronged on business or pleasure intent, the monopoly of desolation is relieved only by the sight of two or three workmen making their way slowly and toilsomely over piles of debris in an effort to cut away the tangle wires or by placing dynamite under tottering walls which threaten to topple on the heads of passersby and causing more destruction, clear the way for the Phoenix of the new Baltimore to rise from the ashes of her old self by the indomitable pluck and ingenuity of her people.

The Zone of Ruin

Starting at the corner of Lombard and Liberty streets, the fire zone extends in a rectangular five blocks in up to Calvert Street. At this point the varying winds caused the path of destruction to wind by devious and eccentric ways down to Jones’s falls, taking in the territory as far South as the North side of Pratt Street. At the falls a branch of the flames by some strange fatality of the wind, switch back and traversed the south side of Pratt Street to light Street, destroying every building along both sides of Pratt Street to the waterfront. Thence apparently taking the waterfront as a boundary, the flames swept down toward the east, consuming everything in their track and leaving only heaps of blackened and worthless ruins to Mark their path.

Help from Other Cities

Early Sunday it was realized that the fire department of this city was totally inadequate to cope with the conflagration and request for assistance were sent to Washington, Philadelphia, New York, Wilmington, Annapolis and other nearby towns the response was prompt and generous Washington sent three companies with apparatus, New York sent seven companies, Philadelphia responded with several companies, Wilmington sent one company, Annapolis sent almost her entire force, Chester Pennsylvania sent one company, all the suburban towns around Baltimore sent in their quotas and yesterday afternoon a small army of firemen finally baffled the flames.

Errors of Judgment

Many experienced firefighters expressed the opinion that, in the exigencies of the tremendous battle with the flames Sunday, when the fire first started, serious mistakes and judgment were made by those in charge it is said, that the men of the engine companies were placed in many instances where the danger to their own lives was greatest and the chance of any beneficial result almost nothing. It was remarked that almost the entire by am of water used was directed at buildings that were either burning fiercely or hopelessly doomed. By this method it is said, the firemen were placed in imminent danger of being crushed by falling walls or suffocated by the densely growing smoke. Time and again a lofty wall would totter and tremble for an instant and with an ominous rumble fall on the narrow street, while the members of the fire company who had been placed directly under it would barely escape destruction by a precipitate flight.

Many thought the available streams of water could have been used to much better advantage and the lives of the brave firemen better safeguarded if the streams had been directed principally to the buildings in the pathway of and not immediately contagious to the flames. By thoroughly drenching these buildings in advance of the fire, it is said, there would have been a much better chance for effective results.

Why Dynamite Failed

The same complaint was made of the use to which the hundreds of pounds of dynamite was put. The general opinion was that its use was too long delayed, and when it was decided to use it those in charge placed the charges in buildings too close to the flames and in such small quantities as to be entirely inadequate for the purpose designed.

The case of Armstrong, Cator and company building was cited in proof of this idea. It was pointed out that the dynamite was placed in an adjoining building already ignited and the ensuing explosion merely causes the flames to scatter and the burning debris set fire to the Armstrong building, causing the fire to spread with accelerated rapidity.

It was said that the use of dynamite was advised as early as 3 o’clock Sunday afternoon, and it was then pointed out that nothing else could be expected to bulk the flames, but city officials and those in charge of the fire, it is said, declined to take the responsibility of ordering the use of explosive and precious time was then lost.

When the dynamite was finally used, it is said, the charges should have been placed in buildings at some distance from the fire as entire block should have been demolished, thus providing a wide space over which the flames would have been compelled to leap in order to proceed onward much is allowed for the pressure under which the officials were working and stupendous nature of the unaccustomed responsibility which was thrust upon them but many persons cannot help sighing as they recall the fate of the brave firemen and think that he might have been spared had a different and bolder policy been used in fighting the fire.

Peril from Gasoline

Many expressions oh wonder were also heard at the immensity of the lesson that Baltimore had been taught in regard to the danger of the indiscriminate use and storage of gasoline in the city. For several years the sun has persistently and repeatedly pointed out the dangers of this treacherous and powerful explosive and has published case after case of loss of life or serious injury caused by this means, but the authorities have procrastinated and temper rise until this awful calamity to everyone the wisdom of the warnings of the Sun.

As surely as the kicking over a small lamp by the Cal of Miss Leary started the conflagration which practically destroyed Chicago 30 years ago, so surely did the gasoline storage tanks in the John E Hurst and company building the place in motion the muddy engine of destruction which has devastated Baltimore. But for the fact that this subtle, but tremendous, force was caged within the building, the fire would have undoubtedly resolved itself into an ordinary one, such as the local fire department has frequently handled effectively.

Once the mighty force within the insignificant looking tank was let loose, however, the proposition became different altogether. Instead of one building, there were four or five burning fiercely and communicating the flames to still others, and the firemen faced a situation when they arrived on the scene that totally exceeded their limitations of power.

Chief engineer Horton, of the fire department, was quoted in the sun not long since as saying that a dish of gasoline placed in a closed room could be allowed to evaporate and if a lighted match were applied to the keyhole the explosion which would follow would wreck the largest most substantial building in Baltimore, and the recent experience proves that Chief Horton did not underestimate the power of the stuff.

“Fireproof” a Delusion

Another fact that is claimed as emphasized by the fire is the other failure of so-called fireproof buildings to resist the power of intense heat. The Continental trust building, which on completion was heralded throughout the country as an absolutely fireproof building, was an easy prey to the flames Sunday night and now only the charred and dismantled all of the 16 story structure marks the position of the much vaunted fireproof structure. The Equitable building is cited as another “perfectly fireproof” building and when the menacing flames drew nearer and nearer to the building Sunday night the manager of the Western Union telegraph company is said to have laughed at those who advised him to get out of the building.

“This building is fireproof,” he is said to have responded. “There is no danger of it catching fire.”

Yet a few minutes later the manager and his corps of assistance were compelled to flee for their lives from the blazing structure. Instances of much heralded fireproof buildings which went up in flames and smoke on that direful Sunday could be multiplied almost without limit and the conclusion is clearly drawn that only by using proper precautions and protecting their buildings from the influence of fire and owners and occupants hope to escape disaster.

Under Military Control

Baltimore was practically placed under military control yesterday. Brig. Gen. Lawson Riggs and his staff established headquarters at the courthouse. The fourth and fifth regiments and troop a were placed on guarded every Avenue of approach to the burned district and on orders were issued to allow no one to pass without a military pass signed by Gen. Riggs.

In addition to the military, almost the entire police force of Baltimore reinforced the numbers of officers sent over from Washington, Wilmington, Philadelphia and other cities, assisted the military and guarding the lines, and a detachment of regulars from Fort McHenry Board over the post office, customs house, and other government property.

All these precautions were taken to prevent the looting which is almost universal when some dire calamity causes the human birds of prey to flock to the scene for purposes of the village and, perhaps murder. Ebling undoubtedly to the prompt and effective measures taken Baltimore has been signally free from this gruesome addition to her other calamities, and so far as can be ascertained not a case of the looting or violence has been discovered.

Crowds View Ruins

All day yesterday thousands of people congregated on the outskirts of the fire district to view with all the scene of desolation. The burning of Pratt Street powerhouse had tied up nearly all the cars of the United railway and electric company and only the York Rd., Maryland Avenue and one or two other lines were operated at all, and these could not reach the center of the city. For this reason, a vast majority of the curious crowds which visited the scene of the fire were compelled to make their way on foot, and the sidewalks of the streets leading to the fire were thronged with pedestrians during the day and early evening.

Wagons in Place of Cars

The tying up of the trolley line was in “ill wind” which apparently “good” to the proprietors of vehicles of every description and they practically made their own terms. At whatever price charged every vehicle that will carry passengers was kept busy taking people to and from their homes and caring passengers back and forth between the various depots.

In this connection, it is recalled that a novel site was witnessed Sunday night and one which, but for its extreme paths, might in many instances have been ludicrous.

Suspension of Business

All business was suspended yesterday, as there was little left in Baltimore’s wholesale district to do business on. Most of the merchants will call their salesmen off the road, having no stock to deliver to buyers. Others are arranging with out of state Jobbers in a similar line to take care of their trade pending arrangements for the resumption of business. What is true of the jobbing trade was true in all markets. Commission trade was at a standstill. Many of these houses were destroyed, and those who escape the flames were prevented from doing business by the impassable condition of the streets and by the rigid military guard which was maintained throughout the whole center of the city. Accommodations could not be obtained at the banks, and without credit, business is necessarily paralyzed. There was little heart for trade, however, and it will be many weeks before matters in this line will go along in their accustomed groove.

Great Baltimore Fire
The Aftermath of the Fire

The Great Baltimore Fire raged in Baltimore, Maryland, United States, on Sunday, February 7, and Monday, February 8, 1904. 1,231 firefighters were required to bring the blaze under control, both professional paid Truck and Engine companies from the city's B.C.F.D. and volunteers from the surrounding counties and outlying towns of Maryland, as well as out-of-state units that arrived on the major railroads. It destroyed a major part of central Baltimore, including over 1,500 buildings covering an area of some 140 acres (57 ha). From North Howard Street in the west and southwest, the flames spread north through the retail shopping area as far as Fayette Street and began moving eastward, pushed along by the prevailing winds. Narrowly missing the new 1900 Circuit Courthouse (now Clarence M. Mitchell, Jr. Courthouse), passed the historic Battle Monument Square from 1815-27 at North Calvert Street, and the quarter-century-old Baltimore City Hall (of 1875) on Holliday Street; and finally further east to the Jones Falls stream which divided the downtown business district from the old East Baltimore tightly-packed residential neighborhoods of Jonestown (also known as Old Town) and newly named "Little Italy". The wide swath of the fire burned as far south to the wharves and piers lining the north side of the old "Basin" (today's "Inner Harbor") of the Northwest Branch of the Baltimore Harbor and Patapsco River facing along Pratt Street. It is believed to be the third worst conflagration to affect an American city in history, surpassed only by the Great Chicago Fire of 1871, and the San Francisco Earthquake and Fire of 1906. Other major urban disasters that were comparable (but not fires) were the Galveston Hurricane of 1900 and most recently, Hurricane Katrina that hit New Orleans and the Gulf of Mexico coast in August 2005.

One reason for the fire's long duration was the lack of national standards in firefighting equipment. Although fire engines from nearby cities (such as Philadelphia and Washington, D.C. as well as units from New York City, Virginia, Wilmington, and Atlantic City) responded, with horse-drawn pumpers, wagons and other equipment (primitive by today's standards) carried by the railroads on flat cars and box cars, many could not help because their hose couplings could not fit Baltimore's hydrants. Very few, if any, were motorized in those early years except for steam engines.

Much of the destroyed area was rebuilt in relatively short order, and the city adopted a building code, stressing fireproof materials. Perhaps the greatest legacy of the fire was the impetus it gave to efforts to standardize firefighting equipment in the United States, especially hose couplings. Background
Almost forgotten in this day of strict fire codes is that in centuries past, fires regularly swept through cities, frequently destroying large areas of them. Close living quarters, lax, unenforced, or non-existent building codes; and a widespread dearth of firefighting services all contributed to both the frequency and the extent of city fires. The rapid growth of American cities in the nineteenth century contributed to the danger.

In addition, firefighting practices and equipment were largely unstandardized: each city had its own system. As time passed, these cities invested more in the systems they already had, increasing the cost of any conversion. In addition, early equipment was often patented by its manufacturer. By 1903, there were over 600 sizes and variations of fire hose couplings in the United States. Although efforts to establish standards had been made since the 1870s, they had come to little: no city wanted to abandon its system, few saw any reason to adopt standards, and equipment manufacturers did not want competition. Progression of the Fire
Fire was reported first at the John Hurst and Company building on West German Street at Hopkins Place (modern site at the southwest corner of the Baltimore Civic Center of 1962, later the 1st Mariner Arena) in the western part of downtown Baltimore at 10:48 a.m. on Sunday, February 7, and quickly spread. Soon, it became apparent that the fire was outstripping the ability of the city's firefighting resources to fight it, and calls for help were telegraphed to other cities. By 1:30 p.m., units from Washington, D.C. were arriving on the Baltimore and Ohio Railroad at Camden Street Station. To halt the fire, officials decided to use a firebreak, and dynamited buildings around the existing fire. This tactic, however, was unsuccessful. Not until 5:00 p.m. the next day was the fire brought under control, after burning for thirty hours.

One reason for the fire's duration was the lack of national standards in firefighting equipment. Fire crews and fire engines came from as far away as Philadelphia and Washington that day (units from New York City were on the way, but were blocked by a train accident; they arrived the next day - Monday, February 8). The crews brought their own equipment. Most could only watch helplessly when they discovered that their hoses could not fit Baltimore's gauge size of water hydrants. High winds and freezing temperatures added to the difficulty for firefighters and further contributed to the severity of the fire. As a result, the fire burned over 30 hours, destroying 1,545 buildings spanning 70 city blocks—amounting to over 140 acres (57 ha).
While Baltimore was criticized for its hydrants, this was a problem that was not unique to Baltimore. During the time of the Great Fire "American cities had more than six hundred different sizes and variations of fire hose couplings." It is known that as outside firefighters returned to their home cities they gave interviews to newspapers that condemned Baltimore and talked up their own actions during the crisis. In addition, many newspapers were guilty of taking for truth the word of travelers who, in actuality, had only seen the fire as their trains passed through the area. All of this aside, the responding agencies and their equipment did prove useful as their hoses only represented a small part of the equipment brought with them. One benefit of this tragedy was the standardization of hydrants nationwide.

In addition to firefighters, outside police officers, as well as the Maryland National Guard and the Naval Brigade, were utilized during the fire to maintain order and protect the city. Officers from Philadelphia and New York were sent to assist the City Police Department. Police and soldiers were used to keep looters away and keep the fire zone free of civilians. The Naval Brigade secured the waterfront and waterways to keep spectators away.
Thomas Albert Lurz (b. January 9, 1874), a Baltimore native, made a career as a letter carrier with the U. S. Post Office. He was honored by the U. S. Post Office for his efforts in rescuing tons of mail from the burning Central Post Office on the east side of Battle Monument Square, on North Calvert Street, between East Lexington and Fayette Streets. Thomas gathered a group of men who loaded bags of mail onto horse-drawn wagons and directed it by wagon and on foot to North and Pennsylvania Avenues. They stood guard while the mail sat on the sidewalk until it could be protected by the Maryland National Guard when it was called out. Back at the General Post Office, employees kept spraying on water on the sides and roof of the building and were able to keep the damage to a minimum and saved the 1889 Italian Renaissance pile with its nine towers and central tall clock tower (later razed and replaced by the current 1932 building, later owned by the city as Courthouse East).

Great Baltimore Fire of 1904, looking West from East Pratt and North Gay Streets

Aftermath
Over $150,000,000 worth of damage was done. Immediately after the fire, Mayor Robert McLane was quoted in The Baltimore News as saying, "To suppose that the spirit of our people will not rise to the occasion is to suppose that our people are not genuine Americans. We shall make the fire of 1904 a landmark not of decline but of progress." He then refused assistance, stating "As head of this municipality, I cannot help but feel gratified by the sympathy and the offers of practical assistance which have been tendered to us. To them I have in general terms replied, 'Baltimore will take care of its own, thank you.'" Two years later, on September 10, 1906, The Sun reported that the city had risen from the ashes and that "One of the great disasters of modern time had been converted into a blessing."

Great Baltimore Fire of 1904, looking West from East Pratt and North Gay Streets
Same view in 1906, 2 years after the fire

Most of the books written on "The Great Fire" stated that no deaths occurred as a direct relation to the fire. A bronze historical marker from 1907 commemorates "The Great Fire", located next to the main western entrance (on the left) of the old "Wholesale Fish Market" that was constructed on Market Place (between East Baltimore and Lombard Streets), as one of three new Centre Market adjoining structures to replace the old burned second "Centre Market" building (which also housed the Maryland Institute) of 1851, and is now the "Port Discovery" children's museum (since late 1980s). This major commemorative tablet of the disaster also reads "Lives Lost: None." However, a recently rediscovered newspaper story from The Sun of the time tells of the charred remains of a "colored man" being pulled, almost two weeks after the fire, from the harbor basin, near the modern area of the Inner Harbor at Constellation Dock (old Pier 2) where the historic Civil War-era sailing frigate USS Constellation is currently docked.

Five lost lives were later attributed indirectly to the fire. Two members of the 4th Regiment of the Maryland National Guard, Private John Undutch of Company 'F', and Second Lieutenant John V. Richardson of Company 'E', both fell ill and died as a result of pneumonia. Fireman Mark Kelly and Fire Lieutenant John A. McKnew also died of pneumonia and tuberculosis due to exposure during the Great Fire. The fifth person who died as a result of the fire was Martin Mullin, the proprietor of Mullin's Hotel. Located on the northwest corner of West Baltimore and North Liberty Streets (above Hopkins Place), the hotel was a block away to the north from the John E. Hurst Building where the fire started.

In the aftermath, 35,000 people were left unemployed. After the fire, the city's downtown "Burnt District" was rebuilt using more fireproof materials, such as granite pavers.

