My own experience with the charming city of Baltimore goes back only seven years, when I decided to leave my native Poland for Baltimore in order to learn English as a second language. At the time, I just graduated from the Law School of Nicolas Copernicus University and spoke only Polish and Russian. As Poland was getting ready to join the European Union, it became clear to me that in order to continue my legal career I had to master English first. When I first moved to Baltimore, I imagined that the city, giving its location in the mouth of the Chesapeake Bay, would somehow resemble Gdansk, which is the Polish main port city located on the Baltic Sea. Historically, Gdansk, which was founded in the XII century, as well as many other Polish cities, is a city full of charming corners, fine churches, old mills, decorative tenement houses from every historic period complemented by beautiful greenery and museums. The city is like a museum without the walls, where everyone even without the knowledge of the Polish language can easily learn about a thousand years history of the city that takes pride in its historic heritage. So, it was natural for me to expect that Baltimore city, which used to be the second largest port of entry next to New York during the nineteenth century, would take similar pride in its history like the city of Gdansk did. To my dismay, I found out that Baltimore not only did not preserve a great number of its historic landmarks, but also is considered by many people as an obstacle for interstate drivers, or even worse “the ingrown toenail of the East Coast” which is infested by drugs and crime. After I enrolled into the undergraduate program of history at the University of Baltimore, I discovered that Baltimore was a city of neighborhoods, which were shaped by a great number of factors that impacted the city’s development such as its geographic location, industrial development, a massive influx of immigrants and different religious groups that created neighborhoods which replicated their home countries. Enriched by this knowledge, I began to look at Baltimore city through the prism of its neighborhoods and this is how I found the old Goucher neighborhood that used to be home of Goucher College.

Since “Missing Goucher” is intended to be both a history and a tour throughout the old Goucher buildings in the PAST and PRESENT, you may follow the links placed at the bottom of the MAIN PAGE. Selected buildings are ordered chronologically, but they do not have to be followed in orderly fashion unless you feel like to. After CLICKING on each building there will be a starting main page of the building where you will be able to choose the building in its present state or in the past - the choice is yours! Furthermore, each individual page has links to follow within the body of the text, and at the bottom of each page there are links that will help you move to the next building. Luckily, all the buildings that are the subject of my research are still standing because no doubt they were built to outlast humanity, though the youthful spirit and the charm of the neighborhood has been long gone!!! Enjoy!!!

To begin reading click on the “Missing Goucher’’ link below:
Missing Goucher - Main Page

Written by BarbaraK