This booklet has been compiled and printed by Harold R. Parkinson who authorized Mr. Dan Buan to copy on Floppy Disk for the purpose of posting on the West Annapolis Civic Association Web Site.

Nov. 17, 2003

Today, I believe there are only a few West Annapolis residents that can remember Severn Ave, Monroe Street, Revell Street, Randall Street and Walton Street being in our community. West Annapolis, at one time was part of Anne Arundel County. We were annexed into the city of Annapolis in January of 1951 along with Homewood, Parole and Eastport. This procedure caused a duplication of some street names. Severn Ave. was renamed Melvin Ave. Revell Street was renamed Ridgely Ave. Monroe Street was renamed Shiley Street in honor of Earle Shiley, who lived at 500 Severn Ave., directly across from the firehouse. He was a graduate of the U.S. Military Academy at West Point and lost his life while serving in the U.S. Army during World War II. Walton Street was renamed Tolson Street in honor of Harry Tolson, who lived at the upper end of Severn Ave. and lost his life in the European Theater while serving in the U.S. Army during World War II. Randall street was renamed Tucker Street in honor of Clifton Tucker, who lived at 106 Randall Street and lost his life on the U.S.S Evans, in the Pacific Theater while serving in the U.S. Navy during World War II.

We also have three one block lanes, recently named for other service men from our community who lost their lives while serving in the military services of the United States of America. Saffield Lane was named in honor of Roland Saffield who lived at 13 Randall Street and lost his life in the European Theater while serving in the U.S. Army during World War II. This lane runs off of Giddings Ave. between Annapolis Street and Tucker Street. Segelken Lane was named in honor of Carl Segelken, who lived at 13 Annapolis Street and lost his life at Luzon in the Philippines while serving in the U.S. Army during World War II. This lane runs from Melvin Ave. to Giddings Ave. between Annapolis Street and Tucker Street. Epstein Lane was named in honor of Paul Epstein, who lived at 301 Severn Ave. and lost his life while serving in the U.S. Army during World War II. This lane runs from Melvin Ave. to Giddings Ave. between Shiley Street and Claude Street.

We also have a memorial constructed at the West Annapolis School. A very nice bronze plaque mounted on a brick pedestal honoring all the service men from this community that paid the ultimate sacrifice that we may live in a safe and free environment. This memorial is located in front of the school facing Annapolis Street. We are so proud of these young, able and willing men that left our community to defend the United States of America and never return.

I am writing this booklet as a token of thanks to honor all the men and women from this little community of “WEST ANNAPOLIS”, that have served or are serving in the Armed Forces of the United Stated of America.

Let’s start with the old brown-shingled schoolhouse in the 200 block of Annapolis Street. This school had four classrooms; grades one through six, boys and girls lavatories were down stairs. We had black slate black boards, chalk and erasers, which we use to beat on the brown shingles outside, near the front and back doors at the end of the day. The teachers I remember were Miss Peach, Miss Folgle, Miss Stinchomb and Miss Carter, who was also the principal. There have been several renovations and additions done over the years to bring us to an outstanding elementary school that we have today.

Facing the school from Annapolis Street, to the right was a single story building, which we were told, was named the Teacherage, possibly being quarters for the teachers in previous years. Sometime in the thirties, this building was moved down Annapolis Street, which is now number ten. To the right of the teacherage, on the corner of Annapolis Street and Melvin Ave., which at that time was named Severn Ave. was a large two story house, which also was move down Annapolis Street, next door to the teacherage and is now number twelve Annapolis Street. These two buildings were moved on greased skids, which was very slow and tedious back in the thirties.

On the east corner of Severn Ave. and Annapolis St. was our little corner store, which at that time was operated by Mrs. Shawn. The favorite of all the kids in the neighborhood was the candy case. If we had a few pennies and if we didn’t we would hunt soda bottles and return them to the store, two pennies for a small bottle and five pennies for a large soda bottle. With Mrs. Shawn behind the candy case, we would tell her that we wanted one of these, one of these, and two of these of our favorite candies. She had breadboxes out in front of her store and the bread man would deliver bread to the stores by truck early in the morning. He placed the bread in the boxes before the store opened and Mrs. Shawn would open the store, take the bread from the boxes and place the loaves on a shelf in the store. The corner store was a meeting place for the kids in the neighborhood. This store changed hands many times, Ray Swallow’s, Willie Bloom’s, George Waxman’s and now is Gus Leonas’s “Annapolis Gormet and Delli Shop.”