Legacy
As a result of the fire, a city building code was finally adopted. Public pressure, coupled with demands of companies ensuring the newly re-built buildings, spurred the effort. The process took seventeen nights of hearings and multiple City Council reviews. A national standard for a fire hydrant and hose connections was adopted by the National Fire Protection Association. However, inertia remained, and conversion was slow; it still remains incomplete. One hundred years after the Baltimore Fire, only 18 of the 48 most populous American cities were reported to have installed national standard fire hydrants. Hose incompatibility contributed to the Oakland Firestorm of 1991: although the standard hose coupling has a diameter of 2.5 inches (64 mm), Oakland's hydrants had 3-inch (76 mm) couplings. H. L. Mencken, future famed columnist/commentator/author, and linguist, at the beginning of his blossoming journalism and literary career, survived the fire, but the offices of his newspaper, the Baltimore Herald, at the northwest corner of St. Paul and East Fayette Streets, were destroyed on the northern edge of the "Burnt District", but the City's massive new Circuit Courthouse just to the east, across St. Paul Street, completed just four years earlier, survived untouched. The Herald printed an edition the first night of the fire on the press of The Washington Post, in exchange for providing photographs to The Post, but could not continue this arrangement as The Post had a long-standing agreement with the Baltimore Evening News. For the next five weeks, The Herald was printed nightly on the press of the Philadelphia Evening Telegraph and transported 100 miles (160 km) to Baltimore on a special train, provided free of charge by the B&O Railroad. In addition, the other major newspapers of the city were also devastated, including The Sun with its famous "Iron Building", considered the forerunner of modern steel skyscrapers, built 1851 at East Baltimore Street. Across the intersecting South Street-Guilford Avenue was the publishing headquarters of The Sun's main competitor, The Baltimore News, founded 1871 and built in 1873 with its mansard roof and corner clock tower. This intersection, the information center of town for most of the later 19th century, was the site of many "newspaper wars" with the bulletin boards, mounted chalkboards on the front of the buildings, posters and hawking "newsies" (newspaper delivery boys—made famous in the 1990s by the Broadway musical and later Disney movie Newsies). The Baltimore American, the town's oldest news publication, dating back to 1796 and traditionally further to 1773, owned and published by local civic titan, General Felix Agnus, was also burnt out of its offices and so out-of-town arrangements had to be made to have papers printed and shipped back to the city by train. Mencken relates the fire and its aftermath in the penultimate chapter of Newspaper Days: 1899-1906, the second volume of his autobiographical trilogy, published 1941. He writes, "When I came out of it, at last, I was settled and indeed almost a middle-aged man, spavined by responsibility and aching in every sinew, but I went into it a boy, and it was the hot gas of youth that kept me going." The "Box 414 Association", which has assisted the Baltimore City Fire Department for many years, acts like a local American Red Cross, or the United Service Organization (USO) for the military, sending refreshments and break-time trucks to the sites of major alarms and fires to provide exhausted firefighters some comfort and snacks. "Box 414" was the first alarm box pulled on the morning of Sunday, February 7, 1904. Ceremonies of the BCFD are held annually at the bronze statue of a firefighter at the old headquarters of the Department, facing City Hall, the War Memorial Building and the broad ceremonial plaza in between at East Lexington and North Gay Streets. Observances are also held at the closest street corner to the Great Fire's beginnings at South Howard and West Lombard Streets alongside the old Civic Center/Arena. On the Centennial observances in February 2004, an exhibition was mounted at the Maryland Historical Society with an accompanying internet website and a number of other events, lectures, and tours through the auspices of the Fire Museum of Maryland on York Road in Lutherville-Timonium-Cockeysville in Baltimore County. Several commemorative stories and special sections were published during the month in Baltimore's only remaining daily newspaper, The Baltimore Sun, and coverage was televised on the four local television stations' local news programs, along with several documentaries and interviews/discussion programs on the city's public radio network (NPR) station, WYPR-FM. An additional commemorative "coffee-table" style illustrated book The Great Baltimore Fire by Peter B. Petersen, was published through the Maryland Historical Society to supplement the earlier, well-known historical tome and authority Baltimore Afire! by Harold Williams of The Baltimore Sun, with additional photos, information and stories, and some more recent historical scholarship and research. The fire is also memorialized in the folk song "Baltimore Fire" by (Charlie Poole and the North Carolina Ramblers, recorded on Columbia Records (15509-D, May 6, 1929).

    Fire!, fire!, I heard the cry
    From every breeze that passes by
    All the world was one sad cry of pity
    Strong men in anguish prayed
    Calling out to the heavens for aid
    While the fire in ruins was laid
    Fair Baltimore, the beautiful city

1904 Sketch

1904 Baltimore Sketch
Flames Sweep Southward

8 February 1904

Big Buildings Fire Slept in a Remarkably Short Time

Archibald McAllister, a fire patrolman, discovered the blaze. Smoke was coming from the basement of the John E. Hurst and Company building. The automatic alarm had registered, and McAllister turned in an alarm from box 447 at 10:51 AM, on the corner. When chief Burkhardt arrived, flames were going out through the roof, and in 10 minutes, it is said, the roof and floors of the Hurst building had fallen. The reports of the collapse could be heard for miles.

From the Hurst building, the fire jumped northwesterly across liberty Street and attacked the building of car, Owings and Heinemann, drugs, on the northwest corner of liberty and German streets [Redwood Street]. Then the national exchange bank, on the northwest corner, caught in the fire was on its way to Baltimore Street. In less than an hour Hopkins place, liberty Street and the South side of Baltimore Street between liberty and Hanover streets was devastated. Sparks and flaming embers fell in a shower almost impossible to walk through as far as Charles Street, and every building within these limits was on fire before 1:00 PM.

From Baltimore Street south to Hopkins Place and Liberty Street the flames were halted for a time by the high winds. Daniel Miller and Company’s establishment, adjoining that of Hurst’s and Company, caught in less than half an hour. Mr. J. Albert Hughes, the manager, carried out a few books, but the important papers and holdings of the company, which enabled on the first floor, could not be reached by the time to smoke and heat drove Mr. Hughes and a few employees who had forced their way inside back out of the building. The Miller’s building was burned from bottom to top by 1:00 PM and the fire had jumped across Hopkins Place and into the upper floors of R. M. Sutton & Company’s warehouse, 33 and 35 Hopkins Pl. The Stanley Brown Drug Companies place, 31 Hopkins Pl., had burned slightly but not until Sutton’s was almost destroyed the did the fire burst out of the drug house.

Alarms Kept Bringing

8 February 1904

Not less than 21 regular and special calls turned in

There were 21 alarms and six specials sent in.

They were:

Box 266, – McElderry and Eden Streets 10:44 AM

Box 834, – Hurst and Company 4 minutes later at 10:48 AM

Box 447, – Baltimore and Liberty Streets 3 minutes later at 10:51 AM

Box 414, – [General] German and Howard Streets 4 minutes later at 10:55 AM

Box 513, – Lombard and Sharp Streets 10 minutes later at 11:05 AM

Box 41, – Fayette and St. Paul Streets 8 minutes later at 11:13 AM

Box 213, – Low and Front Streets 28 minutes later at 11:41 AM

Box 264, – Monument Caroline Streets 6 minutes later at 11:47 AM

Box 219, – Holiday Inn Fayette Streets 1 minute later at 4:48 AM

Box 266, – McElderry and Eden Streets 21 minutes later at 12:09 PM

Box 241, – Front and Hillen Streets 7 minutes later at 12:16 PM

Box 226, – Orleans and Forrest Streets 25 minutes later at 12:41 PM

Box 32, – St. Paul and Saratoga Streets 31 minutes later at 1:16 PM

Box 422, – Fayette and Howard Streets  38 minutes later at 1:54 PM

Box 31, – Calverton and Pleasant Streets. 26 minutes later at 2:20 PM

Box 248, – Bath and Holliday Streets 23 minutes later at 2:43 PM

Box 31, – Calvert and Pleasant Streets 1hr 38 minutes later at 4:06 PM

Box 318, – Charles and Barnet Streets 2 hrs 26 minutes later at 6:32 PM

Box 224, – Preston Druid Hill Avenue 1 hr 18 minutes later at 7:50 PM

Box 21, – Gay and Saratoga Streets 16 minutes later at 8:06 PM

Box 214, – Exeter and Fayette Streets 54 minutes later at 9:00 PM

Box 414: A Misunderstood Symbol of Baltimore's Great Fire

Click HERE to visit Box 414's website

The Reality: A Sequence of Alarms 
Contrary to popular belief, Box 414 was not the first alarm sounded during the 1904 fire. In fact, it was the fourth. Historical newspaper reports from the time provide a detailed account of the sequence of events:

• Box 266: Pulled at 10:44 am, this was the initial alarm.
• Box 834: Came in 4 minutes later at 10:48 am.
• Box 447: Pulled 3 minutes later at 10:51 am.
• Box 414: Pulled 4 minutes later at 10:55 am.

The Role of Hurst and Company 
The fire department's response to the initial alarms led to the discovery of the fire's location. Hurst and Company, responding to the alarm from Box 834, were the first to identify the source of the smoke and locate the fire. Their efforts were crucial in containing the flames and preventing further damage. It was Hurst and Company who pulled Box 414 that day and transmitted the signal 2-2-2-2 (the signal used to request all available firefighting equipment in the city), initiating the Great Baltimore Fire of 7 February, 1904.

A Symbol of Resilience 
While Box 414 may not have been the first alarm pulled, it has become a symbol of the resilience of the Baltimore community. The fire, despite its devastation, ultimately brought people together and forced the city to rebuild. The Box 414 Association, a local organization dedicated to preserving the memory of the fire, continues to honor the victims and survivors, ensuring that their stories are remembered.

A Community Service 
Beyond its historical significance, the Box 414 Association continues to serve the Baltimore community. One of its notable activities is providing refreshments to those attending fire scenes and the funerals of Baltimore police and firefighters.

By offering drinks and donuts, the Box 414 Association helps to support the families and colleagues of those affected by local tragic events. This gesture of kindness and compassion demonstrates the enduring spirit of the organization and its commitment to the city and its first responders.

Summation
In the annals of emergency response, certain events stand out for their intensity and the bravery they inspire. One such event is the story behind Box 414, a day marked by fire, explosions, and the unwavering courage of first responders.

Initially, it was believed that Box 414 was the first alarm pulled on that fateful day. However, further investigation revealed that it was actually the fourth, following boxes 266, 834, and 447. Interestingly, Box 834 was an auto alarm, which means Box 414 could be considered the third manual alarm pulled.

As first responders arrived at the scene, they were immediately confronted with a raging fire and a subsequent explosion. The situation was dire, prompting them to back off momentarily. Recognizing the severity of the incident, they signaled a 2-2-2-2, a code that calls for an all-hands-on-deck response. This signal, akin to a fire department’s version of “signal 13,” was crucial in mobilizing additional resources and personnel to tackle the emergency.

The pulling of Box 414 and the subsequent 2-2-2-2 signal underscore the unpredictable nature of emergency situations and the critical importance of swift, coordinated action. It serves as a testament to the dedication and bravery of those who risk their lives to protect others.

Additional information
The Heroic Response to the Great Baltimore Fire of 1904  
The Great Baltimore Fire of 1904 is a significant event in the history of firefighting, marked by the bravery and quick actions of the first responders. The fire began on 7 February, 1904, at the John Hurst & Company building, and one of the initial alarms was triggered by an automatic signal from Box 834.

The Initial Response  
Engine Co. 15 was the first to arrive at the scene, led by a chief who quickly assessed the situation. The fire was already intense, and as the firefighters entered the building, an explosion occurred. Despite the danger, the chief and his men managed to escape unharmed.

The Critical Signal  
Recognizing the severity of the fire, the chief proceeded to Box 414 and signaled a 2-2-2-2 code. This signal, essentially an all-hands-on-deck alert, mobilized every fire company in the city. The 2-2-2-2 code is akin to a fire department’s version of “signal 13,” indicating a situation that requires immediate and extensive resources.

Equipment and Personnel  
The response to the fire included a variety of equipment and personnel. The initial units brought:

Horse-drawn steam engines 
Hose wagons
Ladder trucks 
Salvage corps

Captain Jordan of the Salvage Corps was among the first on the scene1. Appeals for additional help were sent to nearby cities, including New York, Washington, Philadelphia, and Wilmington.

Impact of the Response 
The swift and coordinated response, initiated by the 2-2-2-2 signal from Box 414, played a crucial role in limiting the damage and loss of life. Although the fire caused extensive property damage, destroying over 1,500 buildings and covering an area of 140 acres, the loss of life was limited to one person.

Legacy  
The Great Baltimore Fire of 1904 highlighted the importance of standardized firefighting equipment and procedures. The bravery and quick thinking of the first responders, particularly the actions taken at Box 414, remain a testament to their dedication and heroism.  

How the Fire Spread

23 February 1904

Chief Horton Describes Beginning of The Disaster

The Fire Board yesterday held its first meeting since the Fire Commissioner Parish was present, he had just recovered from an attack of influenza. The session was spent in discussing the recent fire, [4 Feb 1904] receiving reports from Chief Horton and others and adopting resolutions concerning the disaster.

"At 10:48 am on Sunday, 7 February 1904, Automatic alarm Box 834 at J. E. Hurst and Company"

In describing the beginning of the fire and the matter in which it spread Chief Horton said:

“At 10:48 am on Sunday, 7 February 1904, Automatic alarm Box 834 at J. E. Hurst and Company, the corner of Liberty and German Streets, (German Street now Redwood St) was received, and number two truck, number 15 engine company, salvage corpse and fifth district engineer L. H. Burkhardt responded. The members of number two truck and number 15 engine companies entered the building by the doorway, with a chemical and a 2 ½ inch line of hose. They went into the basement and found fire among packing boxes. The fire was near the elevator shaft, to which the flames were drawling. Upon entering the basement, the atmosphere appeared to be free from gases, and there was very little smoke. A few moments after reaching the basement a dance, black smoke descended upon the men. This was followed immediately by an explosion, which lifted the roof and pours out all the glass in the building. Flames immediately enveloped the building and pierced the building on the opposite side of the star, German and Liberty streets.

"Capt. Malcolm Jordan sent in a FIRST alarm from Box 447 at 10:51 AM, just 3 minutes after we had received the automatic alarm"

Four minutes later

"Seeing the fire in the basement immediately went to box 414 at 10:55, located at German and Howard Streets"

“Upon the arrival of the Salvage Corpse, Capt. Malcolm Jordan sent in a first alarm from Box 447 at 10:51 AM, just three minutes after we had received the automatic alarm. District engineer Burkart, who had entered the building with the members of the number 2 Truck Company, seeing the fire in the basement, immediately went to box 414 at 10:55, located at German and Howard Streets, and sounded before; also called numbers 17 and 18 engine companies. Upon careful investigation as to the time of sounding the alarm; I find in seven minutes after the receipt of the first round of the automatic alarm the explosion occurred. One arrived on German Street, west of Liberty Street, and 15 minutes later the automatic, and I found the buildings on the northeast and northwest corners of liberty and German streets, Northwest and Northeast and Southeast corners of sharp and German streets on fire. Number 15 engine was at the plug on the northwest corner of sharp and German streets, and the number two truck was standing on the north side of German Street, between sharp and Liberty streets. Both pieces of apparatus were burning and could not be reached because of the heat.

Issues Call for Help

“After directing several lines of hose, I passed in the rear of Hopkins Bank building to German Street and to the rear of Brown Brothers drug house, making a careful survey, and concluded to send to Washington for assistance. I returned to Baltimore Street by way of Hanover Street [being unable to go west on German Street], and I met Lieut. Charles M. Cole, of the central district police, and requested him to telephone Washington authorities for help, which was done.

“I then ordered secretary P. W. Wilkinson to have the fire alarm office call all companies to the fire and ordered the reserve engine at number 23 engine companies quarters to be placed at Charles and Baltimore streets. The fire then appeared in the building occupied by the Roxbury ride company, 115 West Baltimore St. I ordered number four engine to be moved to the northeast corner of Baltimore and Liberty streets. The engine had not proceeded 50 feet when the building collapsed and covered the plug to which the engine had been attached. I then ordered a line of the hose into the second story northeast corner of Baltimore and sharp streets. The conditions were thoughts and five minutes that I ordered it out at once.

Received Three Electric Shocks

“Then I ordered chief Emirates with a line of the hose into the southwest corner of Baltimore and sharp streets, which order I had to countermand in a few minutes because of the conditions.

“The building on the northeast corner of Baltimore and liberty streets then took fire in the mansard. I then tried to form a water curtain with several deludes streams to protect the building. I ordered number one and number 23 engines to be moved and a line of hose from number 23 taken to the roof of Mullins Hotel, on Liberty Street. I then ordered number four engine to be removed at once, as the fire had taken firm hold of the northeast corner of liberty and Baltimore streets, where number four was stationed.

“Up to this time I had received three shocks from electric currents, and I had become incapacitated for duty and was removed to my night quarters at number 23 engine house, where I remained until Monday, the eighth, at 2 PM, at which time I resumed charge of the department.”

The resolutions were submitted by Commissioner Cathcart, and they expressed the board’s appreciation of the magnificent work of the firemen and commended especially chief Horton for valor “which well high cost him his life,” the district chiefs, superintendent of machinery, surgeon Edwin Geer and officers and members of the Uniformed Police Force, “who for 30 hours, with dauntless spirit, contended with the raging flames, counting not their lives dear to themselves if only Baltimore be saved.”

The resolutions also thanked superintendent J. B. Yay coal and the employees of the fire alarm telegraph and telephone service for their excellent work, and expressed the board’s “deep sense of obligation and gratitude to the gallant firemen of New York, Philadelphia, Washington, Wilmington, Atlantic City, Chester, York, Altoona, Harrisburg, Annapolis, Roland Park, Baltimore County, relay house, Westminster and sparrows point, who paralleled their lives for us, and in the storm of fire one our love and admiration of the world.”

The board decided to take immediate steps to rehabilitate the department. Pres. Gail and chief Horton were authorized to confer with the mayor today relative to telegraphic orders to duplicate the engine and truck destroyed. It was also agreed to compile a statement of the claims and losses of outside departments and body them in an emergency ordinance to be introduced to the City Council.

Superintendent yay coal, of the police and fire alarm office, submitted his report, showing that 56 alarms were turned in during the fire without a mistake.

Communications were received from the Chamber of Commerce, William Fuller and see. And O’Neil and company, commanding the department for its efficiency. 

8 Feb 1904

8 Feb 1904 

23 February 1904

 

This is the UNOFFICIAL History Site of the Baltimore Police Department. It depicts the history of the department as was originally conceived of, and told by Retired Officer, William M. Hackley. Sadly Officer Hackley passed away on 15 March 2012 leaving his site to Ret. Det. Kenny Driscoll. It took a month or so to take full responsibility for the site and its content. The thoughts and use of certain items, terms, sounds, and implications are not necessarily those that would be agreed upon by the Baltimore Police Department, as an official Governmental Agency. Likewise, we do not seek their permission or approval to post the things we post, and as such, nothing in these pages should be held against them.

The intent of this site is more than just to tell our history, to have everyone remember our Injured, and Fallen Heroes, those who in the performance of their duties were called upon to make the Ultimate Sacrifice.

So as you surf these pages, you will see the Baltimore Police Department from its infancy, showing the crude methods of policing in the 1700's, through to the 1800's and become the modern highly efficient department that it has become today.

Enjoy the site for what it is, a rendition of the proud history of one of this country’s finest Police Departments, one for which those of us who have worked it, are proud of, and honored to have served. The many men and women that still proudly serve, and those that someday will serve.

Any request for official police information should first be made directly to:

Baltimore Police Department
242 W. 29th St., Baltimore, MD.
Emergencies: 9-1-1  Non-emergencies: 410-396-2037
BALTIMORE POLICE Web Site: http://www.baltimorepolice.org 

Again please contact Ret. Det. Kenny Driscoll if you have pictures of you, your family, or other members of the Baltimore Police Department and wish to see them remembered here on this tribute site. We are anxious to honor the fine men and women who have served this fine police department. Ret. Det. Kenny Driscoll can be reached at  This email address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it. - Like us on Facebook, or contact us for a mailing address 

The Baltimore Flood

In 1868, The Jones Falls Overflowed
Causing a Disaster Known as "Baltimore’s Black Friday Flood.”

