Spencer Haynsworth
University of Virginia School of Architecture
ARH 592 / LAR 526 BOOMTOWN Seminar / Fall 2002
Professors Julie Bargmann and Daniel Bluestone
An Urban Mapping of the West End Neighborhood
1
Spencer Haynsworth
University of Virginia School of Architecture
ARH 592 / LAR 526 BOOMTOWN Seminar / Fall 2002
Professors Julie Bargmann and Daniel Bluestone
Table of Contents:
Table of Contents
1
Boom Town
3-5
The West End in Relation to its Topography and the Rail Lines
5-6
The West End in 1900-1960
6-9
The Hey Day of the West End
9-11
The West End from 2000 and On
11-13
Questioning the Future of the West End
13-14
2
Spencer Haynsworth
University of Virginia School of Architecture
ARH 592 / LAR 526 BOOMTOWN Seminar / Fall 2002
Professors Julie Bargmann and Daniel Bluestone
Boom Town
Hagerstown, Maryland, founded by Jonathan Hager in 1762, was primarily fueled by an
agricultural economy of farms and mills up until the 1880’s. From 1880 to 1940, Hagerstown was
transformed economically, architecturally and culturally. Hagerstown’s developing vitality came from the
life-blood of the rail industry and those industries that relied on the railroads. Previously a rural trading
crossroads, the town became “a bustling industrial and manufacturing base, supporting machine shops,
airplane, automobile, furniture and organ manufacturers, as well as home to a plethora of shops and hotels
needed to serve passengers, crews and itinerant salesmen who plied their trade by rail.” 1 The city grew in
response to accommodate the rapid population influx.
In 1906, Western Maryland Railway moved its repair and maintenance shops to the city of
Hagerstown. By 1941, WMRR employed as many as 17,000 of the city’s workforce. What is still today
called the West End of Hagerstown was once a thriving neighborhood for the employees of the Western
Maryland Railroad Company. To the residents of Hagerstown living in the more affluent neighborhoods,
e.g., Potomac, Oak Hills and The Terrace this neighborhood was considered to be “on the wrong side of the
tracks.” But to the working class of Hagerstown, the West End neighborhood symbolized the strong
connection between the people and the railroad. The West End was more than just a neighborhood, it was a
community that thrived on the commerce and activity stimulated by the railroads.
The neighborhood
situated the employees of the railroads in walking distance to the Western Maryland Roundhouse and
Shops. In Railroad Ties: Industry and Culture in Hagerstown, Maryland the railroad is described as a
cultural determinant, “More than a job, the railroad work was a way of life that extended into the
organization of households, neighborhoods and the marketplace. All across Hagerstown, the railroad
industry [in general] encouraged the establishment of manufacturing businesses and an expansion of the
mercantile economy.”2 The WM Roundhouse stood as a symbol of the economic and civic stability of the
community. Though not geographically in the center of the city, the Roundhouse connected the people of
Hagerstown to the railroad and the railroad to the city.
1
With the arrival of modern motor vehicle
Susan Levitas Railroad Ties: Industry and Culture in Hagerstown, Maryland, Crownsville, MD: The Maryland Historical Trust
Press, 1994. p. 11
2
Susan Levitas Railroad Ties: Industry and Culture in Hagerstown, Maryland, Crownsville, MD: The Maryland Historical Trust
Press, 1994. p. 37
3
Spencer Haynsworth
University of Virginia School of Architecture
ARH 592 / LAR 526 BOOMTOWN Seminar / Fall 2002
Professors Julie Bargmann and Daniel Bluestone
transportation systems, the American railroad industry has gone into decline.
The strong industrial and
manufacturing economy that once was woven into the fabric of Hagerstown has also began to deteriorate.
When the Roundhouse was demolished in 1999, its absence has offered the potential to graft new meaning
in its void.
The WM Roundhouse and West End neighborhood in relation to the city of Hagerstown and the city center proper in 1950.