There was also another store on the southeast corner of Annapolis St. and Giddings Ave. This was the old time G.A. Store. Owned and operated by Mr. George Egan. He lived across Randall street from the Fire House and was a long time member of the Fire Company. This store was later operated by Mr. Ray Swallow, who at one time operated the store that was previously Mrs. Shawns. Later Mr. Charlie Cammarata operated this store as Charlies’ Produce Market. At one time there was a West Annapolis Branch Post office operating in this establishment. Next, it was remodeled to sort of a Night Club establishment by Mr. Charlie Hiltibidle, with live entertainment and alcoholic beverages. Needless to say, we no longer had a branch Post Office. This property was purchased by McCrone and is now a parking lot for McCrones’ business, which is on the corner of Ridgely Ave. and Giddings Ave. In our neighborhood, we also had a florist, which was operated by Mr. And Mrs. Charles Hromanik with the help of only a few hired employees. This florist was located on the property, which is now the little shopping center containing Grauls Market and others. Let’s go back to Annapolis Street, a crossed the street from Mr. Egan’s G.A. Store was a two story brown shingled house with a business style store front added to the front of the house. Mr. John Sites operated this property. There were many different shops operated at this location at different times, a bar room, a bakery and a T.V. Shop that I can remember.

The West Annapolis Fire and Improvement Company was located on the west corner of Severn Ave. and Randall Street, which are now Melvin Ave. and Tucker Street. This company was organized in 1911 and remained at this location until sometime in 1973, when it moved to the county and relocated on Jennifer Road. During World War II, a great number of the eligible men and boys who where members of the fire company left the community to enter the military services. We were without help to fully operate the fire company at that time. The county paid two drivers for the fire engines, each working twenty-four hours on and twenty-four off. The American Red Cross provided women drivers to drive the ambulance during the day. We relied on eligible ambulance drivers in the neighborhood at nighttime, that were summoned by a blast of the siren atop the firehouse.

A Junior Fire Brigade was formed, consisting of high school boys, which spent time at the fire house and learned enough to assist on the ambulance and respond to fire alarms when ever possible. I remember one time while I was at the firehouse an alarm came in and the driver of the fire engine would blow the siren on top of the building to summons addition help from the neighborhood. Well, the siren atop the building was frozen with snow and ice. Mr. Smith, the driver pulled the engine out front and we blew the siren on the engine three times, with no one else responding, we proceeded to answer the fire alarm. In the forties our engine had an open cab, the volunteers rode on the side running boards and on the tailboard at the rear of the engine. When there was a big turn out of volunteers, some had to climb up on top of the hose bed. Today we call those the good old days.

Just a little more information about the West Annapolis Fire & Improvement Association. . The fire station was a most vital establishment of the community. All the kids just couldn’t wait each summer for the annual carnival. A number of years the carnival was held on the property where the Naval Academy Perry Center is today. We called this area “The A. C. Field”. The West Annapolis Athletic Club had an organized baseball team and played their games at this location on Sundays. The annual carnival later was down sized and relocated on the property behind the firehouse and part of the elementary school property. The annual carnival was the main fundraiser for the fire company and provided financial stability. We also had a treat at the fire house every Christmas. There was a long table set up and we were invited in to get out treat. An apple, an orange, and a small box, about the size of an animal cracker box, filled with a variety of hard Christmas candy. This was truly a great treat at Christmas time!

The large metal building on the corner of Ridgely Ave. and Melvin Ave. was a sign painting shop operated by Mr. Abbie Shaw. I am impressed that this metal building still seems to be in great condition. It has changed hands several times as an auto repair shop as it is today.

We also had a filling station and auto repair shop in the two hundred block of Ridgely Ave. operated by Mr. James Lorens and his sons. Next door to the filling station was a small church, which has changed to a barbershop and is now Riley’s Cleaning establishment. The original church building is still standing today.

The original bridge across Weems Creek has been replaced with a state of the arts bridge, with a new bridge attendant tower and traffic control barriers with flashing lights at each end of the bridge. The old bridge was operated for years by Mr. Tayman who had a little station below the bridge and when necessary he would go atop the bridge and close the traffic barriers before turning this large key by hand, on the center span to open it for boats to pass through. Mr. Tayman was a long time resident of West Annapolis and lived on the corner of Melvin Ave. and Ridgely Ave. This house still stands today and has changed hands many times.