City Flood - July 24, 1868, The Jones Falls Overflowed The Tide Swept in Flooding Houses, Horses, Telegraph Poles, Bridges and More were Swept Away with the Water

Devastating floods like those that have caused havoc in North Dakota and Minnesota are no strangers to Maryland, as the great floods of 1936, 1955, 1972 and 1985, and prior to the 1868 Flood, there were two more notable floods, the Flood of 1837, which was well documented, and the less documented Flood of 1817. This page will discuss briefly the 1817, 1837 Floods, and go a little more into the depth of the Great Flood of 1868

To start the Flood of 1868 was better known at that time as the "Black Friday Flood of 1868" in one day it claimed approx. 50 lives, damaged more than 2,000 homes and caused property damage estimated to be in the area of 2 to 3 million Dollars. Some 4,000 people were thrown out of work by this flood. Described as a "Freshet," the flood began harmlessly as a heavy rain during the early hours of July 24. As the day wore on, Wagner-esque lightning tore the skies, barrages of thunder echoed throughout the city and the downpour continued.

Baltimoreans on their way to work noticed that the Jones Falls was overflowing its banks, but it was not until a south wind began blowing a high tide in from the harbor that the crisis really began. The tide joined with the raging waters of the Jones Falls, and the stream rose 5 feet in 10 minutes. The stream eventually reached a height of 20 feet.

The flood washed away telegraph poles and smashed horse-drawn cars against buildings as terrified passengers and horses scrambled for their lives. Dislodged houses and bridges swirled toward the harbor, and the city's water supply and gas system were rendered useless.

Seven Bridges Swept Away

"The small wooden bridge at Charles Street avenue was the first within the city limits to give way, sweeping down with other debris from above. [It] passed under the lofty Belvidere and Eager-street bridges, the latter being a stone arch, and reaching thence the iron bridge at Madison street, struck it, causing that bridge to give way, and soon after the bridges at Monument, Centre, Bath, Hillen and Fayette streets, making seven bridges in all in the city, swept away," reported The Sun the day after.

A reporter for the Baltimore Telegraph observed the scene as the bridges gave way:

"The water took the immense iron fragments as if they had been feathers, and, after toying with them awhile, threw them with great force upon Baltimore Street Bridge. This caused the north side of the bridge to give way," he wrote.

"This city," said The Sun, "and the adjacent country was visited yesterday with violent storms of rain, which lasted several hours, producing a most disastrous flood. The rain poured down in torrents from early in the morning, and about midday the water in Jones' falls -- that delectable stream which passes directly through the city -- rose with great rapidity, soon overflowing its walled banks, backing into numerous contiguous streets, and penetrating dwellings, stores and innumerable basements, creating great alarm and damaging and sweeping off property, carrying away bridges, & etc."

Water poured into the main waiting room of the Northern Central Railroad's Calvert Station, and the thick walls of the German Zion Church on North Gay Street gave way with a mighty crash.

Oh, Rats!

Schools of rats driven from their normal berths by rising water fled in terror through the streets. Communication between the eastern and western sections of the city was severed.

Water rose into the basement of The Sun Iron Building on East Baltimore Street and for a time threatened the building and its equipment as basement pumps failed to keep pace with the onrush of water. It was only the intervention of a fire department pumper that saved the building and allowed the paper to publish the next day's newspaper.

"Engineer-Cosgrove, with John A. Hogg, president of the board, rendered us valuable aid, for which we tender our heartiest thanks," said The Sun in an editorial.

"The scene from the bridge at Eager Street when the water was at its greatest height was very striking. Its yellow flood came down with a turbulent roar like some mountain torrent, bringing in its headlong rush fragments of bridges and buildings, uprooted trees, driftwood, fences, sheds, outhouses, oil tanks, barrels, merchandise. As soon as the rain slackened, crowds of people flocked to the banks of the stream to witness and view of the scene of destruction," reported The Sun.

"The disaster was not without its lighter moments," said an article in The Sunday Sun Magazine in 1957.

"On some streets, men and women 'revealed in semi-nudity, catching the waifs and strays borne down by the tide. Barrels of flour and whiskey, articles of household furniture and all other imaginable stuff was captured.' "

Railroad service on the Northern Central was disrupted as bridges at Melvale, Woodberry and Mount Washington were destroyed. The telegraph lines along the B&O railway were ripped down and several bridges along the Western Maryland Railway were ruined.

The waters receded as quickly as they had raced through the city. By nightfall, looters were breaking into empty stores, homes, and warehouses and taking what they wanted, unchallenged by any authority.

The next morning downtown Baltimore was littered with debris, and mud was, in places, 6 to 8 inches deep. An awful stench arose over the city from the carcasses of dead animals that baked in the July heat. There was soon an outbreak of typhoid fever.

Seventy years had not dimmed the memory of the flood for Miss Josephine McPhail, then 94, who told The Sun in 1937, "I can still see in my mind's eye the color of that raging torrent, the mad rush of debris and the rats. Above all, the rats."

The Power of Nature

An editorial in The Sun said, "The great flood of Friday was an impressive exhibition of the mighty power of the elements and of the feebleness and frailty of man when he is confronted with a sudden outbreak of those forces of nature which are generally considered subservient to his will, but which sometimes assert themselves with an energy that he has no resources to withstand. It was also a revelation of the peril and disaster which a few hours may bring to property and life in a city traversed, as this is, by a stream like Jones' falls."

Controlling the Jones Falls became a matter of civic concern, but wasn't until 1914 that the Fallsway covering the stream was constructed at a cost of $2 million.

While everything on this site is about or has something to do with "Baltimore City", not everything is about "Baltimore City's Police" that said, this does have a Baltimore City Police Connection in that a newly appointed Commissioner of the Police, Commissioner James E. Carr, took command, saving lives and making a difference. Harper's Weekly reported on the Commissioner's Bravery and the lives he saved.

24 July 1868

It was shortly after his election to the Police Board that that most dreadful calamity, the flood of Baltimore (24 July 1868), overtook our city. In that crisis, the bravery of Commissioner Carr in rescuing the victims of the catastrophe became a matter of national fame. Harper's Weekly, at the time, in a long article on the floods, quoted the following editorial notice from the Baltimore Sunday Telegram, of 26 July,1868: "It is a true saying, that in times of great public calamities, some men rise to the position of a great public benefactor, and such was the case yesterday with Police Commissioner James E. Carr. He, at first sight, apprehended the character of the calamity, and he immediately sent for boats and organized a sufficient force of policemen to manage them. He soon had work enough to do. He led his boat in places of great peril and rescued women from drowning.

The city was afflicted on Friday, 24 July 1868, with a calamity, which formed a fitting close to what was perhaps the most eventful decade in Baltimore's history. It was the memorable and disastrous flood which proved so conclusively of what brave men the police force was composed, and how efficient was their organization. For several days previous to the flood the rain had fallen in torrents, saturating the earth and swelling the streams among the hills of Baltimore and Howard counties. The land, therefore, was almost incapable of absorbing any more of the moisture, when on Friday morning the rain came as if in the realization of some awful plan of nature, and in pursuance of the preparation which preceded it. The cause of the flood has been variously attributed to the overflowing of Lake Roland; to the breaking of a water-spout in the neighborhood of the Queen Spring Valley, and to a number of other things equally unsatisfactory. But as similar floods occurred at various places along the Atlantic slope of the Alleghenies, the inundation is doubtless to be attributed wholly to the heavy fall of rain which began on the morning of July 24 and lasted until 1 o'clock of the same day. The part most difficult to explain, is the rapidity with which the streams rose. The Patapsco river at Ellicott City and Jones Falls rose at the rate of five feet in ten minutes; the water came down those streams like a great wave on the sea-shore. The river at Ellicott City rose ten feet before a drop of rain had fallen there, and was at one time forty feet high. In this city, the rise was so rapid that a gentleman entering a cigar store from a dry street returned with a lighted cigar to find himself knee-deep in a rapidly rushing stream. A passenger car, while crossing a street, was caught by the flood, and with its passengers was swept several blocks toward the river. The market men were caught at ' their work, and only had time to get on their benches and stalls for safety, and these were washed away with their occupants. Terrible as was the catastrophe in Baltimore, it was much worse in Ellicott City. Had it occurred at night the loss of life that it must have caused is fearful to contemplate. It was about ten o'clock in the morning when the water first rose above the banks of Jones Falls and began to flood the low streets of this city. Slowly, at their beginning, the floods covered Harrison street, but in a moment they rushed down Harrison street, increasing in volume at each minute, until the bed of the street was filled with a swollen and powerful stream, whirling on in its surface the shattered remains of ruined homesteads, wrecks of furniture, and, in fact, almost everything in ordinary and common use. When it reached Baltimore street the stream divided into three currents. One rushed like a torrent to the right, the other to the left, and the third ran with more slowness down the center of the market. Above the roar of the vortex could be heard the shrieks of women and children, and the cries of men for help, as they were whirled along with the furious current. Even carriages, with their occupants, were caught up and carried along. For some hours after the awful scenes of destruction had begun in the center of the city, the greater part of the population of the upper portions, kept indoors by the pouring rain, had no idea of the dreadful occurrences below. An extra edition of the Evening Commercial, published at about two o'clock, gave them their first intimation of the disaster. When the flood first appeared on Harrison street the police busied themselves aiding the residents of the street to carry their household goods to places of safety. In a few moments, however, they were obliged to turn their attention towards rescuing the people themselves. Alarms were rang, and men called in from all the stations, to the scene. Numerous boats were promptly ordered from the wharves by the Police Commissioners, and were hurried to the inundated district. They were manned by experienced boatmen and policemen. Most of the boats were launched from the Holliday Street Theatre, and were sent thence, under the direction of Commissioner James E. Carr, through Calvert, North Holliday, and other streets, for the purpose of removing families and furniture to places of safety. On the streets, running at right angles with Harrison street, the streams were by no means so turbulent as in the thoroughfares running parallel with Jones Falls, and they experienced but little of the fierce current that dashed through the latter. Many persons refused the proffered aid, preferring to guard their property. In the neighborhood of North, Davis and Bath streets thieves were busy plying their trade. They were principally young negroes. The police captured a number of them, who were afterwards convicted and sentenced to long terms of imprisonment. One citizen appealed most piteously to Commissioner Jarrett to send policemen to his house, into which he had seen some men swim. The Commissioner and a party got into a boat and pulled in the direction of the house, mooring their boat at a second-story window, through which an entrance was made. A search of the premises discovered that his money, amounting to 8570, was gone. Shortly afterwards it was ascertained that his wife, fearing the flood, had secured the money on her person without informing her husband. At about four o'clock in the afternoon an exciting scene took place on Saratoga street, between Gay and Holliday streets. A boat, in which were Commissioner James E. Carr, Sergeant Charles McComas, Win. Henry Collier, and a colored man, had gone to the second story of a tenement on the east side of Saratoga street, nearly opposite the Central District station-house, to remove several children. Immediately in front of the house was lodged a large quantity of driftwood, consisting of beams and logs, alongside of which the current was running with fearful rapidity. In attempting to stem the tide and effect a landing on the driftwood, which the rescuing party thought to be securely lodged against the houses, an oar was dropped overboard, and Mr. Carr, in attempting to recover it, was flung forcibly into the seething yellow water. Sergeant McComas, in trying to catch him, was also precipitated into the stream, together with the colored man. Confusion ensued, and the three men floated helplessly along with the tide, Commissioner Carr very rapidly, for he had been thrown out into the current. The others succeeded in reaching the pile of driftwood, but the Commissioner was whirled away out of sight, notwithstanding his powerful efforts to swim into stiller waters. A shout at once went up that Commissioner Carr was drowned. It had been seen to disappear under the water, and everybody supposed his corpse would be found after the flood subsided. The Evening Commercial quickly published the rumor in an extra edition. An hour later it was happily proved to be incorrect, for the Commissioner was rescued at the corner of Fayette and Harrison streets. He had been washed from Saratoga street into Harrison street, catching at various fixed articles, and endeavoring to pull himself out of the water, but being unable to do so. At one time he caught hold of a balcony, but was forced from it by the inhuman owner of the house, lest he should break off the balcony ! From Fayette street he was seen by a number of citizens, however. One of them, an expert swimmer, tied a rope around his waist, and while the other end of the rope was held by some persons standing in the shallow water, he swam out to the middle of the street. Recognizing the Commissioner, who was at that time almost exhausted, after an hour's battle with the waves the citizen made to him the Odd Fellows' signal of distress. The Commissioner let go his hold on the house to which he was clinging, and allowed himself to float down the stream toward his rescuer. He was quickly pulled out of the water. The news then spread, amid much rejoicing, that Commissioner Carr had been rescued, which the latter hastened to give visible proof of to his friends by hurrying as soon as he recovered, back to the place where they had seen him disappear. His two companions in distress, Sergeant McComas and the colored man, who had succeeded in reaching the pile of debris, had floated a short distance further down the stream. Their position was an extremely dangerous one, but they were rescued by Detective Richards, who got into a boat and steered it towards the men, persons holding it from the second story windows of a house by a long rope. When the imperiled men succeeded in escaping into the boat, the craft was hauled back against the tide. A somewhat amusing incident occurred at the Gay Street bridge. Mayor Banks was inspecting the scene of the flood late at night, after the waters had fallen to such an extent as to be confined within the limits of the banks of Jones Falls. A great crowd of people was still on the streets. Noticing a large number on the Gay Street bridge, which seemed liable to fall at any moment, he ordered a policeman to clear the structure. The officer, not recognizing the Mayor, turned on him fiercely : " Do you want that bridge cleared?" he cried. " Yes, and at once," replied the Mayor. '•Well, clear it yourself, then!" said the policeman, as he seized Mayor Banks by the collar, and swung him forcibly into the crowd. Nothing could be more abject than the man's apologies, when he discovered whom he had assaulted. Captain Frey, now Marshal of the police force, then in charge of the Southern District, who had been ordered at the beginning of the flood to report at the Holliday Street Theatre, with as many men as he could get together, was soon returned to his own district, when it was learned that the floods had invaded his precinct also, and that the bridges were in danger. His men remained at work all day and all night, recovering property and bodies as they floated down the stream. They took several thousand dollars' worth of goods from the water and eighteen corpses, most of which had been washed down from Ellicott city. His men worked for several days afterward, looking for property and bodies among the debris. In the middle precinct also, a number of bodies were recovered and a large amount of property returned to its owners. Several thieves, who took advantage of the disaster to rob unprotected houses, were also caught and punished.

It was not until the night after the inundation that the dilapidated old Middle Station was sufficiently cleared of the five- inch deep deposit of mud that covered it, to permit of its occupation, and then Captain Mitchell and his officers only used the upper floor. On the following day the citizens of Baltimore, with their proverbial liberality, set about to relieve the distress of the victims of the flood. The police carried private alms where they knew immediate relief was needed, until the Citizens Relief Committee opened its headquarters for the distribution of aid. Among the methods of raising money for the relief of the suffering, was a benefit given at the Holiday Theatre on Saturday evening, August 1, on which occasion John E. Owens played "Major Wellington de Boots," in "Everybody's Friend." The tickets for the benefit were sold by the police. When the returns were handed in, they showed a total of $3,601.50. There were but four districts in the city at this time, it will be remembered. The money was immediately banded over by Marshal Farlow to manager John T. Ford, to whose generosity the benefit was due. That gentleman, in company with Mayor Banks, proceeded at once to the office of the Relief Committee, and gave over the entire amount, not deducting any part on account of his expenses, etc. A few weeks later, when the excitement had subsided, and the devastated district was beginning to be restored, the City Councils passed resolutions of thanks to the police, for their services during the terrible Friday of the flood.

The first report of the new Board of Commissioners, made to the State Legislature, was dated January 18, 1870. It included the transactions of the department during the years 1868 and 1869. There had been comment of slightly unfavorable character, upon the number of policemen employed. The critics declared that the number was excessive, and that taxation was unnecessarily increased. The Commissioners called the attention of the Legislature to the fact that Baltimore then had a population of very nearly 400,000 persons, and that the entire police force consisted of only members. These policemen, the Board asserted, were apportioned among twenty wards, giving an average of not more than twenty-eight of the regular force to each of them to serve both night and day, with no suitable reserve for emergencies. This explanation by the Commissioners was so sweeping that there was no further comment made upon the excessive number of policemen. Any criticism thereafter was rather in the contrary direction. The Board, during the first two years of its service, had many things brought to its attention which demanded reform. Among these was the prevalence of prize-fights in the vicinity. Northern ruffians were in the habit of coming to Baltimore county, and here settling their claims of prowess in the most brutal fashion. They evaded the law giving the Police Commission power to arrest or " shadow" men from the city, by making their rendezvous outside of the city limits. The Commissioners appealed to the State, .and had the law so modified that prize-fighting soon became a reminiscence. Another evil was the increase in the number of private detective agencies in town. Under the most favorable circumstances, these organizations are provocative of blackmailing. Every good police official looks at them with doubt, and they are in many cases used by the criminal as feelers, to ascertain what the authorities are about. The detective service of the police department had just about got itself into an excellent state of efficiency in 1869, and the Commissioners were anxious to relieve it from every embarrassment, so again the Legislature was appealed to. The State authorities responded, and gave the department the same power of control over these agencies as it had over all other bodies engaged in the discovery or prosecution of crime. It was in October, 1867, that the Board forbid all processions through the streets of any organizations not part of the army or navy of the United States, without first procuring permits. This action was occasioned by a sad experience the city had early in the month. During a parade of a negro company, some persons in a crowd of onlookers began to jeer and torment the paraders. One of the colored men lost his control, and drawing a revolver, fired into the crowd, killing a young white man named Charles A. Ellermeyer. The paraders were attacked by the indignant citizens, and a riot was prevented only by the • prompt appearance of a large force of police.