Today, the city’s future appears dim compared to what it once was during its peak with the
railroad. New industrial and manufacturing plants have established themselves to the west but the once
booming factories at the center of town are now either vacant or abandoned. The railroads have all
consolidated and the city’s main source of employment in the 1940’s, the Western Maryland Division rail
shops have dissolved and the historic Roundhouse was demolished in 1999. The city in its development is
in the position to either turn its back on its historical connections to the railroad and its industrial heritage
4
Spencer Haynsworth
University of Virginia School of Architecture
ARH 592 / LAR 526 BOOMTOWN Seminar / Fall 2002
Professors Julie Bargmann and Daniel Bluestone
or to embrace it. It is fair to say that the citizens of Hagerstown want and need a new outlook on their city,
a renewed understanding of the city’s past and present and vision for its future.
This project is an enterprise of mapping and planning, for it is collectively a mapping of the city
and the development of a vision for the West End neighborhood. James Corner, in his essay The Agency
of Mapping, states, “…mapping typically precedes planning because it is assumed that the map will
objectively identify and make visible the terms around which a planning project may then be rationally
developed, evaluated and built.”3 For the purpose of this project, the operation of mapping and planning
must develop and become visible simultaneously. The way in which we map Hagerstown in relation to the
West End neighborhood will begin to develop both a current and historical understanding as well as an
optimistic direction for their future together.
The West End in Relation to its Topography and the Rail Lines
The highest elevation, 680’ to 660’ is on the northeast side within the old city proper. Close to the
interstate (I-81) affluent neighborhoods, golf courses, and new shopping centers, like The Centre at
Hagerstown, have developed in this upland. The elevation continues to drop as it nears Hamilton Creek,
which runs along the southeast edge of the city proper.
The West End neighborhood is topographically
situated in an elevation of 640’-620’ above sea level.
3
James Corner The Agency of Mapping, Mappings, London: Reaktion Books Ltd., 1999. p. 216
5
Spencer Haynsworth
University of Virginia School of Architecture
ARH 592 / LAR 526 BOOMTOWN Seminar / Fall 2002
Professors Julie Bargmann and Daniel Bluestone
A map of the city of Hagerstown in relation to the West End neighborhood, current rail lines and the topography of the city proper.
While the natural topography and geology of the area defines inherent borders and edges of the
city, the rail lines add another layer of complexity to the urban form. The railroad lines themselves follow
the natural topography when it is convenient but in most cases disregard landform for the sake of utility.
The West End neighborhood is defined on its southern edge by the rail lines that were once owned by
Pennsylvania Railroad. W. Washington Street defines, though less distinctly, the northern edge of the West
End Neighborhood. The tracks, once owned by Western Maryland RR, divide the West End neighborhood
from itself and further insulate the original parcel of land owned by the Improvement Development
Company.
The West End in 1900-1960
In the 1897 map below, parcels of land comprising the West End of Hagerstown are shown. The
old Cumberland Valley Roundhouse that preceded the WM roundhouse is seen in the lower right hand
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Spencer Haynsworth
University of Virginia School of Architecture
ARH 592 / LAR 526 BOOMTOWN Seminar / Fall 2002
Professors Julie Bargmann and Daniel Bluestone
corner. This map was a development map designating the future direction of growth and development for
the city of Hagerstown in 1897.
The parcels of land owned by individual development companies were later subsumed under the name West End neighborhood.
The majority of the West End neighborhood grew beyond the expected grid-like pattern proposed
in 1897. The rate of development of this area was mainly due to the new location of the WMRR
headquarters. The area between the W. Washington Street and the WMRR tracks that run east to west was
developed completely as can be seen in the map below from 1950. The area owned by the West End Co.
adjacent to Cedar Lawn Park that was designated for development in 1897, was bought by the city of
Hagerstown for $40, 000 in 1916 in order to be used for what is now called City Park. Today the piece of
property once owned by the West End Co., the former site of the WM roundhouse and maintenance shop, is
now owned by CSX.
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Spencer Haynsworth
University of Virginia School of Architecture
ARH 592 / LAR 526 BOOMTOWN Seminar / Fall 2002
Professors Julie Bargmann and Daniel Bluestone
By 1950, Hagerstown had grown in beyond its expectations. The West End neighborhood is a perfect example.
A picture of the West End in 1900, before it was inhabited, in relation to the residential, open
space, commercial and industrial fabric of the city reveals a texture of the city that has almost disappeared.
