Baltimore's Historic Parks and Gardens (MD) (Images of America) [Paperback]

Eden Unger Bowditch (Author)

Book Description

Publication Date: September 6, 2004

Full of resplendent parks and gardens, Baltimore has a long history of embracing local flora and greenery. Through the centuries, Baltimore has been at the forefront of park design, playgrounds, and green spaces, counting the Olmsted brothers among their visionary architects. In fact, the city of Baltimore has been internationally recognized for its development and protection of its green spaces. Baltimore's Historic Parks and Gardens explores the history of those spaces, including the vast and ancient Druid Hill Park, the gorgeous acreage of Cylburn Arboretum, and Mt. Vernon's beautiful floral presentation.

Editorial Reviews

About the Author

Author Eden Unger Bowditch, an active Baltimore resident and author of Arcadia's Growing Up in Baltimore: A Photographic History, has thoughtfully collected over 150 historic photographs, as well as modern. shots, of some of Baltimore's most interesting and beautiful locations. Included are original drawings and maps by Baltimore illustrator Peggy Fussell.

Product Details

• Paperback: 128 pages
• Publisher: Arcadia Publishing (September 6, 2004)
• Language: English
• ISBN-10: 0738516937
• ISBN-13: 978-0738516936
• Product Dimensions: 9.2 x 6.6 x 0.4 inches
• Shipping Weight: 9.6 ounces (View shipping rates and policies)
• Average Customer Review: 3.0 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (2 customer reviews)
• Amazon Best Sellers Rank: #2,218,944 in Books (See Top 100 in Books)

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Customer Reviews

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

1 of 1 people found the following review helpful:

2.0 out of 5 stars Not the quality you'd expect from Arcadia Press, July 30, 2011

By 

Baltimore Reader - See all my reviews

This review is from: Baltimore's Historic Parks and Gardens (MD) (Images of America) (Paperback)

I love the "Images of America" series. These are good books for the price, and they make for an excellent intro to almost any aspect of local history. I've come to expect certain things from Arcadia: well-selected, high-quality pictures, relevant information, and reasonably well-written captions.

The present book barely covers my first two expectations. Pictures like the Druid Hill Mansion on page 44 and Cylburn Mansion on 56 are amateur. But what disappoints most are the captions. They are for the most part poor and effortless. Few are more than a line. Under the Cylburn Mansion picture, the caption reads, "The mansion house is glowing in winter 2003." First of all, mansion is a noun. But really, how helpful is that caption? What does it add? Then, on page 21, under a picture of a pond, the caption reads "This is the fish pond, c. 1870." That's lazy, and unacceptable. Some are just badly written. On page 67, a caption reads, "This photo shows the original greenhouse built by Hopkins, c. 1900." That sentence plainly says that Hopkins built a greenhouse in 1900, just 27 years after he died.

That being said, the book has some useful chapter intros (most are not written by the author), but they vary a good deal in quality. The intro to Wyman Park states that the Olmstead brothers "carefully planned the new Johns Hopkins Homewood Campus for the estate of William Wyman." This is wrong. Frederick Law Olmstead, Jr. was on the advisory committee for the new JHU campus in 1902; the plan was done by Parker and Thomas in 1904.

This book was poorly done. I expect much better from Arcadia Press.

4.0 out of 5 stars Pictures of the Past, January 28, 2012

By 

Spudman (Pasadena, MD United States) - See all my reviews
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This review is from: Baltimore's Historic Parks and Gardens (MD) (Images of America) (Paperback)

I find this little book quite interesting and engaging. It's packed with photographs of bygone eras documenting the past. Understandably the photos are all black and white with many of them a century old. Among the sites included are Druid Hill Park, Cylburn Arboretum, Herring Run Park, Federal Hill, Carroll Park, and Mt. Vernon.

My favorite section is that of Federal Hill with photos of the Civil War era. The Fort McHenry chapter is disappointingly sparse, but enjoyable just the same.

Interested in Baltimore history? You might like adding this volume to your personal library.