It was on that fearful day in July, 1868, when Baltimore was swept by flood, and part of the town was fairly drowned beneath the waters which raged from the country about, that patrolman Gault discovered that he was not merely an enthusiastic police man, but a man full of that noble desire to do good which impels one to risk his life for another's benefit. There was a great crowd of terror-stricken citizens standing in High street, near Front street, at about 3 o'clock in the afternoon of July 24. The yellow flood roared and writhed and twisted itself in apparent deviltry as it rushed on its path of destruction. On its breast was borne all manner of things : parts of houses, great tree trunks from which huge branches had been torn by the angry waters, chicken coops, furniture, produce — but look ! what is this floating upon the tossing waves, half hidden at times by the billows, but always rising with them, always cresting them — making them sacred even in their maddened rush for prey ? It comes nearer the great crowd ; it is upon them, abreast of them, and within the cradle which rides the flood a babe looks out and smiles upon the thousand men who stand awe-stricken at the strange sight. There is no motion in the crowd ; not a hand is waved, not a tongue is loosened as the cradle with its precious burden sweeps by, the wreckage apparently making way for it. Again look ! a man darts from the midst of the crowd ; he wears the familiar uniform of a policeman ; his head is bare, his hair streaming in the wind and tossing spray. Over he goes into the raging waters, and amid the cheers of the crowd swims towards the castaway. Tree trunks intervene ; great masses of wreckage interpose themselves, but nothing daunts the brave man who struggles toward the object of his endeavors. Struck now and forced back by some heavy drift he begins all over again, and with set teeth grasps the cradle. The baby smiles at him and then gives a little crow of delight as the rescuer's weight tilts the cradle to one side. Little it knows how near it has been to the end. The policeman landed many squares below the place where he leaped into the flood, but the crowd had followed him, and as he stepped ashore and handed the little one to a lady who was standing near, the immense crowd surged about him and made the air ring with cheers. Three hours after this Mr. Gault, still drenched from his heroic battle with the flood, again leaped into the water at Harrison and Gay streets, and in the presence of fully 500 persons rescued John Steigel, after the latter had almost choked the brave officer to death. In the summer of 1876 Detective Gault gained much praise by his clever capture of a pickpocket in this city. One of the officials at the Union depot had put his aunt, an elderly lady, and her daughter on board a train. They were going to Hartford, Connecticut. Before the train left the Union depot a well- dressed gentleman who was sitting in a seat behind them, with much politeness assisted the ladies in disposing of their baggage, etc. As soon as they were comfortably seated he left the car, telling them that he was going into the " smoker " and would return. At that time it was customary for the trains from the Union depot to stop at Bay View junction to take on the cars that had come up from the President street station. Before they reached the junction the conductor went through the train collecting the tickets. Then the old lady suddenly discovered that her pocket-book, containing the tickets for herself and her daughter and about §20 in bills was missing. She supposed she must have lost it, and returned to the Union depot much chagrined with the next train. When she told her nephew about the polite gentleman who had assisted her with her pack ages the young man at once suspected that the " gentleman " had stolen the pocket-book. He reported the facts to the police headquarters. Detective Gault was assigned to look into the case. When he learned that the pocket-book contained two Hartford tickets, heat once determined to watch the "scalpers' " offices, suspecting that the thief would try to sell the tickets. As the detective was loitering along Baltimore street in the neighbor- o o o hood where the "scalpers' " shops are located, he noticed a man answering the description given by the ladies of the polite he leaped into the flood, but the crowd had followed him, and as he stepped ashore and handed the little one to a lady who was standing near, the immense crowd surged about him and made the air ring with cheers. Three hours after this Mr. Gault, still drenched from his heroic battle with the flood, again leaped into the water at Harrison and Gay streets, and in the presence of fully 500 persons rescued John Steigel, after the latter had almost choked the brave officer to death.

Baltimore Police

Sun Paper Pictures

Decency Rally 20 April 1969

This picture of Baltimore Auxiliary Police circa 1941/42 features both White & Black Officers in the same picture. 

 

More Pics

Northern District

Tiba Wise

Courtesy Jeff Rosen

Courtesy Jeff Rosen

Courtesy Jeff Rosen

Retired Detective Kenny Driscoll & Det John Calpin
2016

Officer John Calpin & Officer Kenny Driscoll
circa 1992

The following pics came to us courtesy of Robert Oros

 

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The above pics came to us courtesy of Robert Oros

This is nice, I would like to build a display showing our various hats, but have hat devices made to reflect the year said hat was worn, I would like to show our women's police hat (The hat device can't use a year because all Women's badge numbers at the time started with 7000. The Pith Hat, Round hat, Bobby type Helmet, and Six Point Hat. It would make a nice display.

The horse for this display was said to have been on loan until the owner decided he wanted to start charging, when he was told the department didn't have a budget, he brought a truck and took his horse, or so the story goes.

Thomas Gay Sr. 

These were nicely made for the times, but since we have better ways of making these kinds of things. Sadly these so poorly made that using them would be a disgrace to our fallen and not an honor to them. 

We bought a few pics from a lady on eBay that bought several of these in a storage locker, she thought the young lady in the pics was a criminal because she was being polygraphed in one shot and either fingerprinted, or standing with uniformed police, but the seller thought she was in trouble. I explained she was an officer and the lady felt bad, saying she didn't realize we polygraphed our own.

The First Ten Meter Maids in Baltimore City
Front Row - Delores Nots, Joan Covert, Sheila McAlee, Shirley Boyley, Elizabeth Aro
Back Row- Betty Erwin, Annie George, Donna Lloyd, Lillian Hartlove, Shirley Kurtz

Teletype Room Baltimore Police Department's Headquarters

George Adam Smith 2 1890s

George Proctor Kane

26 June 2019 Meeting with Commissioner Harrison

Taken in Central

LT Col Melissa R. Hyatt - Ret Det Kenny Driscoll - Commissioner Anthony Batts

John Calpin, Ed Chaney Kenny Driscoll

Courtesy Bernie Wehage

Courtesy Bernie Wehage 

 

Reported - 20 June 1908

Thomas Gay Sr. 

Central Police

Courtesy Bernie Wehage 

Baltimore was the first department in the country to officially use fingerprinting to print an arrestee when on 6 Nov 1904  Sgt. Casey, chief of the local Bureau of Identification officially printed  John Randles, a suspect being held on a theft charge. 

 

 Misc Pics Pg 1

More Misc Pics Pg. 3

 More Misc Pics Pg 4

 

Marshal Samuel T. Hamilton

On October 7, 1897, Capt. Samuel T. Hamilton was elected Marshal of Police to succeed Marshal Jacob Frey. Marshal Hamilton was a veteran officer of the Civil War and a man of indisputable courage and integrity.

For many years following the great civil conflict he had served on the Western frontier and took part in the unremitting campaigns against the Sioux and other Indian tribes that were constantly waging war upon the settlers and pioneers as they pushed their way toward the setting sun, building towns and railroads and trying to conquer the wilderness and its natural dwellers.

In the Sioux campaign of 1876, when Gen. George A. Custer and his command, outnumbered ten to one by the Indians in the valley of the Little Big Horn were annihilated, Captain Hamilton and his troop rode day and night in a vain effort to re-enforce Custer and his sorely pressed men.

It was on June 26, 1876, the 7th United States Cavalry rode and fought to their deaths, and on the 27 of the same month, just 1 day after the Battle at Little Big Horn, the reinforcements arrived, exhausted from their terrific ride across the country. Captain Hamilton and his troops fought through the rest of the campaign, which resulted in Crazy Horse and Sitting Bull, the great Indian war chief, being driven across and into the Canadian frontier.

Marshal Hamilton brought to his office pronounced ideas of a semi-military discipline for the police, (what is called today a paramilitary organization) and it may be said that many of the military forms which were adopted under his administration have been of great service to the Department in the matter of the individual carriage and conduct of the members when on the street.

Ex-Marshal Hamilton, after ceasing his connection with the Police Department, was raised to the rank of Major in the United States Army and granted a pension commensurate with that rank. Accustomed to an active life, he requested the War Department to give him employment, and he was assigned to take charge of the army recruiting district, with headquarters in Harrisburg, Pa., where he died in 1906.

Jacob Frey served as Marshal from Oct 15, 1885 - Jul 12, 1897

Gen. George A. Custer - Little Big Horn -  26 June 1876 - Crazy Horse & Sitting Bull

On 12 July 1897, the active connection of Marshal Jacob Frey with the Police Department ceased. On 7 October 1897, Capt. Samuel T. Hamilton was elected Marshal of Police to succeed Marshal Frey. Marshal Hamilton was a veteran officer of the Civil War and a man of indisputable courage and integrity. For many years following the great civil conflict he had served on the Western frontier and took part in the unremitting campaigns against the Sioux and other Indian tribes, who were constantly waging war upon the settlers and pioneers as they pushed their way toward the setting sun, building towns and railroads and trying to conquer the wilderness and its natural dwellers. In the Sioux campaign of 1876, when Gen. George A. Custer and his gallant command, outnumbered ten to one by the Indians in the valley of the Little Big Horn, were annihilated, Captain Hamilton and his troop rode day and night in a vain effort to re-enforce Custer and his sorely pressed men. It was on 26 June 1876, the Seventh United States Cavalry rode and fought to their deaths, and on 27 June, the day following, the reinforcements arrived, exhausted from their terrific ride across the country. Captain Hamilton and his troop fought through the rest of the campaign, which resulted in Sitting Bull, the great Indian war chief, being driven across the Canadian frontier. Marshal Hamilton brought to his office pronounced ideas of a semi-military discipline for the police, and it may be said that many of the military forms which were adopted under his administration have been of great service to the Department in the matter of the individual carriage and conduct of the members when on the street. Ex-Marshal Hamilton, after ceasing his connection with the Police Department, was raised to the rank of Major in the United States Army and granted a pension commensurate with that rank.

Page 45 of the Baltimore Police History Blue Book Click HERE

Capt. Samuel T. Hamilton Audio HERE

MARSHAL THOMAS F. FARNAN

Marshal Thomas F. Farnan, the present head of the Baltimore Police Department, has rounded out forty years' continuous service as a policeman. Looking back on the splendid record made by this ideal chief of a police force that is considered one of, if not the best, in the country, one is impressed with the belief that Thomas F. Farnan was born to be a policemen and that he was particularly destined to fill the responsible position he now occupies. Entering the police service on April 30, 1867, Marshal Farnan step by step climbed the ladder of promotion until, on August 8, 1902, he reached the summit and by the unanimous vote of the Board of Police Commissioners, Messrs. George M. Upshur, John T. Morris and Edward H. Fowler, was appointed Marshal of Police, to succeed Marshal S. T. Hamilton, whose commission had expired seven months before that date. From the time that Marshal Hamilton's commission expired until the date of his final promotion Deputy Marshal Farnan was to all practical purposes the Marshal of Police of the city, for he exercised all the functions of that office.

Not only this humble volume but the future histories of Baltimore City will give Thomas F. Farnan a prominent place in their pages. During his administration the great fire of February 7, 1904, swept Baltimore's great business district, laying in ruins over 70 blocks of the commercial section of the city. From the time the first alarm was sounded until three months afterward Marshal Farnan was practically on duty day and night. Now, and in after years, Baltimoreans can appreciate what the head of the Police Department did for the protection of the lives and property during those days that tried men's souls. By day and night, the Marshal of Police was seemingly tireless. Walking and riding over the city, whom he had stationed at dangerous points, guarding with the faithfulness of a watch dog the great trust imposed upon him, losing sleep and rest without a murmur, Thomas F. Farnan stands out against the lurid light of the flames and smoke a truly heroic figure. Lest the reader should think that this tribute is overdrawn, the writer can truthfully say that he is acquainted with his subject from the closest and most personal kind of observation. For many days and many nights he was thrown constantly with the Marshal, watched his untiring efforts for the protection of the public, made the rounds with him over smoking and blistering ruins and day by day saw more threads of white silvering the head of the man who was throwing his whole body, thought, soul and action into accomplishing the great task which fate had thrown upon him. It was no uncommon thing in the four weeks following the fire for the Marshal to enter his private office, sit down at his desk and then fall asleep from utter physical exhaustion. It was at those times that his office force and those whom duty had gathered around him moved softly and talked in whispers, grateful that the Marshal was able to snatch even a "cat nap." In their hearts they would wish that the district call bells would not ring and that the telephones for the moment would be silent. It is a picture that comes before the writer with wonderful distinctness, the greying hair, the strong face, furrowed from thought and loss of rest, the exhausted pose, as with head resting on his hand, he leaned on the desk under the full glare of the electric light. Then would come the jangling call of a station house bell, or some subordinate officer would telephone in for directions. The call would hardly sound through the room than the Marshal would be on his feet to answer it personally, for in those days he exercised a personal direction of details that was truly amazing. The work accomplished by the Marshal during and after the fire extended a reputation that was becoming national, and when he attended the convention of the National Police Chiefs in the June following, the heads of every police force in the country, represented at that notable gathering, crowded around him and congratulated him on the manner in which he had protected his city and people during their great trial by fire. Thomas F. Farnan was born in Baltimore on March 15, 1846. After a few years in the public schools his parents sent him to Calvert Hall, but scholastic affairs were not much to his liking. He wanted to earn his own living, and finally, seeing that he was determined, his parents allowed him to get a position as errand boy in a music store. When he was 18 years old Thomas F. Farnan was apprenticed to a carpenter, and later he became a millwright.

On April 30, 1867, he received his commission as a policeman and was assigned to the Southern District. On February 1, 1870, he was promoted to the grade of sergeant, and a year later was made lieutenant of the Southern District. It was while serving in this position that the future Marshal began showing the police ability which has forced him steadily upward in his profession. On October 15, 1885, Lieutenant Farnan was promoted as captain of the Southern District, but he only remained in that district one day, and on October 16 was placed in command of the Central District, which was then, as it is now, the most important district in the city. When Deputy Marshal Lannan's post became vacant in 1893, Captain Farnan became Deputy Marshal under Marshal Jacob Frey. From that period until August 8, 1902, Deputy Marshal Farnan ably and efficiently acted as assistant to the Marshal, and at many times was acting Marshal of the city. A few days before Deputy Marshal Farnan received his appointment to the highest office in the Department the Commissioners had elected Police Magistrate J. McKenney White to the position. Justice White did not qualify nor receive his commission, as, convinced that he did not have the qualifications to make him a successful Marshal of Police, he informed the Commissioners by telegraph that he could not serve.

It was significant of the feeling of the entire Department that when the Marshal received his appointment and the members of the force wished to testify their appreciation of his final promotion that they sent him a huge floral ladder, the rungs of which were lettered. The first rung was inscribed "Patrolman," while the highest rung bore the inscription "Marshal of Police."

If Thomas F. Farnan has made a good chief of police, his record as a patrolman, sergeant, lieutenant and captain shows equally as well. One of his first cases was that of George Moore, alias Woods, a notorious thief and desperate character. Capt. Wallace Clayton, of the schooner Pringy, docked at Bowley’s Wharf, was assaulted and robbed one night and the thieves cut out one of his eyes. The assault and robbery aroused a great deal of indignation, and though the thieves left no clue behind, Patrolman Farnan worked assiduously on the case for nearly a year, struck a trail finally and arrested Woods. The suspect denied the crime, but Captain Clayton positively identified him as one of his assailants, and, with the evidence collected by the young officer who had been on his track, Moore, alias Woods, was convicted and sent to the Maryland Penitentiary for fifteen years. One night when the Marshal was a sergeant, he met a man who was deaf and dumb. The man, who was a giant in stature and muscle, had committed an assault. Sergeant Farnan placed him under arrest, but the subject suddenly wheeled about, caught the Sergeant's arm and threw him over his shoulder as though he was a sack of potatoes.

With both his hands held by the giant, the sergeant was at his mercy. Without apparent effort the man climbed up the stairs of a house in the neighborhood until he reached the attic, Sergeant Farnan found himself face to face with three other men whom he knew to be men of desperate character. Realizing his position, the sergeant told the three men that if they did not assist him in arresting the deaf and dumb subject, he would hound every one of them if he got away alive. The men knew Sergeant Farnan and felt they had better take sides with him. Throwing themselves on their former companion, they grappled with him while Sergeant Farnan tried to snap the nippers around his wrists. Struggling, the five men pitched down the steep stairway together. The struggle on the staircase was more than its crumbling, ramshackle supports could stand, and it gave way. The mass of humanity, of which the sergeant was a part, rolled out on the sidewalk, and the sergeant, as he struggled, managed to rap on the sidewalk with his espantoon. Other policemen responded, and it took eight of them to land the man in the Southern Station. Guilford alley, at that time one of the worst localities in South Baltimore, was a portion of Patrolman Farnan's post, and the first night he spent in that neighborhood he made sixteen arrests. There were no patrol wagons in those days, and the young officer was obliged to literally fight and drag his prisoners to the station. One of the most eventful periods of the Marshal's life was during the Baltimore & Ohio Railroad riots of 1877, when he was a lieutenant in the Southern District, under command of Captain Delanty. Lieutenant Farnan was placed on guard at Camden Station with a force of but three men. When the Fifth Regiment arrived at Camden Station the mob threw stones at the soldiers and Lieutenant Farnan saw one of the mob leaders hurl a large paving stone. At once he seized the man and put him under arrest, although his fellow officers begged him not to try and get his prisoner through the crowd. "I have arrested him and will take him to the station," said the lieutenant, and started with his prisoner. The mob made a rush for him. Women called from the windows overlooking the scene and begged the young officer to take refuge indoors and save himself from being wounded or killed. Shouted at and threatened by the mob, Lieutenant Farnan kept his head, but as the crowd pressed around him, he realized that he must impress them with his determination. Drawing his pistol, he pressed it against the head of his prisoner. "You men," he cried to the mob, "if this man is a friend of yours, you had better keep back." Then turning to his prisoner, he told him if he did not tell the mob that he was willing to go to the station he would blow his brains out. Thoroughly frightened, the man told the crowd he was perfectly willing to go with his captor. The crowd withdrew and Lieutenant Farnan was the only policeman who got through the mob with a prisoner. During the forty years he has been in the police service Marshal Farnan has received only one reprimand, and that came from an old Irish woman during the Cathedral Centenary. The Marshal had a large force of police on hand to see that the crowd was kept orderly and did not infringe upon the space set apart for the Church, State and municipal dignitaries. One little group stood in a place that was especially reserved, and the Marshal walked over to them and politely requested them to move forward. "Oh, go on, Tommy Farnan, and don't get smart with those who knew you when you was a boy. We've got as much right here as you have," exclaimed the old lady. "That's right," replied the Marshal, "but if you'll walk over here with me, I'll show you where you can see everything and not be in the way," and he conducted the little party of sightseers to a point of sightseeing vantage. "You always were a good boy, Tommy," said the old lady, and the Marshal smiled under his gray moustache as she continued, " I 'm sorry I spoke cross to you, and don't let it worry you, darlin." So, the Marshal smiled at his first reprimand and its quick withdrawal. Incidentally, and in connection with the Cathedral Centenary, it may be remarked that Cardinal Gibbons is a personal friend and admirer of Baltimore's Marshal of Police. Only a short time ago the distinguished Churchman said: "In these days, when the press is full of articles regarding the acceptance of bribes by public officials and the wrong conduct of those who have been commissioned to high offices of public trust, there has never been the slightest hint of stigma cast upon Thomas F. Farnan, the head of the Baltimore Police Department. He is a splendid and efficient official and his work and memory should in future days be remembered and honored by his fellow citizens." Marshal Farnan is a practical policeman and not a mere man of theory. He believes in a strict order of police discipline, but he has no fads and frills. He asks, demands, that his subordinates do their full duty, and if they are lax, negligent or disobedient, he quickly brings them to book. The policeman who makes a mistake or is guilty of an indiscretion, and admits it to his chief, finds a willing and kindly listener, a critical one, perhaps, but one who knows from long experience the difficulties, temptations and trials of those who wear the blue uniform and brass buttons. To such the Marshal is a kindly adviser. To Police Headquarters come many complaints against officers. Sometimes these complaints are well founded and at other times they emanate from political sources or from individuals who are incensed because subordinate members of the Department insist upon them obeying the laws. When complaints are received the Marshal makes a full investigation before reporting them to the Board of Commissioners. If the complaint is justified, the policeman is haled before the Board and asked to explain his conduct. If the Marshal finds that the complaints are not justified, or are laid because of politics or other interests, he is quick to discover their true meaning. Every man in the Department knows that its head will always support him as long as he does his duty and conducts himself as "an officer and a gentleman." The Marshal generally knows how to properly judge a policeman, for one learns many things in an experience of forty years on the police force of a large city. Forty years' experience as a policeman has made the Marshal very astute, a little doubtful of human nature, but has never hardened him. He is grim and stern enough with the professional criminal, but to the youth, or unfortunate, who has committed his first crime and has fallen into the hands of the police, he is always kindly, though absolutely rigid in carrying out the law. "Many criminals do wrong by choice," said the Marshal recently, "but there are some who are almost forced into a criminal life, because of their surroundings and other circumstances. I believe in treating all of them fairly and justly. The days when prisoners could be treated brutally by the officials who had them in charge have passed, and it is well they have, for it shows that the world is becoming really civilized and less brutal. I believe in police officers taking their prisoners 'in' at any cost. Once a policeman takes a man into custody, he should never let him go until he lands him in the station. If in doing this he is obliged to use his espantoon, or even his revolver, I believe he is justified, but he should never pull, haul or roughly handle a prisoner simply because he is an officer and wears the police badge of authority. In these days, I am glad to say, people recognize the law and its officers and there are but few cases of men resisting arrest and being clubbed for their resistance." In his domestic life the Marshal sets an example to the members of the force he directs and to Baltimoreans in general. His home—and it is a home in every sense of the word—is on Lombard street, near Fremont. Rid, if even for a short time, of the cares of office, he makes for his own fireside with the rapidity of a carrier pigeon seeking its loft, for awaiting him is the wife and mother who has been his domestic mainstay and companion for nearly 40 years. Then, in the soothing atmosphere that arises from his own hearthstone, the Marshal is no longer the grim chief of police, but the affectionate husband, the thoughtful head of the family, the father—yes, and grandfather, for the third generation of Farnan’s gather around him, climb on his shoulders and toy with the gilded badge that is an insignia of honor the Police Department or who is at all familiar with the force and its methods of operating and working. That he has been able to accomplish so much is due in a large measure to the fact that in all questions relating to the police or to the protection of the public from accidents and the attacks of criminals or evilly disposed persons the Deputy Marshal and Marshal Farnan, his chief, work in perfect unison. Not only are the Marshal and his Deputy close official associates, but they are very warm personal friends. Each appears to know instinctively the ideas of the other and to agree with them and this creates a harmony of action and effect that cannot but be of benefit to the whole Department and to the interests of life and property that it safeguards. Deputy Marshal Manning has inaugurated and put into effect several new ideas in connection with his work at Police Headquarters. He takes a great interest in statistics in matters that relate to the Police Department and the public. During the past year he has put into operation a system by which the records of all murders, suicides and accidents, fatal and otherwise, are tabulated and are monthly given to the public through the medium of the daily newspapers. The duties of Deputy Marshal Manning are manifold. In case of the sickness or absence from the city of the Marshal he exercises full command over the force. He must attend the Marshal's office and assist the Marshal by attending to such parts of his duties as the latter may designate. When his services are not required for the performance of such duties, he must inspect the members of the force on duty in the streets and he must daily visit as many of the station houses as practicable. He must repair in person to all serious or extensive fires in the City of Baltimore and to all riotous and tumultuous assemblages, and, if the Marshal is not present, take charge of the police and act as the Marshal. The Deputy Marshal has, under the direction of the Marshal, supervision over the police patrol boat, its officers and crews, and must see that proper care is taken of the vessel, its machinery and equipment. Connected with these specific duties there are thousands of details that are quickly grasped and disposed of by the second in command of the force.

