A 1935 Maryland Geological Survey map showing the waterways running through Baltimore
It's the first episode of the Maryland Curiosity Bureau, where you ask & we report! Someone told Ashley Minner that there are a bunch of hidden streams flowing underground below our feet in Baltimore. She asked us about it, so we set out to discover where they are and why they're down there.
Bruce Willen in Wyman Park Dell, where he's studying the now-underground Sumwalt's Run waterway for a project called 'Ghost Rivers' (Photo credit: Aaron Henkin)
You can follow Bruce Willen's work on Instagram at @publicmechanics
Ashely Milburn discovered an underwater stream below Franklin Street in West Baltimore when he was leading a community art project in 2010. (Photo credit: Aaron Henkin)
Alice Volpitta is the Inner Harbor Water Keeper with Blue Water Baltimore. She's standing at the spot where the Jones Falls stream goes underground below the city. (Photo credit: Aaron Henkin)
You can more about Blue Water Baltimore's water-quality work here.
An archival photo showing engineers burying a small stream in Baltimore's Hampden neighborhood (Photo credit: Baltimore DPW Archives and Ronald Parks)
Aaron creates and produces original radio programs and podcasts for WYPR. His current project is The Maryland Curiosity Bureau. Aaron's neighborhood documentary series, Out of the Blocks, earned the 2018 national Edward R Murrow Award. His past work includes the long-running weekly cultural program, The Signal, and the Smithsonian Folkways Recordings series, Tapestry of the Times. Aaron's stories have aired nationally on NPR's Morning Edition and All Things Considered.