We also had a shoe repair shop in the middle of the two hundred block of Annapolis Street opposite the school. Mr. Tony Mileto, who lived in the six hundred block of Ridgly Ave. in the community of Weems Creek, operated this shop. I remember the sign in front of his shop. The sign was in the shape of a big high cut shoe, with lettering to promote his shoe shop. This sign hung in front of his shop on a pole.

Next we also had a barber shop in West Annapolis, located in a portion of a double garage building belonging to Mrs. Shawn. This building was on the corner of Melvin and the alley that is now Segelken Lane. Mr. Bernie Agriesti operated this shop. I’m not sure how many residents patronized this shop, as I remember walking into town and getting my hair cut at Louie Calabrese’s shop on Conduit Street. I don’t recall the exact year, but we did have local bus service at one time. A very small, blue colored bus operated by the Arundel Bus Company, owned and operated by a Mr. Gilbert Hoffman. The garage and repair shop was located on Spa Road. The bus routes connected Eastport, the City, Homewood, West Annapolis and Weems Creek.

There was no Rowe Blvd., so going to town by car, you would either go in King George Street or go out Taylor Ave. to West Street.

Let me tell you about the railroad that ran parallel to Giddings Ave. and being the eastern boundary of West Annapolis. This was an electric train that ran from Annapolis to Baltimore. This railroad began service in 1887 known as The Annapolis and Baltimore Short Line Railroad, running from Camden Station in Baltimore to Annapolis. Steam engines were used until 1908, when the first electric cars began service. The electric trains remained in service until 1950, when this service was terminated and replaced with bus service. Freight service was continued until 1968, using a diesel engine, when the Severn River wooden tresle was declared unsafe. It was later demolished with all the timbers being removed from the river. The B. & A. bus service was later replaced by the Baltimore Mass Transit Service.

 

There was a small green waiting station about where the front of the Taylor Ave. Fire Station is today. This station was about sixteen feet long and about twelve feet wide with an extended roof towards the track to protect you while boarding the train. There was also one of these stations at Wardour, just a short distance from this end of the Severn River Railroad Bridge. This train would stop at each of the thirty stations that a rider would be waiting. The regular trip from Annapolis to Baltimore would take approximately fifty-five minutes. This railroad was also used by a freight train to serve Annapolis. During football season there would be steam engines come in to transport the midshipmen to some of the out of town football games. Today they are transported by bus. There was a switching station about where the State Archives building is today to allow the trains to go to the West Street Station to take on additional water. What a thrill for a young kid to see these big black steam engines, puffing smoke and pulling possibly eight or ten cars behind them. These steam engines would come in early Saturday morning and return as late as midnight to return the midshipmen back to the U.S. Naval Academy. I would go down to the switch and gather wood for the switchman so we could have a small fire to keep us warm. Early in the morning and late at night, it would be very cold. When the first steam engine would go by, the switchman would go to this little green station, only large enough to house a telephone. I can see him now. He would crank up the phone and say “ENGINE # 404 HAS CLEARED THE SWITCH AT 5:45”. He promptly did this as each engine cleared the switch.

As we would say “On the other side of the tracks.” The Naval Academy had a nine-hole golf course where Perry Circle and Arundel Estates are today. This was our winter wonderland. When not in school, we would be there all day and half of the night. Sleigh riding on those hills was just great. I really enjoyed the long ride down, but that meant a long walk back to the top. As part of our winter wonderland, we also had a nice place to ice skate. Near Arundel Estates towards Norwood Road in Wardour is Shady Lake, sometimes called the Government Pond and I first learned the name to be the Governor’s Gut. I have no idea about the names of our little pond. This being a small body of water and pretty well protected, it would freeze over fast. We spent hours enjoying skating while it was frozen over.

We also had a nice beach to enjoy during the summer. We would walk to Wardour Beach nearly every day. All the kids in the neighborhood enjoyed the beach and I remember walking bare footed and the hot tar road surface from Wardour Circle area would burn the bottom of my feet, so I would jump to the side of the road and walk on the grass.

Our recreational facilities were unlimited. We also played hockey on roller skates on Melvin Ave. back when it was Severn Ave. We usually played between Randall Street and Walton Street because it was pretty level in that block. Severn Ave. was lined on one side towards Giddings Ave. with large trees, I’m not sure of the correct name but we called them Cigar Trees. They had large leaves and produced a long, slender green object, which would

Later on turn to a dark brown resembling a Cigar. Occasionally, someone would light one and try to smoke it like a cigar. This was not even close to being any kind of cigar. There was very little traffic on Severn Ave, and if anyone saw a car coming while our game was in progress, they would shout “Car Coming” and we would clear the street at that time and resume our game again after the car had passed.