The Deputy Marshal is comparatively a young man, and it required him just a little over 20 years to work his way to the highest position in the Police Department under the civil service, for the Marshal is  appointed for a term of four years by the Police Board.

The Deputy's parents, Mr. Thomas and Mrs. Jeannette Manning, were Scotch-Irish. They lived in Seneca county, New York, where the Deputy first saw the light of day. He was born on October 1, 1855. When a youngster he attended the Catholic schools of the parishes in which he lived. When he was 12 years old his mother moved to Baltimore, and for two more years James Manning attended school here. Although he worked, he attended night school. Later he took a course at Eaton & Burnett's Business College. At the age of 15 he began to learn goldbeating, and his relatives thought he would continue to pound away in the little shop for the rest of his life. Despite the fact that the present Deputy Marshal looks and is the picture of health, he was not so fortunate in his younger days. He gave up goldbeating and went to work as a clerk for Messrs. Tyson & Bro., grain merchants. But this, too, disagreed with him and his health became so bad that Mr. Manning got up every morning and took long walks for exercise, lack of which caused his trouble. He put in his application for a place on the police force and said that if he had been subjected to such a rigid examination then as the men are now, he would probably have been rejected. One day in April 1882, he was notified of his appointment, and that night he reported at the Western Police Station for duty. Captain Lepson, then at the Western, took a liking to the young officer. After he had been on the force some time the Captain wanted him to become turnkey. He pointed out that the duties would not be hard, that his clothes would not cost so much, and that he would not be exposed to such rough weather. His friends told young Manning he was little short of crazy for not accepting the position, but Patrolman Manning wished to elevate himself, and he realized that he could only climb the ladder by getting good cases. It was not long before he displayed marked ability. Though he had made many arrests, the first very important case that came his way occurred in November 1887, when he arrested James Johnson, a burglar. Johnson was regarded as a dangerous man, because he was always heavily armed, and his peculiar specialty was robbing houses while the occupants were asleep. He expected to be shot at if caught in the act, so he went prepared to give battle. One morning two houses on Saratoga street were robbed, and a long Newmarket overcoat was among the things stolen. A few hours after the report was made at the police station Patrolman Manning went to a pawnshop to warn the broker about the stolen articles. As he was entering the place, he saw Johnson pawning an overcoat. While he did not know the man, he felt that the coat was the one for which he was looking. Johnson, in the meantime, had gotten out the door, but he was overtaken. When searched at the station house sufficient evidence was found in the suspect's pockets to connect him with eleven cases of burglary. He was sent to the Maryland Penitentiary for nine years. On February 6 of the following year Manning arrested Frank Sullivan and Ned Spurrier, charged with assaulting and robbing Mr. Jacob Eakle, of Hagerstown. Patrolman Manning was on day duty at the time and was notified one afternoon that an old man from the country had been beaten and robbed on his post in broad daylight. Being young and energetic, the patrolman felt that he must get the case, or his superiors would think the grass was growing under his feet. He hurried to Pratt and Penn streets, where the holdup took place, and saw the old man, with blood streaming down his face from the blows of his assailants. Then he felt a slight tug at his coat sleeve. He turned and saw a small boy, who led him aside. The youngster said he had seen the robbery and had just passed the highwaymen on Fremont street. With his diminutive assistant, Manning ran to Fremont street, where the youngster pointed out two men. Realizing that the men would run if they had the opportunity, Patrolman Manning ran as lightly as possible and burst between the men. Before they had recovered from the shock of the collision a strong hand clutched both of their collars. At the patrol box Sullivan became unruly.

He twisted Patrolman Manning's thumb back until he dislocated it, but the officer did not release his hold. Though the agony was intense, he did not say a word in complaint, as no one in the crowd would at first aid him. When it seemed that Sullivan would surely get away the prisoner became crazed. He kicked at the crowd and acted so that he came near being mobbed. When the men were searched at the police station Mr. Eakle's watch was taken from Sullivan. Then the young patrolman was given the position of telephone man in the police station, and this valuable experience has stood him in great stead. On March 31, 1888, he was promoted to sergeant, and on August 21, 1891, he was again promoted. It was while a round sergeant that the Deputy waged a war on gambling houses and violators of the liquor law. One of the best raids he ever made was upon a gambling joint in the Western District which had a cigar store front. The store was closed about 9 o'clock every night, and the players used the second floor. Two complaints had been made about the place, both persons declaring they had been fleeced. Early one morning, when all the players had left the building, Round Sergeant Manning and the present Lieutenant Poulton talked the matter over. Manning said he wanted to get into the house to "get the lay of the land," so he climbed the back fence and, with the aid of a ladder, crawled through a second-story window. He made his investigations and looked for the best point to attack, and found it in the kitchen, which, he discovered, was not used. Everything in the room was covered with dust, and the windows and shutters were bolted. The bolts were slid, and the shutters unlatched. Two or three nights later the cigar store was closed, but the lights in the second story were so bright that the "Rounder" knew there was a big game on. He got his squad of raiders and climbed the back fence. Having removed their shoes, the policemen crept into the kitchen, after one of the men had climbed through the kitchen window.

Round Sergeant Manning knew where the game was, so he started to crawl toward it in the darkness. Suddenly he became aware that a sentry stood on the landing above him. "We've got to run for it," he shouted to Poulton, and they reached the sentry's side and clutched him by the throat before he could say a word. The man was too surprised to yell. When they saw the officers in uniform the players were dumfounded. As a round sergeant the Deputy was well informed regarding the Chinese in Chinatown, and he made several raids. One was on Bow Sing's place, in Marion street. Numerous complaints had been made against the dive, and the Deputy started out one night to raid it. He knew the house was barred and provided with signals to warn the gamblers. He knew also that no one could gain entrance until he had shown his face to the doorkeeper, who looked through a glass panel.

Finally, he decided upon a plan. He took his men into the rear yard of a house occupied by several bad characters, which was next door to the dive. All the occupants were kept under surveillance to keep them from warning Bow Sing and his guests. Then, with the door of the house opened just far enough for him to see what was going on, the Deputy waited. Soon a young Chinaman came along, and, thinking no one was in sight, gave the mystic sign and the door was opened. Before the Chinaman could step across the threshold the Deputy had knocked him sprawling and dashed into the den. The gamblers were fined and the Chinaman who was knocked down was ostracized by his fellow-countrymen. In another Chinese raid Round Sergeant Manning dashed into the "joint" and took it by storm. He was in citizen's clothes, and the Chinamen could not stop him until he was alongside of the gaming table, about which 50 Chinamen were seated. The other members of the raiding party were locked out, and the Deputy was left in the den with the gamblers, but no one made an attempt to injure him.

The only time the Deputy's life was in actual danger was when he arrested Lewis Stewart, a young man who lived in South Baltimore some years ago. Stewart and a girl friend had been at a ball and quarreled on the street. Patrolman Nicholson ordered them to move on, and Stewart turned on the officer and shot at him. Round Sergeant Manning was coming down the street, and Stewart approached him with the pistol in his hand. In a minute the young man found himself on his back, but as Manning looked down at his prisoner, he found the muzzle of the pistol staring him in the face. With a quick movement of his hand the round sergeant pushed the young man's hand away just as the weapon was fired. His good work as round sergeant earned promotion, and he was sent to the Central District, where his opportunities were greater. Later he was sent to the Northwestern District, and on April 6, 1898, he was promoted to lieutenant. His good working the house won a captaincy for him August 6, 1900, and he was assigned to the Northeastern District. When he took command, the district needed a strict disciplinarian, and he was the right man for the place. Soon his men began to see him in the district at midnight and at all hours. They met him here, there and everywhere. As a result, everybody worked hard. The most daring piece of work Manning did as captain was to arrange with ex-City Councilman John Stone to be held up on Sinclair Lane, a dark walk in the northeastern suburbs. It was learned that Herbert Carter, alias John Smith, and Llewellen Winslow, alias Louis Keene, had planned to rob Mr. Stone. Mr. Stone was in the coal business, and his receipts Saturday night were said to be large. These he carried home with him and the two young men, it was said, intended to rob him. Captain Manning sent for Mr. Stone and told him of the plan. He got Mr. Stone to consent to be held up. When the hold-up took place Detective Dougherty, Round Sergeant Arbin, Round Sergeant Leverton and several other policemen were nearby. The hold-up was not successful because the officers fired at the men too soon. In the chase which followed one man got away but was caught later. Each man was given nine years in the Maryland Penitentiary. When Marshal Farnan was appointed, Captain Manning took the examination for the Deputy Marshalship. He passed with a high percentage and was promoted. Since that time, he has been out of the limelight, except when Marshal Farnan goes away, when he takes up the reins and handles the affairs of the Department.

 

 

Custer's Last Stand Calvary Trumpet-1878

Women and the Baltimore Police Department

Timeline of some of Baltimore's Women in Law Enforcement

Courtesy Ret LT Bob Wilson 

Timeline

1912- The first Women Officer was hired under the title of Policewomen was Mary S. Harvey, E.O.D. of June 19, 1912, her hiring was followed by that of Margaret B. Eagleston July 22, 1912
1914 -17 October 1914 - The first female officer shot in the line of duty was Policewoman Elizabeth Faber. As she and her partner, Patrolman George W. Popp were attempting to arrest a pickpocket on the Edmondson Avenue Bridge when they were both shot.
1925 - 28 March 1925 - Two female members of the department were given their first lesson in pistol shooting. Baltimore policewomen received their first lesson in the use of firearms. Lieut. James O. Downes, expert marksman and instructor of the Baltimore Police Department's Pistol Team, explained the use of pistols to the two policewomen. Mrs. Mary J. Bruff and Miss Margaret B. Eagleston were the students who appeared at the Central police station yesterday.
1937 - For the first time in the history of the Baltimore Police Department, women have been advanced to the rank of Sergeant - Mrs. Cronin and Misses Lillie, Lynch and Ryan Promoted, The women, four in number, joined the force during or immediately after the World War, when there was a shortage of men, and functioned for a time as telephone and signal operators. Under terms of a bill signed Friday (28 may 1937) by Governor Nice, they will hereafter enjoy the rank and the pay, which is $46.50 a week as against their previous $40-of sergeants.
1937- First African American female Violet Hill Whyte, became Baltimore Police Department's first African American female officer hired. She worked out of the Western District for her 30-year career with the department, rose to the rank of Lieutenant. She was promoted to Sergeant in 1955 and Lieutenant in 1967. During her career, she never missed a day of work.  HERE
1937 - Four females were promoted to the rank of Sergeant, Mrs. Bessie C. Cronin, Ms. Mae E. Lillie, Ms. Clara Lynch and Ms. Margaret Ryan. First time in Baltimore Police History that a female made the rank of Sergeant.
1945 - 2 June 1945 – Policewoman Ada F Bresnan of the Baltimore Police Department, became the first woman elevated to the rank of Sergeant. Sgt. Bresnan was appointed to the department in November of 1929, and on October 10, 1944, was placed in charge of policewomen after the retirement of Miss Eva Eldridge, who held the post for 15 years. The staff now consists of four white women and two Negroes
1952 - Crossing Guards added, hired in June of 1952, trained and ready to take their posts in September at the start of the new school session. Guards made $25 a week to be paid bi-weekly during school sessions.
1953 - Mrs. Mary E. Hoy, Baltimore City Police Crossing Guard received the department's highest award “The Medal of Honor.” During that time School, Crossing Guards were employees of the Baltimore Police Department.
1969 - In May of 1969, we have our first father/daughter on the police department. Officer James F. Stevens and Policewoman Patricia A. Loveless
1969 - 26 July 1969 - Baltimore Police announce their search for uniforms for their 48 sworn Baltimore Policewomen by the end of the year.
1969 - In October of 1969, we have our first female officer honored by the Criminal Justice Commission. Policewoman Mercedes Rankin
1970 - Helen Mackall - Crossing Guard was awarded the Medal of Honor, first African American women to be awarded the medal, she lost her leg saving a child that was nearly run over. During that time School, Crossing Guards were employees of the Baltimore Police Department.
1973 - 8 June 1973 - Gladys Aye became the first woman officer to enter the academy after the designation Policewoman was dropped and both men and women officers went by the single title of "Police Officer" this also gave female officers the opportunity to be promoted above the rank of Lieutenant. The change from Policeman and policewoman was in the works for nearly two weeks before it was officially announced on 11 June 1973  HERE
1973 - 12 June 1973 - The Civil Service Commission authorized the single classification of "Police Officer" to replace the dual designation "Policeman / Patrolman" and "Policewoman / Patrolwoman". This reclassification was a continuation of the department's efforts in the area of equal employment opportunity. (Female "Police Officers" now had the same prerogatives and responsibilities as their male counterparts. Now only one competitive test for promotions is necessary. Thus, a single career ladder was established for all sworn members.) 
1975 - 20 March 1975 - Dorothy Woodcock became the first female aerial observer in Baltimore's Fox Trot unit, at the time they felt she could have actually been the first in the state.
1978 - 24 October 1978 - Baltimore Police promoted the First Woman Police Major, Lt. Patricia Mullen, elevated two grades as she became Major Patricia Mullen. Promoted from Lieutenant of the Homicide Unit, Major Mullen was put in charge of Youth Section. 
1979 - Officer Linda Flood became the first female assigned to plain clothes in the newly formed STOP Squad, which was responsible for arresting street-level drug dealers. She did not stop there; she would later become the first female African-American aerial observer in the helicopter unit.
1981 - Janice West became the first female officer assigned to the Mounted Unit
1982 - Police Officer Kathy Adams is the first female officer to become a member of our QRT (Baltimore's SWAT).
1982 - 30 July 1982 - The First Female K9 officer is assigned. Officer Charlene M. Jenkins was handler to  Max 
1983 - 15 January 1983 - The First Woman Promoted to District Commander - Major Bessie R Norris, was promoted to Major and assumed her duties as Commander of the Southwestern District 
1984 - Police Officer Donna M. Cooper was shot on November 2, 1984, and was the first female officer to be awarded the Citation of Valor.
2002 - Police Officer Crystal Deneen Sheffield was the first female officer to die in the line of Duty and also awarded the “Medal of Honor.”
2007 - Deborah A. Owen's promoted to Deputy Commissioner 10/12/2007 highest ranking female
2010 - Deputy Commissioner Deborah Owens was the highest-ranking female in the Department and the only female to reach that rank.
2011 - Officer Latosha Tinsley would be the first surviving female "Officer" to be awarded the “Medal of Honor.” There was a previous female recipient of the award, but while employed by the Baltimore Police department she was acting as a school crossing guard
2018 - LaTonya Lewis promoted to Lt. Colonel 2/9/2018 highest ranking African American female

 

  13 June 1973 Sun Paper Part 1 
Click HERE of the above Pic
13 June 1973 Sun Paper Part 2
Click HERE of the above Pic

This article verifies Police Officer Gladys Aye became the first woman officer to enter the academy after the designation Police Woman was dropped and both men and women officers went by the single title of "Police Officer." This also gave female officers the opportunity to be promoted above the rank of Lieutenant. The change from Policeman and policewoman was in the works for nearly two weeks before it was officially announced on 12 June 1973 and Officer Ayes was hired with the knowledge that she would hold the title Police Officer by the time the academy class began.

