A beginning

One of the many things I'm interested in is using Baltimore as a source for material. Walking has always been a part of my process so I'm planning on taking a lot of walks in Baltimore.

I started at an ending place, Greenmount Cemetery.

From the summit point, the view is of a slope of neatly tended and historically rich graves but also of the neighborhood on the next hill. You can see the sky through the windows of vacant houses. When sitting on one gravestone the sight lines were such that cars driving on the next hill over seem to be driving right on top of the cemetery wall.

There was a gravestone that said: Henry Hooper April 15 1845 - November 25 1910. He went about doing good.


That's nice. I try to go about doing good too.

Since I had started with one cemetery, I decided to visit the only other Baltimore cemetery I had visited before: New Cathedral Cemetery. I checked google maps for directions and headed towards Frederick Ave. At the first cemetery I pulled in but once I was inside I realized that nothing was familiar. There were crows everywhere and a view of the Key bridge, Baltimore Port and the incineration tower. It seemed barely taken care of and I shot some video of myself walking over a mound of brush and stone.

I continued up the road and briefly entered Loudon Park National Cemetery. A plaque with a long quotation from the Gettysburg Address stood at the entrance.

I realized I had taken a wrong turn and found that Frederick Ave. took a sneaky swing north that I had missed. I almost didn't bother continuing since I had already visited three cemeteries and was unsure of the point of going to new cathedral. But I had more time so meandered through a quiet neighborhood until I came to the cemetery and went into the office. The woman at the desk adopted a face of stricken mourning when she spoke to me. I asked for the Flanigan plot. She was able to direct me from memory to the other end of the cemetery, near Edmondson Avenue. I followed the orange path on her photocopied map and found the monument and 16 graves. I shot some video of the graves and tried to figure out who everyone was.