Historic Photos of North Chesapeake City, Part 6

Historic Photos of North Chesapeake City, Part 6

Groom Steele’s grain-office building is being moved to the North Side in the1960s. As a kid, I got many a haircut there from Jumping Jim. At left is the old Rio Theater, where my buddies and I enjoyed many Saturday afternoon cowboy movies.

Same building (Jumping Jim’s barber shop) as it stands today at the NW corner of Hemphill & Biddle Streets.

An aerial view of our narrow canal in 1929. High Bridge had been removed at Hemphill Street but Long Bridge and the lift bridge are there at the top. Canal Street and Biddle Street are near the middle as well as the remnant of the lock at top middle. At the right middle appears to be a baseball field at what is now Helen Titter Park.

Historic Photos of North Chesapeake City, Part 5

Historic Photos of North Chesapeake City, Part 5

The 1914 flood on the Causeway. At left is the Masonic Hall, which housed the post office, the movie theater, a barber shop, a milliner’s shop, and several other businesses. At right was a luncheonette and ice cream parlor.

Masonic Hall (1914 flood) with Chesapeake City jail at left. The entrance to Long Bridge is in foreground. John Sager remembered an inmate singing from our old jail. He sang, “Water, water everywhere and not a drop to drink.” Rube Hevelow was the jailer at the time.

 

Groom Steele’s grain office on the Causeway. The building became Jumping Jim’s barber shop on the South Side. The building is now a private residence on the North Side, at the NW corner of Biddle and Hemphill Streets.

Historic Photos of North Chesapeake City, Part 4

Historic Photos of North Chesapeake City, Part 4

High Bridge, looking east. Bridge swung towards east and was operated manually by bridge tenders. High Bridge connected Hemphill Street on the North Side with the causeway on the South Side. Two other swing bridge bridges spanned the canal, one at Bethel (Pivot) and one at St. Georges. After the Corps of Engineers bought the canal in 1919, they were replaced by steel lift bridges. Now (2013), only one lift bridge remains, the railroad bridge at Summit.

 

Walking over the lock gate from the South Side to the North Side. My grandmother, Geneva Truss Hazel, said she did this for a shortcut to North Side to see her sister, Liddia. To cross at High Bridge required quite a longer walk up the Causeway.

 

Wooden, steam tug, Startle, exiting the lock at Back Creek, heading west towards the Chesapeake Bay. The old Masonic hall can be seen at the right of boat. Also, part of Long Bridge is at the far right and several businesses are visible along the Causeway. The Startle is recognized by the figure of a horse atop the wheel house.

Historic Photos of North Chesapeake City, Pt.3

Historic Photos of North Chesapeake City, Pt.3

Long Bridge, East view with Masonic Hall and many shops on the Causeway. The area in the foreground is now the site of Pell Gardens. Long Bridge was a center-pivot span that was operated by turning an iron crank.

Steamer, Lord Baltimore, heading west through the St. Georges’ lock. This steamer belonged to the Baltimore and Philadelphia Steamboat Company, established in 1844. The company was also called the Ericsson Line because, instead of its boats being propelled by paddles, they were propelled from the stern by a screw system devised by the Swedish inventor, John Ericsson.

 

High Bridge was a wooden swing bridge that extended from Hemphill Street on the North Side to the Causeway on the South Side. The Causeway ran west to Long Bridge, which spanned Back Creek and connected to Rees’ Wharf (now Pell Gardens). Note Corps of Engineers’ pump house at left with vessel waiting to go through.