Police Officer Gladys Aye
The First Woman Officer to Enter the Academy
Click HERE or on the Picture Above

This year, [1957] nearly 10,000 high school girls throughout Maryland will receive graduation diplomas, with an estimated 1500 more receiving college degrees.  What kind of job will they look for?  This is the second in a new series of articles appearing regularly in the women’s pages of the Evening Sun telling of the diverse job opportunities open to intelligent young women who regard their work as “more than just a paycheck.”

The Evening Sun Friday

A Girl and Her Job

 24 May 1957

Hometown Adventures and Intrigue

By Alice Price

 

Baltimore women, 21 through 35, can find adventure and intrigue without ever leaving their hometown. Mrs. Frances Seidlick, Senior Policewoman in the Women’s Division of the Baltimore City Police, declares that in her nearly 13 years on the Force, “there has never been a dull moment.” A junior colleague, Miss Geraldine Lane, a former WAC, who has recently completed her two-year probationary period, was quick to agree. All of Baltimore city’s 39 Policewomen are frankly enthusiastic about their work and every hour of the day they are policewomen first, and above all.  That they are instilled with a loyalty to themselves, their city, their fellow workers and the public is apparent in every experience, they relate.

Room for One More

There are more members of the Women’s Division in Pine Street Headquarters than ever before.  However, there is room for one more, says Captain William L.  Hartung, Chief at the Women’s Headquarters there. The objective of the Women’s Division, established in 1912, is the prevention of crime.  Subsequently, a great part of their work deals in the area of human relations, particularly cases involving negligence and broken homes. Before going into the department, they are aware that there are violations of the law. But after they come in direct contact with cases involving the criminal neglect of children, assault, mashers, purse snatchers, nonsupport, rape and others, they are, as Miss Lane puts it, “Outraged at the commonplace prevalence” – of these things.

Recalls 1955 Case

Much of the policewomen’s time is devoted to the negligence of children.  It is unbelievable, says Miss Lane, how very severe this condition is today, even in times of relatively high prosperity. She recalls a case, about two years ago, when she first came on the Force, where 10 children and their parents were found living in two small rooms. The children were sleeping on piles of dirty closed.  And that the father was an alcoholic. There was only one definite course to take.  That children taken into custody of the court.  The court, in turn, put the children in the custody of the Baltimore City Dept of Welfare’s Home Finding Division, later, they were placed in Foster Homes. In most cases, such drastic action is not necessary.  Miss Lane and Mrs. Seidlick both agree that reap the greatest satisfaction from their work when they can witness progress in bringing a disorganized family to operate as a single unit again.

Woman Eats Garbage

Outstanding in Mrs. Seidlick’s recognition is a case, several years ago, where an African American woman was found eating from garbage cans and wandering in the streets. Apparently in her late seventies the woman told of being “In-service” with a local family until she had outlived her usefulness.  Since she had no home, and no relatives there was nothing left for her, she said, but the streets.

Tears came from the policewomen’s eyes as she recounted the story of this wrinkled, feeble old woman dropping to her knees in relief and thanksgiving before a Nun of the Little Sisters of the Poor after her request to live in the convent and care for the chapel had been promised. The desire to help is one of the basic characteristics every police applicant must possess.  If a woman lacks this, Captain Hartung explains, then “they are no good at all, to the department.” Though the women in the city’s police department are not attracted to their careers by the anticipated excitement alone, they will have plenty of it.

Other Daily Chores

And, there is a daily variety of duty.  Aside from handling such cases as nonsupport, negligence of children, etc., they are apt to work on special detail with Abortion, Rackets and Narcotic Squads, the Missing Persons Bureau, Sanitation Department, Mashers, Molesters and Gamblers. Not too long ago, Ms. Lane was “roughed up a bit,” when a young Purse Snatcher selected her as a victim.  Miss Lane, was actually a decoy flanked by two plainclothesmen in an area where the snatcher was operating. The young culprit was thwarted but managed to flatten Miss Lane before he was shot while trying to escape, by one of the protective officers.  In the excitement Miss Lane didn’t have a chance to signal her bodyguards as previously planned. Policewomen are often frightened but never thwarted from their duty.  They will tell anyone they are often scared but ever confident of the coverage they receive from the officers accompanying them whenever they act as decoys. About a year ago, three months after they had been armed with a small revolver, several were detached as decoys in an effort to catch a, “Slasher” loose in the northeastern section of the city.

“They Were Scared”

“Sure,” they admit, “they were scared then,” but had confidence in their ability and the realization that they had, “a real job to do.” Women on the force find also that the policewomen’s salary and security benefits are attractive. They receive the same salary as the policemen: the first year $4000 is their base pay; the second, $4250, and the third year, $4500. During their service with the department, the women are granted “Unlimited Sick Leave,” provided they don’t misuse this privilege, of course, says, Captain Hartung.

Other Types of Work

The more background in education and general work experience a woman has the better, naturally, the Captain believes.  They may be called on for duty as a stenographer, nurse (there are three registered nurses in the department now) telephone operator, waitress, or a number of other vocations – whatever the situation demands. An applicant must first take a battery of tests, including one for intelligence and aptitude, at the State Employment Service Office at 6 North Liberty Street. If she receives a satisfactory grade, she’d advance to the City Service Commission for an application.  After formally submitting her application, each woman is setup for a “rigid” investigation.

Similar Training

Women making applications for appointment with the Women’s Division need not necessarily be perfection personified.  They must, however, measure up to a certain requirement.  Besides, unquestionable loyalty and a broad interest in social work, the applicants must have unimpeachable conduct, manners and a good general intelligence.  And too, each applicant must realize the responsibilities of the job.

Besides receiving the same salaries as a fellow policeman, the women undergo a similar training program. After their appointment by the Baltimore City Police Commissioner, they attend Police School for a 12 week course which includes instruction in law, conduct, and this is all one courtesy (for creating a good public relationship) judo and firearms. The department feels judo, which enables a woman to employ physical protection where ability and no how mean more than strength, and accuracy in firing a handgun will be sufficient.  Entire practice, a marksman score is their aim – 60 out of a possible one hundred bulls-eyes.

Expansion Program

In addition, policewomen during the 12-week training period, must pass a “rigid driver’s test,” following a two-day instruction course. Captain Hartung, says the Women’s Division handles about 170 cases a week involving anything in the racket line plus: runaway juveniles, accompanying women into court, negligence, nonsupport and others. Apparently, there is a constant and ever-increasing need for women in the Baltimore City Police Department.  An expansion program has been in effect since the women’s division was organized in 1912 with a lone woman “squad.” In 1940 (Mrs. Seidlick came to the department in 1944) there were only three women in the division. However, since the women moved to the Pine Street Station in 1952 with an 11 women detachment, the department has steadily expanded by reason of demand.

Donna Watson

In the 1915 BPD Rules and Regulations, a Policewoman's job was described as

Rule 20 Page 48-49

Matrons of the Police Force (Policewomen)

1. Matrons of the Police Force (Policewomen), are conservators of the peace and members of the Force; they are amenable to the rules and regulations of the Department in so far as the rules and regulations respectively apply, subject to such modifications thereof, as may from time to time be defined by the Board of Police Commissioners or the Marshall in special and general orders.

2. They would report directly to the Marshal and will perform such special and general duties and make such reports as may be from time to time directed by the Board of Police Commissioners, or the Marshal.

3. Matrons to the Force (Policewomen), shall serve on probation for one year.

 

Our Ladies of the Law

Firearms Training - Handgun Retention
10 April 1925

Woman Appointed Sergeant of Police

Jun 3, 1945

Miss Anna F. Bresnan, Chief of Policewomen of the Baltimore Police Department, yesterday was appointed to Sergeant, by Hamilton Atkinson, Commissioner of the Police Department. The first woman elevated to the rank of Sgt., Miss Bresnan was appointed to the force in November 1929, and on October 10, 1944, was placed in charge of policewomen after the retirement of Miss Eva Eldridge, who held the post for 15 years. The staff now consists of four white women and two Negroes.

1954 Three New Women Officers Join the Baltimore Police Force
Click HERE for full size article

This was a detail in which Major Bolesta put Sue Ritz and Andrea Nolan on in January 1984. They were decoys for a purse snatching crew that were targeting elderly women in Sector 3 (Cross-country Blvd., Rogers Ave.) While Sue and Andrea walked foot, they were trailed by P/O Joe Drobrashelsky. One night while walking past the Fire Station on Cross-country, the firemen saw Officer Drobrashelsky trailing the ladies and thought he was the purse snatcher. Our fine women in law enforcement had to break cover to prevent their tail from getting a beat down by the fire department.

Baltimore's Finest

Baltimore City Police Department's First, and Second Policewomen

The first women hired under the title of, "Policewomen" by Baltimore City was Mary S. Harvey, E.O.D. of 19 June 1912, followed by Margaret B. Eagleston on 22 July 1912. She traveled the world to inspect how other departments were using female officers and reported back to the Marshal of Baltimore's Police. Mrs. Harvey, passed away on 26 Mar 1934, in Tyron, Craven County, NC. Ms. Eagleston who was the second female officer hired, 22 July 1912, passed away on 3 Oct 1929, while she was still active in the BPD. Policewomen at that time were assigned to HQ under the Police Marshal, and mostly dealt with Social problems, children, other types of crime involving women, as well as challenged individuals.

In 1914 the first woman officer to be shot in the line of duty within our agency was Elizabeth Faber she was shot 18 Oct 1914 on the Edmondson Avenue Bridge (Officer Faber survived her injuries, but resigned less than a year later due to those injuries, and somewhat might today be called PTS or PTSD - Women on the force at that time would not become armed until 1925; a full 11 years after the shooting of this officer, and 13 years after the first woman officer was hired. They were true pioneers in the Baltimore Police Force). 

Sun Paper Photo by Ellis Malashuk

28 Mar 1925

Policewomen Receive -  Firearms Instruction
March 28, 1925 - Baltimore Sun Paper
Two female members of department given the first lesson in pistol shooting. Baltimore policewomen yesterday received in their first lesson in the use of firearms. Lieut. James O. Downes, expert marksman and instructor of the Baltimore Police Department's Pistol Team, explained the use of pistols to the two policewomen. Mrs. Mary J. Bruff and Miss Margaret B. Eagleston were the students who appeared at the Central police station yesterday. Several minutes later the basement of the building resounded with sharp reports (sounds of gunfire) as efforts were made to pierce the "Bulls-eye". The target was 6 feet in distance from the policewomen. Other policewomen will receive their first lesson next week. The distance of the target will be increased as Lieut. Downes plans to make each of five expert shots. With the exception of Mrs. Mary Harvey, none of the policewomen are familiar with firearms. The others are Miss Eva Aldridge and Ms. Mildred Campbell. 

Click HERE to Hear Audio Of First to Recieve Firearms Training

Click HERE or on the pic above to see full size article

Click HERE to Hear Audio Of First to Recieve Firearms Training

24 Aug 1956

Click HERE or on the pic above to see full size article

POLICE GET FIRST WOMEN SERGEANTS

30 May 1937

 

Quartet Advanced "Under

Terms Of Bill Signed Friday

By Nice - May 30, 1937  

Mrs. Cronin and Misses Lillie, Lynch and Ryan Promoted Pay to be $46.50. For the first time in the history of the Baltimore Police Department, women have been advanced to the rank of sergeant. The women, four in number, joined the force during or immediately after the World War, when there was a shortage of men, and functioned for a time as telephone and signal operators. Under terms of a bill signed Friday (28 may 1937) by Governor Nice, they will hereafter enjoy the rank and the pay, which is $46.50 a week as against their previous $40-of sergeants. Recipients Listed The recipients of the promotions and their present positions are Miss Mae E. Little, clerk in the office of the commissioner. Mrs. Bessie K. Cronin, Northern District telephone operator. Miss Clara Lynch, Clerk, Missing Persons Bureau. Miss Margaret Ryan, clerk in the police

Headquarters. Miss Ryan is the senior of the four in point of service. She was appointed to the force on January 9, 1917, serving on the headquarters switchboard until she was advanced to the clerkship. She lives in 1100 Block Barkley Street. Appointed Same Day Miss Little and Mrs. Cronin, who live at 4329 Glenmore Avenue and 2716 Oak Street, respectively, were appointed on the same day. October 2, 1918. Miss Little served first as Central District operator before being transferred to the commissioner’s office. Mrs. Cronin has remained at her original post at the Northern district switchboard. Miss Lynch was appointed on January 10, 1921, originally worked at the Eastern district board, and went from there to headquarters.

 

First African American Female Hired
Violet Hill Whyte

 

In 1937 Violet Hill Whyte became the BPD's first African American officer hired by the force. She was assigned to the Northwestern / Western District for her entire career. In 1955 she was promoted to Sergeant and in 1967 she was promoted to Lieutenant, and retired shortly afterward. In The Afro American News Paper, they wrote of her -Baltimore's first Black Policewoman, Lieutenant Violet Hill Whyte, 88 died July 17, 1980, at the Keswick nursing home where she had been since November 1979.Born in Washington, DC Violet Whyte was the daughter of the late Rev. and Mrs. Daniel Hill. She was a graduate of Douglass High School and Coppin Teachers College. When she joined the force, she was assigned to the Northwestern District. (The old Western District)Her promotion to Sergeant took place in October 1955 and in the following February she was transferred to the Pine Street station.When the new Western station was opened in August 1959 she was named to head its detail of policewomen. Lieutenant Whyte never wore a uniform and was seldom armed; she worked on a variety of cases on narcotics, robbery, homicides, child abuse, and sexual delinquency. During her 30 years on the force, Lieutenant Whyte never missed a day at work and was willing to go out and work at all hours because she recognized the problems. In a 1963 AFRO-AMERICAN newspaper clipping, Lieutenant Violet Whyte stated: "I'm not afraid of work, my first case was to investigate a homicide and it was successful.” Lieutenant Whyte stated she found it easy to overcome racial antagonism. She received special training in police work in various seminars and universities. She served as commission to study problems of delinquency. During her 30 years on the police force, she proved that time and time again by working 16 to 20 hour days, often starting at 6 a.m. She collected clothing for prison inmates and needy people, made holiday baskets for the needy and counseled delinquent children and their families.
In an Afro-American newspaper report, they wrote of her - Baltimore's first Black Policewoman, Sgt. Violet Hill Whyte, 88 died July 17, 1980, at the Keswick nursing home where she had been since November 1979. Born in Washington, DC Sgt. Whyte was the daughter of the late Rev. and Mrs. Daniel Hill. She was a graduate of Douglass High School and Coppin Teachers College. When she joined the force, she was assigned to the Northwestern District. (The old Western District) Her promotion to Sergeant took place in October 1955 and in the following February she was transferred to the Pine Street station. When the new Western station was opened in August 1959 she was named to head its detail of policewomen. Sgt. Whyte never wore a uniform and was seldom armed, she worked on a variety of cases on narcotics, robbery, homicides, child abuse, and sexual delinquency. During her 30 years on the force, Sgt. Whyte never missed a day at work and was willing to go out and work at all hours because she recognized the problems. In 1963 AFRO clipping Sgt. Whyte stated "I'm not afraid of work, my first case was to investigate a homicide and it was successful. Sgt. Whyte stated she found it easy to overcome racial antagonism. She received special training in police work in various seminars and universities. she served as commission to study problems of delinquency. 

Photo by Sun Paper Photographer Albert D. Cochran
Women and the Baltimore Police Department 1953

12 June 1952

Here It Is, Girls – The Uniform That Will Stop Traffic Next Fall.

Designed by a woman and approved by 10 men who solemnly discussed such details as skirt lengths, stiff plastic visors versus soft cloth ones, heel heights, etc., this is the authorized costume for the newly created Women’s Auxiliary to the Police Force – The School Crossing Guard – who go on duty when classes reopen in September. At the invitation of Police Commissioner Beverly Ober, the men, representing The Department of Education, Automobile Club, Safety Council, and Parent-Teacher Associations, met in the Col.’s office in the Central Police Headquarters to okay the outfit adapted by Mrs. Frederick B. Bang, of the Baltimore League of Women’s Voters.

Visor Adopted

There was some talk of an overseas cap, but since that type is used in so many capacities, the one with the visor was chosen. This, plus a top coat of worsted gabardine, including a zip–in lining for winter, two white blouses, an inch-wide black knit tie, white cotton, and white wool gloves, and the necessary rain-wear comprises the uniform. It will cost about $140 – which the men believe was reasonable enough.

Wear Own Shoes

After a little conversation on the subject of shoes, the men decided “Since comfortable feet are an important factor” to let the ladies wear their own – provided “they are of navy blue calfskin – to match the belt and attached purse – with closed heels and toes and neither perforations nor decorations.” They may be pumps or oxfords. “The height of the heel makes a big difference to some women,” Col. Ober  observed. The skirts will be 12 inches from the ground. The high visibility yellow rain cape, with a navy corduroy collar, will overlap the black zippered galoshes by 3 inches. The matching cover will be one of the shoulder length jobs that snaps under the chin, thus protecting milady’s permanent on damp days. And her badge may be attached on both. Col. Ober made it clear that he is only replacing traffic officers already on duty at school crossings and is not creating any new posts. There are, he explained, no funds available for additional guards. He also suggested that potential members of the force mention, in their applications, the school in whose area they reside. The salary is $25 a week will be paid bi-weekly during the school year.

Armed Leg

February 26, 1956

With a heft of the hem, policewoman, Ethel T. Divens, a Baltimore policewoman draws a revolver from a stocking holster in a demonstration. This is one of several types of holsters that are being tested by the Baltimore Police Department. The city's policewomen have been issued guns for the first time; their work is being extended beyond the juvenile cases they handled in the past. The gun is a special designed .32 caliber revolver nicknamed, "The Cobra". Where to hide it is a subject under study at the department. In detective stories, the female officer carries her gun in her handbag. But in real life, this has its disadvantages as the handbag can be snatched – and as our women officers are used as decoys for purse snatchers – and it holds so many other things. Shoulder holsters can be hidden under a suit. But what happens on a hot summer day? The stocking holster is easy to get at but it tends to pull down the stockings, and drawing it could draw too much attention; especially if the holstered gam is shapely.

Mullen Named First Woman Police Major

On June 11, 1973, the Civil Service Commission authorized the single classification "Police Officer" to replace the dual designation "Patrolman" and "Police Woman". This reclassification was a continuation of the department's efforts in the area of equal employment opportunity. Female "Police Officers" now had the same prerogatives and responsibilities as their male counterparts. Now only one competitive test for promotions is necessary. Thus, a single career ladder was established for all sworn members.