On the map below it is apparent that the industry of the city is determined by its proximity to the rail lines.
The industrial parcels are relatively small and distinct pieces of land that are consolidating throughout the
around the tracks. The rail lines pay little attention to the dense grid of the city that begins at the city
center, the public square. The areas deemed for growth and improvement are located in the western half of
the city, also in proximity to the density of rail lines towards the west. There are no real residential
neighborhoods as of yet; people are living and working closer to the city center. Because the center is
where all day-to-day commercial activity is carried out the term “shopping centers” is non-existent. The
public parks are all located on the outskirts of the city while the center is a highly developed area.
8
Spencer Haynsworth
University of Virginia School of Architecture
ARH 592 / LAR 526 BOOMTOWN Seminar / Fall 2002
Professors Julie Bargmann and Daniel Bluestone
A picture of the West End in 1900.
The Hey Day of the West End
The West End was comprised of mostly duplexes which were almost entirely occupied by rail
workers because of their proximity to the Western Maryland and Cumberland Valley RR, particularly the
WMRR roundhouse and rail shop. In the West End, businesses were closely tied to the railroad industry.
Small-scale, family-run establishments, such as grocery stores and restaurants, depended on the income of
railroad workers for their own livelihoods. Because there were no telephones, “call boys” rode bicycles
from the yard office to their houses in order to notify the workers of their shifts.
The West End
neighborhood was know for being “dirty, noisy, and ‘rough.’” A wife of a rail worker remembers how
hard she had to work to keep a clean home for her family: “Every single blessed day, every single blessed
day, I washed windowsills, I scrubbed the porch. Every week every window got washed. The constant
battle- the black was just constant. Your kids were filthy when they got on the floor, so I kept them up off
the floor. Living in the West End was- I couldn’t wait ‘til I got out in the country and got away from
9
Spencer Haynsworth
University of Virginia School of Architecture
ARH 592 / LAR 526 BOOMTOWN Seminar / Fall 2002
Professors Julie Bargmann and Daniel Bluestone
that.”4The West End from 1960-1990 A picture of the West End in 1960, at the beginning of the railroads’
decline, in relation to the residential, open space, commercial and industrial fabric of the city reveals a
period of great transition and change for the city of Hagerstown. The industrial areas of the city are no
longer the small, discrete units they were in 1900. Much of the industry that was interspersed within the
city fabric in 1900 has been outnumbered by the industry that followed the trend to locate on the outskirts
of the city. While they have maintained their position along the rail lines, the discrete parcels of land have
merged into larger zones outside of the city center. Route 40 surrounds the West End neighborhood, well
inhabited by rail workers by 1960, on the southwest by rail lines and on the northwest. It is also subsumed
by large pockets of industry on its northwest and east edge. Residential areas following the same trend as
industry moved from the center to the outskirts of Hagerstown.
A picture of the West End in 1960.
4
Railroad Ties
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Spencer Haynsworth
University of Virginia School of Architecture
ARH 592 / LAR 526 BOOMTOWN Seminar / Fall 2002
Professors Julie Bargmann and Daniel Bluestone
According to John Stilgoe in his book Metropolitan Corridor calls explains how in most “railroad suburbs”
the suburbanites were commuters, leaving the suburbs during the day to work, returning in the evening to
get away from it all.5 What differentiates Hagerstown’s suburbs from these “railroad suburbs” is that when
the industry moved away from the center, the residential areas moved too. Shopping Centers have begun to
crop up to the north and south side of Hagerstown to provide the necessary commercial needs of these
expanding residential areas. Parks and open spaces have increased in number since 1900 but are still
located right outside of the city center while a number of golf courses and cemeteries have developed
alongside of the more affluent neighborhoods to the north.
The West End from 2000 and On
A picture of the West End in 2000, as Hagerstown is in a position to rethink the direction of its growth of
its residential, open space, commercial and industrial areas by looking at the current condition of the city in
relation to its past. There is more train traffic now than five years ago. According to the Book Railroad
Ties by Mary Coderman, train traffic has again begun moving to Harrisburg, New England, Washington
D.C. Norfolk Southern, Conrail, CSX, Winchester and Western, and Wheeling and Lake Eerie come
through Hagerstown. The WM roundhouse was demolished in 1999 and replaced in another area by an
office for the CSX railway. While the lines that one entered the city center from the north and south. In
the map below, it is evident that the industrial areas have further located themselves outside of the city
proper while the residential areas that had developed in the 1960 have remained while more have been built
in the outskirts.
