During three memorable years, I spent a great amount of time in the area around East North Avenue, Calvert, Barclay and 20th streets and Guilford Avenue.

In the company of almost 2,000 young men, I attended high school at the venerable Baltimore Polytechnic Institute on North Avenue. Each school day, we arrived early in the morning by bus and streetcar (imagine that!) and usually didn’t leave until late afternoon.

We enjoyed the neighborhood. We, quite literally, surveyed it as part of our class work. We played softball in the dirt lot west of Calvert Street (known as the Duck Pond, but without ducks or a pond).

View original article…