This is the second part of a series featuring women in nontraditional jobs and who are the first of females in their jobs

In 1970 the Baltimore City Police Department had 53 female officers of which 12 were black. By this year that figure had grown to 163 with 91 being black. Females are not only proving themselves as officers but advancing into unique areas within the department and challenging their male counterparts. Three young ladies, Officer Janice West, Carolyn Hawkins, and Sgt. Linda Flood, all served the requested time on patrol before taking on jobs that earned them second looks, and double takes from the citizens they're out there protecting. Janice West, caught Baltimore's attention last year riding through the streets of Baltimore on a horse, she was the first woman to become a mounted police officer. "I chose mounted because it was something different. - I have never been on a horse before. The department was looking for women in that unit so I signed up for it." She recalls having to ride bareback for the first week and falling off, "I kept saying to myself why am I doing this? I should quit…" - "But then I realized what my ambitions were and I told myself to hang in there, the saddle would be better." Janice, a perfect model type, she stands 5' 10" and wears a size 9 dress; having graduated from the police academy in 1977 she was assigned to the southwest district. "There were not many women when I started some people thought I couldn't do the job but I knew I could", she said with an air of confidence,  "I had my own way of handling situations, I just talked to people the way I felt they wanted to be talked to." Miss West states, "Most men she meets the idea of a woman having a different kind of career. They like the idea of a woman not being at home, or in the office." Her duties include issuing tickets and working in crowd control situations. Sometimes she comes down off her horse and works on foot at sporting events at the Stadium. "I really feel good about my job, I feel I've accomplished something. But this is just the first phase of what I really want to accomplish" Carolyn Hawkins a 1968 graduate of Carver vocational-technical high school, joined the department because "Insider work just wasn't for me" in high school while setting her sights on a dressmaking and design career, she had no idea she would eventually become a police officer. "Sometimes I felt like the men didn't want us there but I never had any problems." After graduation Ms. flood was soon on our way to achieving several firsts in the department assigned to the plainclothes division in 1979, she was the first female to work in the STOP squad, one of the department's tactical units. -

 

 

Then came the job as an Aerial Observer in the helicopter unit, another first and now, of the 55 black police officers promoted as a result of a suit filed by several black officers, Officer Flood now Sgt Flood was the only black female, to be promoted to the rank of Sgt. Currently the highest ranking female is Major Patricia Mullins and Lieut. Bessie Nourse, a 16-year veteran is the highest-ranking black female. Mrs. Violet Hill Whyte who died in July became the first black policewoman in 1937 and never missed a day on the job for more than the 30 years.

 

Police Promote Women to District Commander

23 Dec 1982

Baltimore Sun paper 23 December 1982

Page D4

Police Promote Woman to District Commander

Baltimore city police Commissioner Frank J Battaglia announced several Christmas promotions yesterday, including the appointment of the first woman district commander in departmental history. Lieut. Bessie R Norris, 49, Dean of students with the department’s education and training division, The series of promotions was prompted by the upcoming retirement of Col. William L Rawlings chief of criminal investigations division. Col. Rowlands plans to leave the force January 15 Harry C Allender, now a major serving as deputy chief in charge of the central, Southwest and southern districts, was promoted to Col. and will replace Col. Rawlings. The new deputy chief will be Major Calvin Lewis, who is currently commander of the southwestern district. Major Norris, an 18 year veteran of the force, or replace Major Lewis, in addition to being the first woman district commander, she is also the first black a woman to attain the rank of major. A native of McBee, South Carolina Major Norris earned her associates degree from the community college of Baltimore 10 years after becoming a police officer. In 1976, she received a Bachelor of Arts degree in criminal justice from Coppin State University. She was promoted to Lieut. in 1978 and served in the criminal investigations and personnel divisions before working of the shift commander at the Northwest district station. She was the first woman to be a shift commander in the districts. Major Norris has been working in the education and training division since June. She previously worked in the department’s communication division. In other promotions, Lieut. Joseph T Newman, head of the recently formed and highly publicized narcotics task force, was promoted to Capt. and named as head of the bisection in the criminal investigations division. Capt. Newman, 36, had been a member of the force since 1969. He has worked in criminal investigations division since 1971. In 1980 he received a bronze star for his work and narcotics.

Police Career is Big Challenge for Women

 Mar 26, 1987

Police Career is Big Challenge for Women
Deborah I Greene Sun Staff Writer
The Sun (1837-1987); Mar 26, 1987;
pg. G5

Linda flood rarely thinks about the years as she spent flipping hamburgers on the grill or pounding away at a keyboard in the billing department of a store. There weren’t many changes then. Certainly, nothing to compare to the scaling of an 80-foot wall, hovering in a helicopter high above the city, or posing as a decoy for rapist at dark city bus stops. And when she remembers she is but one of three women lieutenants in the Baltimore City Police Department a force made up of thousands, and a hint of a satisfying smile creeps into the corner of her mouth. “When I came here 12 years ago you could count the number of women in the department on one hand,” the 35-year-old supervisor said, “then, everyone was skeptical of me because not only did I have to prove myself because I was new, but also because I was a woman.” During her police career, she has worked with the narcotics squad, the sex crimes squad, the helicopter squad and the internal investigations division. She also was the first woman to graduate from the department’s tactical squad. In the past two decades, Baltimore’s police force has been not only a challenge but a viable alternative for women entering the workforce. Some women officer say that the skills they gather from more traditional roles have prepared them for their job as protectors of society, a career that involves more negotiation than physical confrontation. “Women have for centuries successfully handled the hardest job in the world and that is being a wife and a mother – often as head of the household,” says agent Arlene Jenkins, a spokeswoman for the Police Department and a mother of two, “to me, that’s probably more difficult than being a police officer.” “The same dedication and skills women have used in being a wife and mother are those they use in their job as police officers – skills such as negotiating, mediating, and counseling,” Asian Jenkins says. There are about 300 women on the police force currently made up of 1569 officers officer Bonnie Keller chuckles when she remembers the rigorous 20 weeks of training and a difficult Academy course she undertook at the Academy five years ago. “We took courses like sociology and psychology and I remember that there was always a lot of running. Running up and down steps, running around the harbor in 90° weather, and lifting tires over your head to build upper body strength,” said the five-year veteran. “It never got easier but there was always a lot of support among the officers and it was a good feeling to know that the support you encountered in training you hoped you also would encounter on the streets,” says Lieut. Keller. Some officers develop a “macho attitude” to deal with the skepticism they sometimes face among their peers and the public. But there are times when a strong attitude is needed. “Everybody has their own way of acting when you go out on the street. You never know if it’s going to be a simple call return in the something complex,” says officer Shirley Jean Wood. Some women are reluctant to talk to family and friends about the stress that accompanies their job. Often, in the eyes of their children, they are seen as “supermoms,” balancing a household checkbook in one hand and a nightstick in the other. Many say that despite their proficiency on the firing range, in combat, or while solving day to day problems for the public, their male counterparts remain skeptical of their achievements. “I would like to thank that a lot of the old male viewpoint – that this is a man’s job and there was absolute, no room in this profession for women – has changed and is changing,” says Lieut. Bass. “I think those who thought that a few years ago are learning through experience and observation that is just not so,” he added. The number of women applying to the force is higher today than they were two decades ago when the Academy graduated a woman once or twice a year. However, the number of women promoted to higher rank in the department still remains low. In addition to the three women Lieutenants, the department also has a Colonel and two Sergeants. “You’ve got to be determined,” said Lieut. flood as she squared her white lieutenants, took her place at the podium and led the group of two dozen officers in the roll call

 

Female Detective makes History in Baltimore

BALTIMORE - Anastacia Oluoch is spending her 59th birthday Monday in a Baltimore jail.  And the woman who helped put her there spent the day talking to ABC-2.  Baltimore Detective Julie Pitochelli chased the fugitive around the world and finally brought her back to see justice served, making history with the police department. You don't have to tell Julie Pitochelli it's a man's world.  As one of the 702 women in the 3,300 member Baltimore City Police Department, she already knows.  She explains, "When I first got here I felt like I really had to prove myself." That was 19 years ago.  But Detective Pitochelli's latest move has left no doubt about her abilities.  She brought back the first international extradition suspect in the department's history, something no man on the squad has ever done.  Pitochelli says helping the department hit that milestone isn’t about her gender, "I like people to judge me based on the work that I do, not because I'm a woman or anything else.  I like my work product to speak for itself." In this case, it did and it wasn't easy.  Pitochelli’s crammed case folder is evidence.  With help from the FBI and Interpol, it took the detective five years to bring Anastacia Oluoch back from Africa. Oluoch fled Baltimore and the U.S. in 2007; accused of beating 90-year-old John Taylor, a patient she was caring for.  It was a brutal attack caught on tape by the victim's daughter, Jaki.  Pitochelli says, "This one was personal.  We don't usually connect with family members as much as I did with Jaki.  Five years working with her day in and day out, I consider her a friend now." It is a friendship forged in mutual motivation:  righting a wrong and serving justice.  Jaki pushed and Julie responded, showing the strength to lead a case from halfway around the world, but never losing the sensitivity it required at home.  She tells ABC-2, “I have a way of making people feel at ease.  They talk to me.  They can tell me things they might not tell other police." Pitochelli helped convince Oluoch's family in Delaware to tell police where Anastacia had gone.  She says she also helped build the case that had a Nairobi court send her back, “They had to believe we had enough evidence against their citizen to bring her back." The dedicated detective had collected more than enough over the years.  Baltimore Police spokesman Anthony Guglielmi says, "It's refreshing to see how one case inspired her for the last five years to work so hard to bring this woman back to justice." And when it came down to Oluoch's return, it was Julie who got to escort her into Baltimore Police Headquarters.  It was an emotional conclusion to an investigation half a decade in the making.  Pitochelli says, “It was shocking and relief.  I thought, ‘Oh my God, it's finally over’." But even after Oluoch’s return, there were some tense moments.  Once back on U.S. soil, Pitochelli had concerns the fugitive would be released on bail.  She was eventually held on no bail.  Oluoch will be arraigned October 12th in Baltimore. 

 

U.S.A

1865 -  6 women matrons appointed in New York City.
1880/86 - Police matrons appointed in 13 cities.
1888 - Massachusetts passed a law directing the appointment of police matrons in all cities of  20,000 inhabitants.
1910 - First policewoman appointed in Los Angeles
1924 - 145 cities employ policewomen, (Owings)
1927 - Above facts quoted (C.T.F.E.331)
1929 - Census of policewomen in the U.S.A. gives a total of 593} employed by 260 cities and 28 counties* Largest numbers New York 115s Detroit 45* Chicago 30* Washington 23; Los Angeles 22$ St. Louis 18j Cleveland 15. (Report of International Policewomen's Association) Organized as Women Bureaux*
1930 - Crime Prevention Bureau in New York employed 53 women,  (C.T.F.E.509)
1934 - “A movement for the permanent establishment of Women's Bureaux in city police departments and appointment of properly trained and qualified policewomen in all communities” 

The first woman who has been made a member of a Police Force “lives in St Paul, Minn.  Her name is Mrs. Edwin T. Root and she was named a full-fledged Officer of the law by the Mayor of St. Paul” ….. From that information, I would say, St Paul, Minn had the first Woman Officer in the country.

Photo Courtesy Andy de la Vara
The Female Police Officer to the far left wearing a black dress with white color is "Nancylee Kleine" formerly "Nancylee Wilhelm"

Copyright © 2002 Baltimore City Police History - Ret Det Kenny Driscoll 

 

Calvin McCleese

Baltimore City Patches

Collector, Novelty, and Unit

A Novelty Patch said to have been used during the Raven's Parade Detail

Baltimore Police Motto large

Baltimore Police Motto Small

Breast Cancer Awareness Large

Breast Cancer Awareness Small

Baltimore Police Retired Large

Baltimore Police Retired Small

The Following Four Patches, look Better in our hands than they do on screen and can be picked up from Jeff Gary Send me an email This email address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it. and we'll get contact info

Our 2015 Riot Squad Patch recognizing today's riot police, remembering yesterdays

  City that Bleeds w/Red Threads

Baltimore City Police Patches

1952 Sun paper Photo Digital Painting 
Introduction of the BPD Shoulder Rocker Patch

"EVER ON THE WATCH"

All Patched up..  

For years our department wore a single patch on our left arm, first a rocker panel arched up (See Patch BCPD-1). The patch was black with simple yellow (gold) fonts/thread that read "Baltimore City Police". Then we went to a more detailed blue shoulder patch with a Maryland seal more like the one worn today. (See Patch BCPD-2) The shield on the patch like the one in the center of the badge, and collar pins, blouse buttons etc. has the, "Great Seal of Maryland" a design that was brought over from England during the early days of the colony. The shield, has the Calvert and Crossland arms (quartered). The 2nd Lord Baltimore (Cecilus Calvert) choose this design with the gold and black of the "Calvert's" in the upper left, and lower right quarters, and the red and white crosses of the Crossland family (the second Lord Baltimore's maternal for bearers) in the lower left, and upper right quarters.. This patch was unchanged until late 60's early 70's when the word "CITY" was dropped from the patch, to give us the patch that is worn today (Patch BPD-3). There were many rumors as to why the word "CITY" was dropped, the most common was "COST". Someone convinced a lot of people that it cost less to have patches made with fewer letters/words on them, and that with the number of patches bought by the department, it was done to save money. Another rumor was that it was done to change the appearance of the city, i.e. "CITY" is not a place for tourist, city is a place for crime. Dropping "CITY" reduces the reason for people to stay on 95 instead of stopping in for a visit. And the third was, "Baltimore City" PD and, "Baltimore County" PD both had the same initials. So to avoid confusion, and since The Baltimore City Police Department was the senior of the departments, they should be the department recognized as "The Baltimore Police Department" without a designation as to whether they are "City" or "County"... All three convincing stories BUT...

BCPD-1 - 1952/1967

A SHOCK TO PATRIOTISM

"Beauty Squad" Wearing, The Wrong Colors On Coats.

16 Aug 1905

Bombshell for Police Board Ukase Goes Forth That Unheralded Orange and Black Shall Give Way

To Simon Pure "Or and Sable."  Shades of the Immortal Lords Baltimore, can such things be!

That astute and august body, the Honorable Board of Police Commissioners, sifted, and resifted, then resifted, the sifted... some more the 300 odd men who guard the lives, the homes and the politics of the people in order to get a score of human perfectos that would combine the grace and strength of Apollo Belvedere and Eugene Sandow. The selection has thus far evoked no adverse criticism from the Municipal Art Commission.

The Board thought and thought again and thought still more concerning the wherewithal the 20 nonpareils should be clothed. They should have a Gold Hat Cord and White Gloves, said the board, with an eye for the artistic, and with commendable patriotism they should wear upon their coat sleeves a the gorgeous Coat of Arms of Maryland. It was done, and an appreciative public smiled Approvingly. 

And then came the inevitable iconoclast, the role being assumed by Col. William H. Love, who says In effect that the coat of arms which bedecks the blue uniforms of the "Beauty Squad'' ls about as correct historically as an Aztec sketch of Brian Boru, the original Fenian, would probably be.

In a letter to the board Colonel Love calls Its attention to the fact that the quartering on the arms is Orange, a color unknown In the realm of Maryland heraldry, As every eighth-grade schoolboy o the 1950s knew the Maryland colors were and still are "Or" and "Sable", that is, "Gold" and "Black." To say that the board was horrified would have been to Put it mildly, almost too mild.

A member of the "Beauty Squad" was yanked from the streets to come before the Board of Commissioners, he attended while trembling before the tribunal. The emblem on his sleeve was examined, and he was questioned; "Is it or and sable?" asked the board. "I d·d-don't know, ·sir," stammered the unfortunate officer as he stood in exhibit.

The authorities were consulted, and the truth was revealed. The quartering of the Coat of Arms was plain, common Orange a deep Orange of the California seedless variety. The relieved officer was allowed to depart, and the firm that furnished the Coats of Arms Emblems was called in to account for their gross violation of the rules of Heraldry. 

The firm apologized as they explained to the board that in the print shop they use catalogs to identify colors and assure the right colors go to the right project, in this case, OR and sable were used, all of their workers knew Sable was Black, and as sure as they were that black was sable, they were also sure Or was an abbreviation for Orange. They apologized for the mistake assuring it would not happen again, and that when the winter uniforms were made, the 1st and 4th quarters will be corrected using the correct "OR" and "SABLE." The firm made a note of the correct colors and promised the next shipment will be as ordered.

Meanwhile, the "Beauty Squad" will continue to besport the armorial bearings that resemble the original as much as an inflammatory chromo of an Alpine sunset looks like the real Swiss article.

BCPD-2 - 1967/1974
BPD-3 - 1974/Current

Let's learn, The True Story...

Why the patch was changed!! To understand why that happened, we need to know a little bit about the History of the City of Baltimore. Going back to the 1800's, Baltimore had the reputation of being a "bad town", at one time it was referred to as "Mob Town." During the Civil War, The Southern Sympathizers in Baltimore actually fired on Federal Troops who passed through the City, as they marched from one train station to another, on their way to battle, it was the Sixth Massachusetts, that was attacked! The power to appoint the Police Commissioner naturally resided with the Mayor. But, the City Government became so corrupted, that the appointing authority for the Police Commissioner was taken from the Mayor, and given to the Governor. I guess that was to "isolate" the appointment of the Commissioner from the corruption of the Mayor's Office! Anyhow, it was a unique position, to have a Major City Police Chief appointed, not by that City's Mayor, but by the Governor of the State! Commissioner Donald D. Pomerleau was appointed by the Gov. J Millard Tawes at the time, it was around 1966 or so, at any rate shortly after the Release of the IACP's Report on the Baltimore City Police Department, which was a scathing report, indicating an inefficient, and corrupt agency! Pomerleau had been one of the IACP's "Inspectors" who made the study, and issued the report! I guess the report is about three inches thick! Subsequent to that Report, Bernie Schmidt, who was then the Commissioner, retired sorta under fire, and eventually Pomerleau (after a couple of inter-rim Police Commissioners, including one of our own Inspectors, and later Army General George Gelston, who is buried in our very own Greenmount Cemetery, along with former BCPD Police Commissioner Beverly Ober, who was really a man before his time) was appointed to that position! Fast forward a few years, Pomerleau is still the Police Commissioner, and William Donald is now the Mayor, and the PC is still appointed by the Governor! At that time, the patches read: "Baltimore City Police!"

 

Notice in Early Baltimore City Patches, the Monument dipped up into the Letter "L" in POLICE

Courtesy Ret Sgt Ed Mattson
A Time before the Patch
Patrolman Robert Crispens Sr 

1952 

Baltimore Police Patch History

Until 1952 the Baltimore Police Department didn’t have a shoulder patch. Under Commissioner Beverly Ober Baltimore Police would get their first regular patch, it was a rocker patch and had a black background with both a yellow outline and yellow lettering. At the time, police wore just one patch, and it was on the shoulder of their left sleeve. The rocker patch would remain in use until 1967 when Police Commissioner Donald D. Pomerleau switched to the shield-shaped patch which with only one exception is similar to the one worn today and found in this folder. From 1967 until 1974 the word “CITY” was on our police patch. In 1974 with Donald Pomerleau still Commissioner the word “CITY” was removed. There were rumors as to why the word “CITY” came off the patch. Some said it was to save money; others said because the police department fell under state government. But the truth was the city was changing its image from a “Port/Industry Town” to a “Tourist Town.” Mayor Donald Schaffer wanted the word “CITY” removed from as many places as possible. Some say even highway and road signs went from “Baltimore City - 25 Miles ahead” to “Baltimore - 25 Miles ahead.” His efforts paid off with the success of the Inner Harbor starting in the mid to late 1970s and opening in the early 1980s. Baltimore became a worldwide tourist destination and model of urban planning and development. In 1995 the final change to our patch came when Commissioner Thomas C. Fraiser went to a double patch system in which we put a patch on both shoulders. Through all the changes one thing has remained the same, and that is every man or woman that wears or has worn the patch of a Baltimore Police Officer has worn a patch of pride and taken an oath to protect and serve a city that they have come to love and respect.