5
Stilgoe, John R., Metropolitan Corridor: Railroads and The American Scene. Yale University Press, New Haven and London, 1983.
11
Spencer Haynsworth
University of Virginia School of Architecture
ARH 592 / LAR 526 BOOMTOWN Seminar / Fall 2002
Professors Julie Bargmann and Daniel Bluestone
A picture of the West in 2000.
As the city has changed from 1960 to present day, what was deemed the “outskirts” has also shifted. More
shopping centers have emerged in these newly defined outskirts. Besides the ever-increasing popularity of
the golf course, which continues to follow the affluent suburbs, the public parks in Hagerstown have
remained directly outside of the city center. A $73.5 million project to demolish and replace Hagerstown's
Westview Homes could be completed in four years. The federal government has pledged to pick up more
than a third of the tab. “The project calls for demolishing the 210 units of the Westview Homes public
housing project in the city's West End south of West Washington Street. On that property, and from Elign
Park to Vickie Drive, 400 new homes will be built.” 6
6
www.hud.org
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Spencer Haynsworth
University of Virginia School of Architecture
ARH 592 / LAR 526 BOOMTOWN Seminar / Fall 2002
Professors Julie Bargmann and Daniel Bluestone
The area intended for revitalization is part of what is considered the West End neighborhood.
These low-income row houses originally built for the railroad workers in the 1960’s have long
since fallen into disrepair and through the federal housing program Hope IV will be replaced with
“Victorian style” houses. The majority of the original duplexes in the neighborhood are wooden structures
with small front porches that meet the sidewalk. Because the West End neighborhood is historically tied to
the railroad industry, an attempt to “beautify” with a historicism that is atypical for the area could be as
detrimental to the city’s structure as the demolition of the WM Roundhouse.
Questioning the Future of the West End
There has been a steady movement away from the city center in Hagerstown since the beginning
of the 1950’s with the construction of the overpass along Burnhams Blvd. This change from grade crossing
to grade separation signaled a change from the use of the passenger train to the use of the automobile.
Stilgoe writes in Metropolitan Corridor, “The separated rail/road crossing epitomized the early-twentiethcentury reluctance of town and suburb to merge with the metropolitan space of the right-of-way, to not only
13
Spencer Haynsworth
University of Virginia School of Architecture
ARH 592 / LAR 526 BOOMTOWN Seminar / Fall 2002
Professors Julie Bargmann and Daniel Bluestone
adjoin it, but to become one with it.”7 The railroads were at one time a cultural determinant in Hagerstown.
The railroad industry is still active and shows signs of resurgence. It is a pivotal moment in the city’s
consciousness. Should the city continue in its direction of promoting industrial and business park zoning
outside of the city limits or should it look to the past for a pattern of growth that has offered a sense of
community to its residents? Should the city attempt to reinvent itself or should it reinterpret it history
strongly rooted in railroad industry? The West End, a neighborhood tied to the city’s industrial heritage, is
about to become something “other” than it has ever been in the history of Hagerstown. It is important at
this moment in the development of the city as a whole to question if that change should occur and to
question whether or not there is a way to reinterpret the city’s past without destroying the historical fabric
that has been woven by the residents of Hagerstown who have come before.
7
Metropolitan Corridor
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Spencer Haynsworth
University of Virginia School of Architecture
ARH 592 / LAR 526 BOOMTOWN Seminar / Fall 2002
Professors Julie Bargmann and Daniel Bluestone
Bibliography:
Susan Levitas Railroad Ties: Industry and Culture in Hagerstown, Maryland, Crownsville, MD: The
Maryland Historical Trust Press, 1994.
Stilgoe, John R., Metropolitan Corridor: Railroads and The American Scene. Yale University Press, New
Haven and London, 1983.
James Corner The Agency of Mapping, Mappings, London: Reaktion Books Ltd., 1999
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