Being a royal procrastinator I've waited at least three months and change to post anything even remotely relevant to the history of Pasadena that I promised at the conclusion of the last entry. Needless to say there's not a wealth of exciting history flowing out the peninsula that's flanked by the Magothy river to the south and the Potomac to the north, yet its humble beginnings hold water in Baltimore's canon.
Like most early colonies in the country, Pasadena began as a series of farm land owned by early English settlers. For a long stretch of its early history farms were the dominant feature of the landscape, contrasted only by a few churches - one of which (Magothy United Methodist on Mountain Rd.) is still active today. It was this church specifically that drew any outside interest to the area. Families would come from as far away as what is now Dundalk and Middle River to attend services there every Sunday. These weekly pilgrimages provided the foundation of what was to become the resort industry in the late 1800's.
I'm jumping ahead though, still earlier it was the farms that took produce (at that time mostly strawberries, cantaloupe and tomatoes among others) to market at the Lexington and Cross St. markets. Roads had not been adequately developed for horse and carriage at this point therefore the most direct route to the city would have been by boat - up the Potomac, usually pushing off from what is now the east end of the Lake Shore area, and on into the Baltimore Harbor. It was this same trade route that later ushered in the Golden Age of Pasadena's resort allure.
As mentioned before, the families coming over for religious worship were some of the first "tourists" to the area. On weekends after church service families enjoyed some quality time on the beaches of what would later become Fort Smallwood park before returning to their respective homes. Along the way back from church these same families had a chance to sample some of the local produce and later on some sweet treats as well for the kiddos from the produce stand that later became Angel's market (still family owned and operated).
The Golden Age that I mentioned earlier was due in part largely to an interest to explore the fertile soil that provided richly flavored produce to the markets located in and around the Baltimore Harbor. Affluent families that could afford to began making their way down to Pasadena by boat on the weekends to get away from the hustle and bustle of blossoming industrialism. What these families began to discover was that the beaches on the north and eastern fringes of Pasadena were a calming respite from their frantic urban locales. Within a decade there were at least two steam boats regularly ferrying passengers to and from Pasadena from Baltimore Harbor every weekend.
These weekends were a time for families to enjoy day long picnics and swimming and later on, once the locals caught on, a chance for entertainment as well. On the grounds of what is now Fort Smallwood park large gazebos were built to serve not only as a stage for orchestrated music (mostly of the big-band, lazy summertime flavor) but also as a dance floor for the day trippers.
This continued on into the early dawn of the 20th century and relics such as Fort Smallwood park are a faded reminder of the weekend deferments favored by well-to-do's a mere hundred years past. It should also be mentioned that what became Riviera Beach also attracted wealthy investors from the north. Here however the idea was to build summer homes along what was then a fairly unpopulated area. These tracts of land were eventually subdivided to the Nth degree but along the water the views that lulled the hearts and deep pockets of successful businessmen still manage to hold a captivating audience.
It was at this time that automobiles became widely available and as a result better built roads. Residents of Pasadena were now able to find work in the city, making their way in on one of several bus companies. Produce also began to be shipped by truck up to Baltimore and down to Annapolis, eventually killing off the shipping industry that served the markets for better than a century.
Ironically it was the trucking industry that all but killed the farming standard in Pasadena. Refrigerated trucks brought exotic produce from southern states like North and South Carolina which began to dominate the produce markets in Baltimore. With the waning of its once main staple, Pasadena land began to be divided up and sold as individual lots by farmers who could no longer afford to keep up the broad swaths that had sustained them and their ancestors for so long.
This was the beginning of the suburbanization of what is now called Pasadena but back then was not known by any one moniker. There was the Lake Shore area, Jacobsville and later on Riviera Beach and Green Haven - names familiar to anyone that grew up there. It wasn't until a wealthy heiress came west from Pasadena, CA in the early 20th century to invest in what was at the time cheap land. She ended up buying in an area that Edwin Raynor boulevard now runs through and, possibly for a lack of originality, decided to name her slice of the pie after her hometown. Later on when the United States Postal Service was mapping out zip codes for a more efficient delivery service it was Pasadena that was chosen by committee.
The rest of the history of the 21122 outpost leading into the present day is akin to most suburban narratives. Better schools, better roads, a direct route by way of highway route 100 from either routes 95 or 295, chain fast food restaurants, Lauer's (my high school employment alma-mater) to name a few. You can still hit a few produce stands that are run by local agrarian die-hards and boating and jet skiing are a way of life during the summer months for most residents. If you ever have a chance while in Baltimore city you can look almost directly south by south east to see the mammoth twin smoke stacks (now defunct) rising out of the melee that are rooted in the Baltimore Gas and Electric power plant - that's us.
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