We also had the school lot to play most any game that we wished to play and we also had Weem’s Creek to use for swimming, boating, crabbing and ice-skating. Finally, we were also able to go to the U.S. Naval Academy to watch a number of sports including baseball, basketball, boxing, fencing, football, gymnastics, soccer, swimming, tennis, track, and wrestling.

 

I would like to list a few of the family names and where they were located in West Annapolis. The numbers may not be correct, but they will be in the right block.

P.S.—As of Oct. 18, 2003, I have revised this section, trying to add as many of the childrens name as I could remember. I apologize for any that may be incorrect or omitted.

Annapolis Street

# 2 – The Oaksmith’s ( Billy & Gibbs & Hazel )
#3 – The Gust Skordas’s (Ralph )
#5 – The Calvin Fitch’s
#7—The Chris Georgs’s ( Christy, Gloria & Carroll (Bunky )
#9 – The Dalbert Fitch’s ( Dalbert & Eddie )
#11 – The George’s
#13 – The Edward Segelken’s (Carl )
#15 – The JosephVanous’s
#17 – The Alfred M. Parkinson’s Sr.
#10 – The Chadwick’s
#12 – The William’s
#14 – The Bill Miller’s
#16 – The Tucker’s, the Windsor’s ( Lorraine), later The Ernie Skoch’s
#24 – The John Site’s ( John & Sis )
#100 – The Boyd Foust’s ( Sylvia )
#101 – The Sprigg’s ( Melvin & Alvin )
#103 – The Cecil Martin’s
#105- The Oscar Zindorf’s (Bobby, Donald & Faye, later The Wayne Carrick’s (Wayne )
#115 – The Roger Shaw’s ( Patsy )
#104 – The Thorton’s, later Tom Ross’s
#106 – The Hornbrook’s, later the Clark’s
#108 – The A.M. Parkinson’s Sr. later the Smokey Colburn’s (Goldie, Mary, Christine & Ann
#114 – Mrs. Shawn’s Store
#201 – The Charles Logan’s (Charlie & June )
#211 – The Bush’s
#300 – The Mahoney’s
#306 – The Lester Trott’s
#309 – The Thomas Suit’s (Mary & Rose )
Randall Street, Later Tucker Street
# 2 – The Thomas’s & the Beal’s ( George )
# 10 – The Tom Henderson’s ( Tommy )
#12 – The Bill Nutt’s ( Bill & Myrtle )
#13 – The Saffield’s Ginny, Gladys, ( Roland -Moak ), Norma &( Jeanette- Dinky )
#14 – The Fred Shaw’s (Myrtle & Marion )
#100 – The Adam Kornberger’s
#104 – The John Frank’s ( John & Linda )
#106 – The John Tucker’s (Clifton,Heyward & Edith Ann )
#108 – The Howard Tucker’s ( Howard & Stanley )
#105—The Alton’s later the Greentree’s
#107—The Vinton Phillip’s (Moved to Melvin Ave.) (Lorraine )
 
Walton Street, Later Tolson Street
#106 – The Hyatt’s ( Stevie )
#108 - The Wheelers ( Ann )
#109 – The William Parkinson’s (Eugene, Billy & Betty )
 
Monroe Street, Later Shiley Street
#4 – The Bill Bailey’s ( George & Willie )
#100 – The Al Peterson’s
#104 – The A.W. Philip’s
#106 – The Thomas Hopkin’s ( Glen )
#105 – The Stan Fuller’s ( Chip )
#111 - The Ollie Miller’s ( Jimmy)
#207 – The Cammarata’s, later The Alfred M. Parkinson Jr. ( Rita, Ronnie Alfred III,Gary & David )
#206—The Theodore Tauser’s
 
