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Bridges Around Baltimore..........................................................
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Baltimore
City has plenty of old bridges, many of which
are still standing and still being used
for traffic. Below, the Mt
Vernon Water Pumping station sits at the foot of
the 29th Street bridge ( built in 1937 )
, a thruway that connects East and West
Baltimore across the Jones Falls Valley.
Photo #2, to the right, shows that same scene in
2006. The Jones Falls Expressway, built in the
1960's, has really changed the view. While the
29th Street bridge is still clearly visible, you
can hardly see the Mt Vernon Water pumping
station , which peeks out from under the
Expressway.
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 The 29th Street
Bridge, crossing over the Jones Falls Valley. Just
to the South of it is the newer 28th Street Bridge.
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Another
bridge to cross the Jones Falls was the St.
Paul Street Bridge. This view , below
, is looking south on St. Paul Street from Mount
Royal Avenue, over the Jones Falls . The building
directly behind the bridge is the Mt Royal Hotel,
on Mount Royal Avenue, which is still
standing . The ornate bridge has long since been
replaced and redecked to a much plainer bridge for
Calvert Street traffic. Below are two other
postcard shots of the old bridge in different
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| ..Looking
northwest at Baltimore's St. Paul Street Bridge,
with the old Union Train Station in the
background. Over the years, reconstruction
projects have created a less ornate bridge, and
the ladies have been moved. The lady to the right
currently resides just to the west of the Jones
Falls Expressway, on Mt Royal Terrace, and just
north of North Avenue, only a few blocks
from where she started from on St. Paul Street. |
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One block to the
West of the St Paul Street Bridge , was
the Calvert Street Bridge ( Built in 1880
) . The ladies on this bridge are replaced by
lions. The bridge has long since been replaced and the
lions, or at least a few of them, currently reside in
a park in Bolton Hill.
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 Baltimore's
Calvert Street Bridge, looking southbound towards
Mount Royal Avenue.
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The
Cedar Avenue Bridge leading east out of
Druid Hill Park. The Jones
Falls Valley has more or less become the Jones
Falls Expressway, and the old Cedar Avenue
Bridge was torn down years ago. Included
here are four old postcard views of the old
bridge. |
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 Edmondson Avenue
Bridge, crossing the Gwynns Falls in West Baltimore
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A gloomy 1913 view
of the Fallsway Viaduct. It appears to have been
replaced by the bottom end by the Jones Falls
Expressway. Check out the Kilduffs page on Monuments
for more on the Fallsway Monument. When the Fallsway
was built, it replaced the need for 12 older
bridges, and spanned from Mount Royal Avenue to
Baltimore Street , covering up the Jones Falls ,
which had become a open sewer and very prone to
flooding.
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One of my Favorite Baltimore bridges,
the old Hanover Street bridge ( Built in 1916
) . The bridge looks very much like this old
postcard view today.( The water isn't quite as
clean though ) Before the Hanover Street Bridge
was built, this channel of the Patapsco
River was crossed over by a span known as the "
Long Bridge " which was built in 1868 . In
it's early days, it was a toll bridge,
described as a " mile of driven piles and timber
girders , where families would often go to picnic
on, fish, or watch the rowers from the
nearby boat clubs. In later years, the State took
over the bridge and passage was free. Sections of
" Long Bridge " were visible for years after it
was taken down,and the old bridge went from the
end of Light Street to Acton's Park in Brooklyn.
 A night shot of Baltimore's Hanover
Street Bridge.
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 .......Below , plans
for the Hanover Street Bridge, and to the right, you
can see the " Long Bridge "
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| Over the years,
the old Howard Street bridge ( Built in 1938
) has carried a lot of traffic into the downtown area.
Many of the bridges over the JFX ( Jones Falls
Expressway ) have been replaced or repaired so that
the old charm has been lost. Not so with the Howard
Street Bridge . For years it was painted in some wild
colors, and the Mayor of Baltimore even had a contest
to pick a new paint scheme a few years back after the
bridge completed a major overall. |
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 Baltimore's Howard
Street Bridge - postcard view.
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Orleans Street
Viaduct
Built in 1936
Upon opening -
known as the Bath Street Viaduct
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 .............Over the years,
I have read different accounts of the the opening of
the Orleans Street Viaduct. Many thought the idea
was a good one, a pass over the Jones Fall Valley
and the train yards that had been there. Others
complained of the added expense of the project and
whether or not it served any purpose.While the train
tracks and stations are no longer there, the Orleans
Street Viaduct is still used and remains the most
popular way to get from East Baltimore to Downtown
and West, avoiding much of the traffic congestion.
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 .A post card view
of the Orleans Street Viaduct, with the Preston
Gardens seen in the foreground.
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stores, comments ( and yes, even complaints ) on
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 Long since
gone, the old Belvidere Bridge, which would have
been in the area of the Guilford Avenue and Biddle
Street Bridges, crossing the Jones Falls. If you
drive down Greenmount, just across from GreenMount
Cemetery , you will find what is left of Belvidere,
just off to the right. Looks much like a driveway or
a road to nowhere these days. There was also a Belvedere
Avenue Bridge much further North, since torn down
and the entire section renamed Northern Parkway.
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