On the afternoon of June 5th, the day of our 50th year high school reunion, two old Baltimore "relics" were sitting on the steps of the Lloyd Street Synagogue eating their hot corned beef sandwiches.  Birdie Fitzgerald, my old friend and confidante for over 50 years, met me at Weiss' Deli (Corned Beef Row) on Lombard Street.  Birdie who still lives in Baltimore, on Bolton Hill, brought a flask, two martini glasses and a pack of cigarettes - just for old times sake.  After purchasing our sandwiches we walked to the historic synagogue where we enjoyed our martinis, a few cigarettes and lunch while we reminisced about our high school days, Lombard Street, and the history of Jonestown (Birdie graduated from a Catholic girls school in Baltimore City).

      Jonestown, one of Baltimore's oldest neighborhoods, between Fells Point and "Baltimore Town" was founded in 1732 by David Jones - adjacent to his mill on the Jones Falls.  Jonestown became a wealthy residential community sitting between the busier, commerce related port areas of Fells Point and Baltimore's harbour basin.  Jonestown was home (and still is) to the Charles Carroll Mansion, the McKim Free School, Saint Vincent de Paul's Church, the Shot Tower, the Flag House, "Corned Beef Row", and the Lloyd Street Synagogue.

      The Lloyd Street Synagogue, built in 1845, was the first synagogue erected in Maryland and is the third-oldest synagogue, still standing, in the United States.  It was designed in the Greek Revival style by one of Baltimore's major architects, Robert Cary Long, Jr.

      Between 1820 and 1840 many of the original English, Scotch and Anglo-Irish residents of Jonestown were moving to larger houses and more prestigious neighborhoods in north Baltimore.  By the 1840's and 50's Jonestown became a first generation neighborhood for Jews, Italians and to thousands of Irish emigrants fleeing the Great Famine in Ireland (1845-1852).  The Irish who settled in East and Southwest Baltimore, at this time, were easily the poorest emigrants ever to come to America.  Those who survived the brutal Atlantic crossing on the overcrowded "coffin ships" brought with them only a strong work ethic and their rosaries.

      Jonestown's new residents, the Italians, Jews and Irish would soon be joined by Germans and Eastern Europeans. The area surrounding Lombard Street would  become a predominately Jewish neighborhood and prosperous commercial area where many new businesses were started.  Corned Beef Row, on Lombard Street, became a thriving marketplace that served Baltimore, Maryland, and much of the South - as it was one of the few Jewish marketplaces below the Mason-Dixon Line. "Lombard Street" was filled with old European style Jewish grocery stores, several small factories which made kosher products... and later, delicatessens.  Some of the more famous stores were Attman's, Cohen's, Jacks' and Weiss'.  The Tulkoff's created their horseradish here and Wartzman's bakery grew famous for its bagels and Jewish breads. I remember wooden barrels of large kosher pickles, white pickled onions in jars and sawdust on the floors.  Each night the sawdust would be swept up and replaced with fresh sawdust for the next day. The scent of corned beef, salami, pastrami, and sausages, as well as smoked fish, permeated the entire street.

      Corned Beef Row, as it was in the 1950's and 60's, is now just a nostalgic memory.  There are still several Jewish delicatessens remaining but most of the businesses have closed or moved to other locations in Baltimore or Baltimore County.  You can still get a fantastic corned beef sandwich there for under $7.00.  Birdie and I enjoyed our Rueben sandwiches, piled high with hot corned beef, crispy sauerkraut and Russian dressing.  We also enjoyed our martinis!

      We later drove to Patterson Park where we sat on a bench facing the old, historic Pagoda - which we intended to climb one more time.  We made it to the top although we both were feeling "our age, our martinis, and the early June heat."  The view of "our Baltimore", from atop the Pagoda was / is - still breathtaking -- and brought on a myriad of memories from my boyhood, playing in Patterson Park, running through the streets and alleys of Baltimore, to my high school days at Patterson (Park) High School and our 50th high school re-union which would take place later in the evening.

                    Christopher Newman              November 7, 2011