"The OTHER Windsor Mill Road"
A Bizarre case of survival amidst the Urban Grids
Photos by Adam Paul

Among the many interesting and old thorofares still jutting across the Baltimore Metropolitan area is Windsor Mill Road, an ancient artery dating to the mid-19th Century.  Despite its existence for many decades, the road is not too much changed from its earier days, an especially remarkable feat when one considers the many examples of development and sprawl that have sprung up around the roadway.  The road is still a mostly 2-lane/2-way artery for its length, the most notable exception to be seen between Forest Park Avenue and Gwynn Oak Avenue, where the road opens up to a third "parking lane" on its North Side, quite possibly the result of swallowing up the right of way of the old Baltimore and Calverton Railway's horsecar line that paralleled it, but was abandoned about a century ago.

Ironically, the road displays among its most rural stretches upon reaching the city, and the stretch traversing Leakin Park, where the roadway shows virtually no sign of development, and aside from its modern paving , likely looks much the same as it did nearly a century ago.

However, few commuters on the city portion of Windsor Mill travel further inward than Gwynns Falls Parkway, where the majority of the traffic is shunted off, and Windsor Mill is left to run its last few blocks as a leisurely neighborhood street through the Walbrook Community before dead ending just shy of the Walbrook Junction itself.  However, twas not always the case.

Prior to about 1970, Windsor Mill did indeed connect with the Walbrook "Junction" of Clfton Avenue, Denison Street, and Garrison Boulevard.  Even earlier, it proceeded far beyond the Junction.  In fact, in its earliest glory, there wasn't even a junction at this spot at all, and Windsor Mill was the sole, sleepy artery to serve this now heavily traveled area.

East of today's junction, Windsor Mill followed the path of today's Clifton Avenue and Bloomingdale Road for about a half a mile (Garrison and Bloomingdale were connected late in the 19th century and called the "New Liberty Road").  At today's Bloomingdale Road and Baker Street, where once would stand a toll house, Windsor Mill Road diverged from the later Liberty/Bloomingdale to take a winding route Eastward, travelling AT LEAST as far as Fulton Avenue at present day Baker Street.

In all likelihood, the artery probably journeyed even further toward the then-established section of Baltimore, though few, if any, maps of this area exist before 1890, when the Eastern terminus was at Fulton.  It is highly likely that School Street, running from Gilmor Street Eastward to terminate at Pennsylvania and Fremont, travels along the path of old Windsor Mill, judging by its irregular path that doesn't parallel the modern grids, but this is not verified.

Despite the School Street possibility, there stands an even more remarkable stretch of the disconnected Windsor Mill that persists to this day, a stretch that was likely intended to be obliterated amidst the efficiency of the modern grid.

The map at the top of the page shows the area just Southwest of the intersection of Baker Street and Braddish Avenue in West Baltimore.  Clearly visible is the old right of way of Windsor Mill, enhanced by the diagonal property line to the South.  A visit to the site confirms the very survival of this short, obscure stretch of Windsor Mill just West of the Western Maryland Railway (now CSX) bridge over Baker Street.  Other small tidbits may survive just Northeast of this bridge, but evidence has yet to be discovered.  Meanwhile, another small stretch had previously survived heading Northwest from near Payson and Baker until the 1950's, when it was finally obscured by the construction of an Elementary School on the site.

The small section of original Windsor Mill Road represented by the map at the top can be easily spotted from Braddish Avenue looking West, just South of Baker Street.  Note the very slight diagonal path of the fence marking off the right of way.

Looking in the distance, it appears that the right of way becomes the Northern basis for a parking lot, before becoming obscured again until it reaches the pavement of Bloomingdale Road North of Baker Street.

In looking at the significant amount of development that has occurred in the Monumental City over the past 100 years, it seems particularly amazing that a winding old country road could persist in part, amidst a dense urban gridwork that has swallowed up so many other vestiges of the past.  The reason for this is not precisely clear, but for the artifact fan among us, it is certainly cherished.

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