Loch Raven Reservoir: What’s YOUR Story?

Last month, I announced that I will be writing the history of Loch Raven Reservoir, with the assistance of the Historical Society of Baltimore County. The book will be written as a story of the watershed area, its own memoir that began in the mid 1850’s and continues today.

In making sure that I capture the exhaustive story of our beloved reservoir, I need your help.

I grew up on the shores of Loch Raven, fishing with my father – sometimes by boat rental from the Fishing Center. As I got older, I studied the stories of ghosts, murders, and even aliens; the legends, the rumors, and the fascinating facts about its history. Yet, it amazes me that every time I bring up the reservoir to a friend or acquaintance, they have some new story to share with me that I had never heard before. It seems like everyone who has ever walked its trails, watched the sun set on Loch Raven Drive, cruised the winding roads with the windows down, or fished its waters has a story to tell.

And… I want to hear them.

I’ve created a form where you can be as brief or as lengthy as you want to be in sharing your story. No anecdote, no experience, no “everybody knows” story is insignificant. No publication of this kind exists, and I want to make sure we get it right in telling the complete story of Loch Raven Reservoir.

What am I looking for specifically?

Childhood memories, photographs, rumors, experiences, memorials, legends, mysteries, stories passed down to you from grandparents, family traditions — all of it. If you picnicked on the grounds off of Dulaney Valley Road before it was shut down (the brother-in-law of a wonderful friend once told me it was because he and his friends fought too much there!), I want to hear your stories. If you remember the old “bridge number 1” before it was replaced, I want you to share. If you hike the trail off Seminary Road every single day, I want to talk with you. If your ancestors wrote about or visited the Glen Ellen Castle before it was torn down, I want to buy you coffee and chat. If you have a personal connection to any of the flooded towns – including Warren – I want to know it all. Whatever your story or experience is, I’d love to hear it.

I even want to hear about things YOU want to read about. What fascinates you about Loch Raven? Intrigues you? Puzzles you?

Here’s the link: My Loch Raven Reservoir Story. Please share as many stories as you like. I welcome them all. Here is the URL of the survey: https://forms.gle/2dM9HS8BC8B53N4C9

Also, please share the new website, www.lochravenreservoir.org (or even just the link to the form) far and wide. Help me spread the word so that we can capture the WHOLE story of Loch Raven!

Thank you!

Rus VanWestervelt (rus@rusvanwestervelt.org)