Claude Street
#104—The Alvin Rehn’s ( Alvin Jr.- Sunny Boy ) & Robert )
#107—The Jim Craig’s
#204—The Bill Small’s
#206---The Bob Paxson’s ( Bob & Norris )
#208---The Robert Dudley’s ( Tommy, Bobbie & Mary Elizabeth )
#210—The Jack Sear’s ( Jack )
#212—The Loftus Stewart’s (Connie, Dorothy ) & ( Virginia & Bobbie Bassford )
#229—The Roy Purdy’s ( Dorthy, Jimmy & Donnie )
Giddings Ave.
#201---The George Beasley’s (George Jr. & ( Albert-Reds )
#303—The Donald Dearborn’s ( Debbie, Carol )
#310—The Stratton’s ( Jimmy & Virginia )
#401—The Charles Reese’s ( Charlie Jr. & Frank )
#405—The Mildred & Irving Smith’s, later the Ravencroft’s ( Marie & Dorothy & Harold)
#409—The Adam Kornberger’s
#500—The Morris Marshall’s, later the Hurst Basil’s
#501—The Bill Marshall’s ( Morris, Dick & Bill )
#503—The Curley Johnson’s
#505—The Gardner’s
#706---The Billy Oaksmith’s (Barbara, Gene, Sidney and Lynn)
#708---The Lex Jarrel’s
#718—The Chaney’s
 
Monterey Ave.
#307—The Howard Willet’s ( Dorothy )
#306—The Elmer Tayman’s ( Wilbur, Marie & Calvin )
#310—The Clinton Shaw’s later the Frank Tayman’s ( Mary )
#311—The Vinson’s, ( Tommy & Newell ) Then the McLean’s ( Edward & Dick )
#400---The W. Armiger’s ( Virgina, Harriett & Katherine )
#411---The Leonard Parkinson’s ( Hazel, Philip, Jo-Boy )
#415---The Jung’s, later The George Breed’s
#410---The Harold R. Parkinson’s ( Patti & Sarah )
#416---The Burner’s later The George Waxman’s ( Teddy & Susie )
#505---The George Power’s ( George Jr. & Barbara )
#507---The Sewell’s ( Billy & Betty ), later The Arnold Martins ( Billy & Gary )
 
Monterey Ave. (Cont’d.)
#604---The George Washington Craig’s ( Donald & Margaret ) (We had a “George Washington” in our community !! )
#608---The Hal Garner’s
#605—The Will Vanous’s later the Lunter’s ( Paul )
#613---The Alex Rehn’s ( Mary Jane )
#707---The Pete DiMaggio’s ( Phylis, Beverly & Philip )
#708---The Lawrence Springfield’s ( Mary Alice, Rose, Larry , George & Louise )
#710---The George Long’s ( George & Ardith )
 
Severn Ave. Later Melvin Ave.
#200---The Ralph Heise’s ( Betty Ann )
#204--- The Owing’s
#201---The Heise’s
#205---The Bousch’s
#207---The Guare’s (Joan, Jimmy & Douglas )
#211---The Vinton Phillips ( Lorraine )
#210---The Oberry’s
#301---The Epstein’s ( Lil, Evelyn, Paul, Carl, & Leon )
#305---The Harry Stalling’s ( Margaret & Bernie )
#309---The Hambrock’s ( Margaret Mary ), later The Arthur Miller’s (Barbara & Scooch )
#306---The Ray Tolson’s ( Billy & Sharon)
#310---The Charlie Cammarata’s ( Jane, Nadine, Frankie & Caralotta )
#400---The Vaughn’s
#401---The Tulley’s later The Maximillion Parkinson’s
#405—The Kenny Egan’s, later The Jim Parkinson’s ( Jimmy )
#406---The Byron Shaw’s ( Dorothy, Lester & Gilbert (In the side yard, the best June Apple Tree
and Grape Arbor !! Later Harry Nichols ( Donald, Dale, Jimmy, Barbara )
#409---The Foster Guys ( Teresa & Bobby )
#411---The George Egan’s
#500---The Shiley’s ( Earl )
#504---The Shockley’s, later the Allan Quade’s, then the Loftus Stewart’s, then the Alvin
Guare’s, then the Eddie Smith’s ( Sharon & Eddie Jr. )
#501---The West Annapolis Fire Department, which later moved to Jennifer Road.
#505---The Alex Proskey’s, later The Robert Issac’s (Bobbie & Jo) and The Paul Phillip’s (Sharon )
#509---The John W. Sewell’s
#606—The Grand Daddy, Mr. Fred Shaw Sr. & The Stinchcombs, (Ervilee )
#605---The Stalling’s ( Dougie, Bruce & Jeanette ) (Out front, the best Seckel Pear tree anywhere!!!)
#607---The Paggett’s
#701---The Joseph Tayman’s ( Roland & Alice )
#705---The Amos Loren’s
 
