The Dickeyville Historic District [†] is a rare and remarkably preserved example of a complete nineteenth-century mill town. The district encompasses residential, public, and industrial buildings, many of which have survived with little alteration. Its architecture and layout reflect four distinct periods of economic and community growth, each marked by characteristic building styles and materials.
The story of Dickeyville begins in April 1672, when Richard Gwynn received exclusive trading rights with local Native Americans along Gwynns Falls. In 1719, Peter Bond, Gwynn’s son-in-law, established a mill on the falls, though no physical remnants of this earliest period remain. In 1762, Swiss gristmill owner Wimburt Tschudi built a small stone house nearby. The foundations of this house, along with the Tschudi family burial plot, are still visible on what was then called Tschudi’s Mill Road (now Wetheredsville Road). The only other surviving structure from this period is at 2500 Pickwick Road, originally a row of six fieldstone and cement houses built for workers around 1790. These dwellings are characterized by asymmetrically placed windows and small glass panes, reflecting the vernacular architecture of the late eighteenth century.
The next significant phase began with the establishment of the Franklin Paper Mill, referenced in an 1811 deed and located near the present Forest Park Avenue bridge. During the War of 1812, specifically after the Battle of North Point and the siege of Fort McHenry in 1814, wounded officers were brought to recuperate in the mill dwellings. Later in the nineteenth century, some officers’ quarters from Fort McHenry were dismantled and reconstructed in Dickeyville, further connecting the village to Baltimore’s broader history.
A major transformation occurred in 1829 when the Wethered family purchased the Franklin Paper Mills and converted them to textile manufacturing, renaming the business Ashland Mills and the town Wetheredsville. This era ushered in prosperity and expansion. A new mill was constructed, along with additional mill houses, a superintendent’s house, and a mansion for the Wethered family. The Wethereds also donated land for a church, known as Ashland Chapel, and the stone I.O.O.F. Hall was dedicated in 1853. Surviving public buildings from this era include the 1832 stone schoolhouse (now a residence at 5002 Wetheredsville Road), the former Ashland Chapel at 2311 Pickwick Road (now a private residence), and the I.O.O.F. Hall at 2412 Pickwick Road.
This period was also marked by hardship. In 1854, the Ashland plant burned down. Three years later, the Powhatan Dam upstream broke, causing approximately $100,000 in damages to the mills. In 1868, a large flood washed away several houses and part of the school. The greatest loss occurred in 1863, when, because the Quaker Wethereds insisted on providing cloth for both Union and Confederate uniforms, the mills were confiscated by Union forces during the Civil War.
In April 1871, as a result of court proceedings against the Wethereds, the entire mill town was sold at auction to William J. Dickey, and the village was renamed Dickeyville. Under the Dickey Company, the town entered another period of growth and modernization. Many new homes for workers were constructed, primarily in the Victorian style, using both stone and frame construction. The mills were converted to steam power in 1881, and the business expanded to include the manufacture of cotton goods. The Dickey Memorial Presbyterian Church, financed largely by the Dickey family, was built in 1885, and the school was expanded with frame additions to create both a high school and a primary school. Community facilities such as a jail, a free dispensary, and a social hall were also established.
Notable buildings from this era include the 1872 mill warehouse at 2423 Pickwick Road (now an artist’s studio-residence), the stone row at 2407–2411 Pickwick Road (circa 1874), and the 1872 building at 2435 Pickwick Road, which served as the mill office and jail. The mill itself, as it exists today, was built by the Dickey Company in 1873 to replace an earlier mill that had burned. It is constructed of stone with brick trim, painted white, and is now used as a warehouse.
The prosperity of Dickeyville began to wane after 1909, when the Dickey family sold the mills to the Glasgow Mill. With rapid advances in the textile industry, the mill machinery became obsolete, and the new owners subdivided the property into small lots, contributing to the town’s economic depression. However, in the early 1930s, a mill warehouse was converted into an artist’s studio, paving the way for the restoration and revitalization of the neighborhood. Old houses were redesigned, and the character of the historic village was preserved. