It’s hard to believe now, but in the late 19th century Baltimoreans anxious to escape the blinding heat and insufferable humidity of the city took their vacation respite in Ellicott City, Catonsville, Ruxton, Riderwood, Lutherville, Parkton or Bentley Springs.

To think of those places as “resorts” today would certainly be laughable, but in those days, they were just that because they were in the “country” where it was cooler than trying to survive in hot rowhouses and endure city sidewalks of the city which sits in a bowl at sea level.

It’s almost comical to think the Mencken family of 1524 Hollins St. in Southwest Baltimore, would rent a Victorian house (it’s still there, by the way) high above a hill above a landscaping company overlooking today’s Northern Parkway.

Mencken in his boo

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