Forbes Street
#105—The Bill Davis’s - The three hundred block was called Sylcrest Court.
Revell Street, Renamed Ridgely Ave.
#14---The Wm. Vanous’s
#13---The Robert Bast’s (Robert Jr. )
#100---The Paul Shaw’s ( Ronald Sharon & Richard )
#106---The Sarver’s
#103---The Halbig’s, ( Russ, Carl, Howard, Helen & Kenny )(later the Charlie Frengel’s )
#105---The Hiram Shaw’s ( Donald & Eileen )
#207---The James Loren’s ( Jim & Amos )
#301---The Hambacker’s
Arundel Place, Runs off Ridgely Ave. to the left, going towards the Weem’s Creek Bridge.
#703---The Frank Sazama’s
#705---The George Atherton’s ( George Jr. )
#711---The James Lee’s ( Jimmy Jr. & Violet )
 
Taylor Ave.
#601---The Shreyer’s ( Bill )
#609---The Goodwin’s


Beyond Hromaniks Florist was Boseley’s farm house. The Elk’s Club later purchased this property, and today there stands the new District Court Building.

My intentions of writing this booklet are merely to leave a little bit of information about our community of “Days That Are Long Gone”, for those presently enjoying this neighborhood. This information is based solely on my memory. It may not be one hundred per cent accurate. I hope no one will be offended. I’m only trying to be helpful and I’ve done my very best.

A bit of information about the guy that tried to remember and put into writing this routine of happenings in the past.

I was born on Holland Street in Annapolis City in 1928. This street no longer exist and is the present site of the Naval Academy Field House. My family moved to West Annapolis in 1930. We lived with my grandfather at 509 Severn Ave. Possibly four or five years later we moved to 108 Annapolis Street. My dad and brothers built our own home at 17 Annapolis Street, which we moved into in 1938. I being the youngest boy only had two major jobs to do while the house was being built. My first job was to stay at the new house and watch the tools while the others went to lunch. My second job was to put all the tools away at the end of the workday.

I attended the old brown-shingled schoolhouse on Annapolis Street for four years. I attended the Annapolis Grammar School on Green Street for four years. After completing the seventh grade, I then attended the Annapolis High School for four years on Constitution Ave., graduating in 1946. I found work, doing a variety of jobs, later being hired at the U. S. Post Office on Church Circle in Jan. 1950 as a substitute Clerk-Carrier. I met my future wife at the roller skating rink on West Street. We were married in November of 1950 and I was drafted into the U.S. Army in March of 1951 during the Korean War and served as a sergeant in the Signal Corp. I was fortunate enough to return back home in 1953. I returned to work at the Post Office and retired in 1984 as a level 6 Carrier Technician. We moved into our present home on Monterey Ave. in 1957. We have two grown daughters, both graduating from Frostburg State University and now raising there own families. I am proud of my family, I am proud of my home, I am proud of our community and I am proud of the U.S.A.

 

I am also proud that at the age of seventy-four, I have left some information about our community that may be helpful and a joy for the residence of this community to read and know about THE HISTORY OF WEST ANNAPOLIS, “THE DAYS THAT ARE LONG GONE!”

I’ll finish up this booklet with two little stories that have been passed down over the years. I really don’t want either one to die, so I’ll pass them on to you.

When I was about grade school age, there was an old man living in a home made cave on the bank of College Creek. This was located on shore at the far end of where the Naval Academy Perry Center is today. Along with the cave was a large rope that was hanging from a tree from which his friends would swing out over the water and drop off the rope and swim to shore. I vaguely remember being down there maybe two or three times. The cave was dug in the side of the bank and he had installed some pieces of corrugated sheet metal to keep out the rain. This man’s name was Oscar Warncastle. The story, which I remember about Oscar, was that he was the fastest ice skater in Annapolis. In the days when the bay would freeze, he could ice skate to Baltimore, pick up a loaf of bread and skate back to Annapolis and the bread would still be warm. Like Robert Ripley sez, “ Believe it or Not”

My second story is about the Police Department. This one had to occur way back when there were a number of horses on the streets of Annapolis. It so happened that a horse was killed on Duke of Gloucester Street at the top of Green Street. The policemen, when making out the report stated that the horse was killed on Green St. The report was turned in to headquarters to be filed. At headquarters it was determined that the officer filing the report had made a mistake. He was consulted about the mistake and questioned why he reported the horse being killed on Green Street and not on Duke of Gloucester Street. He replied, “Because I don’t know how to spell Duke of Gloucester Street”.

I thought a good way to end this booklet with a little bit of humor would help all of us to get some enjoyment from my memories of WEST ANNAPOLIS, DAY’S THAT ARE LONG GONE!!

West Annapolis History
By Harold R. Parkinson
(Resident since 1930)