Idlewood/Ramblewood/Loch Raven Neighborhoods of Northeast Bmore

[Hamish Forbes]

Originally Posted by barante

Hamish Forbes is entitled to his opinions, but he is not entitled to spread misinformation about a book that is available in every library, where any reader may check his assertions.

Rubbish. I urge everyone to check this nasty little book and identify any reference at all to Idlewood. There is not even an entry in the book's index for Idlewood.

[C'Breezy85]

KodeBlue- How did your generation tarnish the area's image?? Are you referring to the teens and young adults of the area back in the mid to late '90s and 2000's?

[Hamish Forbes]

Originally Posted by C'Breezy85

I wonder if the area was influenced by the Work going on down at Sparrows Point/Bethlehem Steel like other areas of the City and County on the East-Side...

I don't know for sure, but I don't recall any parents who worked at Bethlehem. Of the people I knew in Idlewood, their parents had the following jobs: Auto mechanic, low-level tech with Baltimore Gas and Electric, insurance salesman, low-level tech with the municipal water service, city school music teacher, city-school Spanish teacher (the guy was from Puerto Rice), police lieutenant and then captain, Colonel in the US Army in charge of ROTC at Johns Hopkins (had something like ten kids), technician at Westinghouse, junior engineer at BG&E, self-employed industrial engineer, chemist (moved away early), retired fireman, a couple of store clerks, a short-order cook, a chef of some sort, a production guy with the Sun, a guy who worked for Victory Racing Plates (I think they made lightweight shoes for horses running at Pimlico), a cement layer from Italy, a high-level guy with the Southern Baptist Convention (odd, as the neighborhood was heavily Catholic), a mailman . . . well, that's about the extent of what I know.

How was Leith Walk when you were there? I would love to go back inside for a tour, but in today's climate of high-security that's probably not allowed.

[KodeBlue]

Originally Posted by C'Breezy85

KodeBlue- How did your generation tarnish the area's image?? Are you referring to the teens and young adults of the area back in the mid to late '90s and 2000's?

Yes, the young adults and the teens in that neighborhood. Back then, in that neighborhood, there were two groups of us: the trouble makers, and the regular kids. We grew up fighting constantly, but as the trouble makers got older, they started selling drugs, killing and any other mischievous activity. The dude that killed the councilman back in 08 was a kid that I know personally. He's a few years younger than me, but we're basically the same generation. Hell, the people that I grew up fighting ended up killing each other; the ones that lived ended up in jail.

[C'Breezy85]

Hamish- THanks for the wealth of Info. regarding Idlewood! THat's exactly what I was looking for! Yeah, Leith Walk was Solid back in the early/mid 1990s when I was attending. It wasn't violent or anything of that nature. Today Leith Walk is a K-8 public school now. Its current principal has been there since I was student there.

KodeBlue- Yeah, I knew that's what you were referring to. I know exactly what you're talking about because I kept in contact with my friends from Sherwood Ave. even after my family moved to the suburbs throughout my high school and college years

[Hamish Forbes]

Originally Posted by C'Breezy85

Hamish- THanks for the wealth of Info. regarding Idlewood! THat's exactly what I was looking for! Yeah, Leith Walk was Solid back in the early/mid 1990s when I was attending. It wasn't violent or anything of that nature. Today Leith Walk is a K-8 public school now. Its current principal has been there since I was student there.

You're welcome -- I'm glad to help. I am also glad to hear that Leith Walk is doing well. But I was surprised that it goes though eighth grade now. Back in the olden days when dinosaurs still roamed the earth, sixth grade was the highest. Kids from Idlewood went to Woodburn Junior High after that, which was a horrible school, at least by reputation and then on to City, Polly, Northern (later), Cardinal Gibbons, Loyola, and so forth. Saint Matthew's had so many elementary-age students that they ran two separate schools -- eight-til-noon, and then different kids one-to-five, or something like that.

Did you know about Maclellans -- a little general store -- and about Art Donovan's liquor store, both on Sherwood, I think just about at the intersection with Register? Kids would go to Maclellans (not sure about the spelling) to buy pea-shooters, peas for ammo, and Pez. Art Donovan, who played for the Colts, was a nice guy, and often gave us little cards with the Colts' schedule on them.

There were a High's dairy products store and a drug store across the street. In that same building was a barber I went to occasionally. I was surprised to read in the Sun one day that he had been arrested for loan sharking, and that he also ran a second business called the "Royal Detective Agency" IIRC.

The shopping center across Loch Raven had some great stores, or so it seemed at the time. One was Otterbein's, which was a German Bakery. Another was W. T. Grant, which was a five-and-dime type store with lots of goodies. There was also a Chinese laundry and a hardware store, and several others that I forget now. Also an Exxon station, which might still be there.

Don't forget to look into the Baltimore Poltergeist of Meridene Drive. . . .