In 1995 the story went a Commissioner was standing in the lobby of the Omni Hotel; it was Preakness time, the horses ready to run, the city poised for a week of wealthy horse owners partying hard in the city of Baltimore. A tourist town, not a city; thanks to previous administrations in city hall circa the 1970’s we were no longer a city. A lady frantically calls for the attention of a bellhop, “I say you there… excuse me… you… yes you!: she calls frantically, “My bags; excuse me, I am not going to ask you again to get my bags, and for every second you waste, your tip will be reflected!” Still, she gets no response, “Perhaps he is deaf in his right ear, she mutters under her breath as she circles around this tall bellhop wearing more gold on his sleeves than Libya’s prime minister Moammar Kadafi, with more scrambled eggs on his hat and sleeve cuffs than Deny’s and IHOP will sell in a day…  As she approaches from his left side about to comment on his good ear, she reads Baltimore Police on his shoulder patch, looking up to his nameplate she see’s he is none other than Badge number 1…Commissioner Thomas Frasier. So he carried her bags to her room, she tipped him $20 bucks... (OK that part didn’t really happen... he didn’t take the tip) But with this rumor, a rumor that some actually believe, and others claim they were there... we’ll not them, but a close friends, old partner’s trainee. Two things happened that year... oh yeah, I almost forgot, Fraiser then ran back to his office, called down to the Quartermaster and insisted patches we put a patch on both shoulders and by the end of the next day. While it wasn’t part of the story, and he didn’t actually say this, he also said, “and while at it, no more white shirts, from now on all blue shirts for Officers and sergeants wanting to wear them during certain shifts.  I said all f this tongue in cheek and introduced it while referring to it a rumor through out because it has never been confirmed and while we are not sure f he was mistaken as a Bellhop or other hotel employee, we do know a few things about this story. On the uniform he was wearing, and I will only say uniform because it had Baltimore City Police Buttons on the front, six or eight, double breasted, t had shoulder boards, four stars on the sleeves and was allegedly made by Howard Uniform with an identification patch on the inside right pocket the way all of our uniforms were marked. The things we know untrue based on that same uniform is that it had no patches on the sleeves, no place for a name plate, or badge. As I have pointed out elsewhere on this page, I have been in contact with Retired commissioner Fraiser and asked about the double patch and blue shirts… He said it was all done for safety. Being a historian, I like the old styles; I liked the old cloth ribbons, the Espantoon, and leather gun belt and holsters. But I also like safety and have spoken to a lot of officers about all of these things, Blue shirts, and double patches are one thing most police like. While it is not a safety issue most guys and gals like the enamel awards over the cloth ribbons and see two-thirds of my career was spent out of uniform, I have little say in what the medals were made of. But that s off topic. The truth is, in every rumor we have ever heard about being mistaken for a bellhop due to not having a patch on both sleeves, was debunked when the Tuxedo from that night was uncovered and found to have no patches, no badge, and no nameplate. This lends credibility to his adding a patch for safety, making shirt dark blue again for safety. So like anything rumors make interesting and humorous stories, but they do not make history. Lets quash rumors with the truth. 

The current patch design with exception to the omission of the word CITY was designed in 1966 and put into service in 1967. It was created in the shape of a shield to represent protection for those who wear it, and all those he or she will serve. The Patch has a blue background that like the blue field of our American flag represents vigilance, perseverance & justice. The gold/yellow border of the patch reminds us and those confronting us that we are here to protect and uphold everyone’s constitutional rights. This too goes back to our nation's flag, in particular, American flags that have 3 or 4 sides of gold fringe; most often found in courtrooms. In the background on the field of blue, we see our State flag in the shape of Baltimore Police Department's 4th issue badge; this was to represent our agency. The badge with our state flag encased inside is to represent our organization as having once fallen under the control of the state government.

The Maryland flag, by the way, is the only flag in our country to have been designed solely based on our English heraldry. The black and gold design on the state flag is the coat of arms of the Calvert family, while the red and white design is the coat of arms of the Crossland family. In the foreground, we see the Battle Monument which is not only the first public war memorial in the United States to honor the memories of those who fell during the battle of 1812, but since 1827 it has been the official seal of Baltimore City. Like the patch, the monument is filled with symbolic meaning to remind us all of the sacrifices made for our city and country. Everything from the eighteen layers in the marble base that represent the eighteen states that made our nation at the time. To its griffins, one at each corner of the base, ever on the watch like the Baltimore police they will guard and protect. The column itself which is carved as a Roman fasces and is bound with cords listing the names of those who died during the battle. Citing the names of officers who died at the top and the soldiers down the bottom.

The monument is topped with an 8-foot tall marble statue of a female figure representing the City of Baltimore. She has come to be known as, “Lady Baltimore” and some say she was modeled after Anne Arundell, the wife of Cecilius Calvert and also known as Lady Baltimore. In either case, the statue wears a crown of victory on her head and holds a laurel wreath in her raised hand as a symbol of victory over the British. In her lowered hand, she holds a ship's rudder as a testament to Baltimore's Nautical role in the war.

 

 

This 28 June 1952 article not only gives us info as to when the "rocker patch" was first used, giving us our first shoulder patch, it also mentions plans they had for a separate patch to be used on the shirt sleeves. We made a mock-up of what that patch would have looked like and we may have some sets made of the two patches, for collectors and educational purposes. 

This is the orange/gold and black rocker patch proposed for use on left coat/blouse sleeve only. 

Initially when the colors were ordered for a patch circa 1905, they ordered "Or" and "Sable." The patch maker at the time knew "Sable" was "Black," but mistakenly thought, "Or" was an abbreviation for, "Orange," so they used Orange and Black. Later they learned, "Or" was "Gold" or "Goldenrod" and "Sable" is "Black." 

OR ³  (Ôr) n. Heraldry - Or is English Heraldry for Gold or Goldenrod. In the Maryland the best way to describe it, is to look at our state flag, "Or" is the Yellow/Goldenrod color found along side the Black in the two Calvert quarters of our flag.

Gold, represented in heraldic engraving by a white field sprinkled with small dots.[Middle English, from Old French, from Latin aurum.]

This was initially applied to new officer’s uniforms as part of the uniform; veterans however had to pay 30 cents per patch to bring their issued uniforms up to date, their later uniforms came with the patches at no additional costs. 

While the first thoughts were to put these patches on coats and summer blouses only, and having a Blue/White patch made for the shirts. That plan never came to fruition, and shirts didn’t get patches until much later. Though, we were told about this patch long before we found the article, and the officer that talked about them said he once saw a Baltimore City Police rocker patch where the Black portion of the patch was White and the Gold portion was done in Blue. He said he didn't know a thing about it, he was working headquarters security and saw it and a bunch of other Baltimore Police items, that he thought may have been designing, uniform trials, logos etc. We took note of what he said, but until we found this article we didn't know anything about the Blue/White BPD rocker patches that he described as being White where we normally saw Black and Blue where the Gold is expected to be found. Jim said it was a nice looking patch, and he didn't understand why they never used it. We had researched his claims and couldn't find anything, so like we do with many of these kinds of things, we storied it in our memory banks until we found something that could help us understand what he had been telling us. Then we found this article, that introduced the 1952 Shoulder Patch, and during the interview, someone told the reporter about the Blue/White patch and what it would have been used for.  

Proposed white and blue to have been used on left shirt sleeve. When the rocker was devised it was to set us apart from the county police and from special police that used to design uniforms to look like us. Pomerleau put an end to that, he used an old 1907 law that allowed the BPD to approve or deny uniforms of “Special Police,” security guards etc. His first rule was no left sleeve patches, no collar pin rank, or Md insignia, and a 1" red seam down the pant legs etc. He was tired of not just having them try to look like us, but us having to answer for their errors from a public that was mistaking them for us..

1 October 1952
Article Describing the Date the Metal Horse-Head Traffic Insignia was Changed for a Cloth Patch

This insignia was worn from 1905 until 1952

Click HERE To See Full Size Article

Click HERE To See Full Size Article

This 1 Oct 1952 article not only talks about the "rocker patch" but also tells when why they did away with the "brass wheel and horse" used by traffic police and replaced it with a similar patch done in a cloth material.

Rumors as to why "City" came off the BPD Patch

Pomerleau was unceremoniously "summoned" to King Don's Office, upon which Schaeffer proceeded to "rip him a new one" for some transgression, of which we have no knowledge! If you knew DDP, you'll also know that that Marine was not going to take a lot of crap from the Mayor, and finally blew up! He informed the Mayor that his boss was Governor Tawes and that he didn't have to answer to "The Donald" at all, it was considered to be one heckova confrontation of two extremely large Baltimore egos! At any rate, when DDP returned from City Hall, he contacted his Quarter Master, and told him to have "City" removed from the official patch, and to begin to retrofit all uniforms with the new patch, a patch that read "Baltimore Police."

And, that is how it happened! Or is it?

Eventually, The appointing authority was restored to the Mayor! Who would want to bet it wasn't long after William Donald Schaeffer was elected Governor of Maryland... Of course, that's just a joke, as the Baltimore City Police Department remained under state governance until 1978, when the Mayor began to appoint the Police Commissioner, subject to confirmation by the City Council (Chapter 920, Acts of 1976), and William Donald Schaeffer wasn't elected Governor of Maryland until 1986. By the way, Donald Pomerleau was the commissioner from 1966 until 1981, so, the two Don's must had made up, otherwise, Mayor Don, would have had four years to oust Commissioner Don,

Since including the stories of our Patch history on this site, we received another version or variant on one of the other versions of why we took "City" off our patch.

Here is what was written:

Kenny the way I heard it from my father "he worked CP-11" it wasn't Donald D it was Battaglia who changed it. A reporter asks Battaglia a question about Baltimore "City" and Baltimore "County" Police. To which Battaglia stated there is only one Baltimore Police Dept, the next day the Quartermaster on the Mez level was ordered to change all of our shirts. I forget the QM Sgt name but he and my father went back to the 50th together. I was a new probationary officer when this happened.

Every version we get is important as they will either take us to the truth, or help build the foundation under what we already have, in this case, if we look at Fifteen Years of Progress Donald Pomerleau we'll see the cover has the latest version of the patch (without "City") showing the change could have been made before Battaglia was Commissioner. (That don't mean he didn't make the change as Deputy Commissioner) I mean of the two versions, the one with the two Dons came from a very reliable source, (it was firsthand information, but memories fade and he could have it remembered wrong.) The timing was right, the patch shows up on PC Don Pomerleau's progress report, so it looks like the "Don P vs. Don S" version is strong. Still, some might say, Battaglia did this, so it would naturally show up on the departmental seal/letterhead on the Pomerleau report. Ya gotta love it.

Since adding this information, someone sent us the following information:

I came on in February 1978.  Donald Pomerleau was commissioner. I got six long sleeve white and six short sleeve white single patch Baltimore Police" patch shirts.  Now, I'm not saying that Batman had nothing to do with the change.  I'm only pointing out that we had the new patches while Pomerleau was Commissioner.

No Patch, Rocker Patch, Baltimore City Police Patch, Baltimore Police Patch... and now the double shoulder patches. The Baltimore Police Department has seen its fair share of uniform changes, rich in tradition, badge changes etc. all in the name of building the perfect police department, politics, pride and any number of other reasons. For many years no patch was worn on the sleeves of our police, it was our hat, jacket with brass buttons, and an Espantoon tucked under our arm or in our hand that let citizens know of our authority. In 1952 there came the first of many it was a rocker patch, yellow/orange letters on a black field that read, “Baltimore City Police”. In 1967/68 as the department grew and came more into the modern age, so did the patch that would be used to identify us. They retired that “rocker patch”, a patch that was actually a good idea, a rocker signifying the department would often have a circular patch under it designating a unit, motors, radio patrol, mounted, marine etc. A nice idea some felt, others felt it took a singular department and separated it into a lot of little departments (I didn’t see it that way but over the years those that can count beans, or make rules will. They have also changed units from “Units” to “Divisions” to "Sections" and back again. Most of the times the changes were made to unit, or out of fear of separating… Divisions divided, Sections separated, but Units United… all hogwash, mumbo jumbo… At any rate, they did come up with a better patch, and it did make one team, it was said that the public was confused. So they came out with the Baltimore City Police shoulder patch, like the rocker patch it was worn on the left shoulder (this was so an officer could be quickly identified from within his patrol car) Or was it because that was the shoulder used by our military, and we are a para military organization. Now comes the real reason the change was made that became the product of many rumors, in 1975/76 the word "City" was dropped from the patch, giving us an almost 100% identical patch with the exception of the word “City” being removed from the patch. This change produced three rumors many stories all based on the same three principals. 1^st as were heard previously, to save Money… 2^nd an argument with the mayor (the department was under control of the state, so when the Don’s got into a heated argument over something one did or didn’t do, the PC Don told the Mayor Don, he was sworn in by the Gov and to basically to go pound sand, Mayor Don told PC Don, his patch says "City" not "State" and that he should serve him.. PC Don then ordered "City" be dropped from the patch as an in your face to Mayor Don. Then come the 3^rd reason, they wanted Baltimore to seem more like a town than a city, in fact at one time this was known as Baltimore Town, not Baltimore City. So in order to bring about this change they dropped “City” from the patch. Some of our smartest detectives, and brightest minds believed reason number 1, I can assure you it is not #1. I have had tons of patches made over the years, and we don’t pay by the letter, it is a patch, not engraving. 2^nd and 3^rd will have even the most scholarly of police argue over which is right. As a rookie I thought #1 was right (of course it was the only version I had ever heard, and I didn’t know what I know now. But now, I know some things I didn’t before, and I put 2 and 2 together (something we are not supposed to do.. because logic never fits in.) So, I won’t say which story is the true version, instead, I will simply point something things out and let you decide. On July 4, 1976, following the rendezvous of Tall Ships in New York for the U.S. Bicentennial, eight ships from other nations visited Baltimore, where they attracted a huge number of tourists. This interest helped spur the development of other tourist attractions – including the National Aquarium, Maryland Science Center, and the Harbor place festival marketplace (operated by The Rouse Company), which opened on the Fourth of July, 1980. The nearby Baltimore Convention Center and Hyatt Regency Baltimore Hotel added to the services and resulted in population density and visitors.

Since the at the beginning of Mayor Theodore R. McKeldin's second term in 1963, the redevelopment program was expanded to include 240 acres (97 had) surrounding the Inner Harbor. Corporate headquarters and hotels were built around the shoreline of the Inner Harbor. A public park and promenade were added for leisure activity and community gatherings. Mayor Don Schaffer succeeded where McKeldin let off, he had a tourist town made from a onetime dyeing port town. Right off I-95 a beautiful inner harbor, with attractions, on top of attractions with still more attractions, but what was our downfall? It was our image, since Baltimore’s beginning times, it was a Mob Town, high crime rates etc. So what Baltimore tourist town needed was different from Baltimore crime town, Baltimore Mod Town… Those visiting needed to come see for themselves, we didn’t need to lie on street signs exiting travelers off the interstate into Baltimore. But into Baltimore what? Baltimore City? Baltimore County? ¯\_(ツ)_/¯ I don’t know why they dropped "City" from the patch… I doubt it was cost, it actually cost more to take city off than to leave it on so #1 is doubtful… not to mention they also dropped "City" from traffic signs, no longer did it say "Baltimore City 25 miles, now it reads,"Baltimore 25 miles" the Don’s were both bull headed, and to be honest PC Don would more likely leave City on a patch so he could thumb his nose up at Mayor Don all the while rubbing it in that his patch says City, but he answers to a Governor. And with the success of Baltimore’s Inner Harbor, I am more likely to believe # 3… But what you believe is up to you, all three are fun. Have at it. Now let’s go on to another Patch rumor and a story/rumor as crazy or crazier than Don vs. Don over a City. I contacted Ret. Police Commissioner Thomas Frasier on 14 January 2014 and asked him to clear this up for me... He said it is all true... everything we have heard about him having the patches changed and the shirt colors altered is true... except the part about the Omni, and the part about the bell hops uniform it is all true. He did order double patches, and he did order darker shirts despite, his popularity in Baltimore, he actually enjoyed his time here, and regardless of what some may say, he was police, and as police he is part of the brotherhood, he attended 4 police funerals during his time 1994 to 1999; Those included -Lieutenant  Owen Sweeney, Officer Harold Carey, Flight  Officer Barry Wood and he came back for the 2000 funeral of Officer Roussey. People don’t think the Brass care, they are not on the level of those of us on the street. It is true they are on a level of Mayors, Governors etc. But I was on the department's Critical Incident Team, and I was called out to handle the Death of Officer Harold Carey, There was a long wait while they freed Keith from the van that day, and I was standing their like everyone else waiting to get word on my friend, and co-worker, I saw someone out of the corner of my walk-up and stand there off to my side, on the team there is no rank, so we could break ranks and approach, I did, and when asked about injuries I told him we lost Harold Carey, the look on his face, being overcome with sadness, was genuine, he cared. What follows is his response as to why he made the changes. It was strictly an officer safety issue.  Officers need to be recognized in low light conditions by their uniform.  No visible insignia of authority was visible from the right side.  Thus the addition of the patch.  The same but reversed when it came to the white shirts issued to patrol officers.  The fabric was such that it was extremely visible in the dark, thus a safety issue to someone on a perimeter, etc.  Thus a change to blue shirts with a patch on each side. TF

Again we appreciate his taking the time to set the record straight and to let us know he did care, and thought of himself as a brother. While in most cases we don’t feel that way, we have to realize that on some level they have to care. It would be nice if they all could be more like Norris, When he told the media like it was, or Hamm who told the media, “I don’t know, you tell me!” as if to say, you have all the answers, and or, “you are going to write what you want anyway!” For those that think city hall pulls the strings of a PC, the way many seem to think the current Mayor and former PC Frederick H. Bealefeld worked together… a duet that had the younger of us thinking McCarthyism was more like that of the puppeteer Edgar Bergen and his little wooden friend Charley McCarthy. McCarthyism is the practice of making accusations of disloyalty, subversion, or treason without proper regard for evidence. It also means "the practice of making unfair allegations or using unfair investigative techniques, especially in order to restrict dissent or political criticism."

Collector, Novelty and Unit Patches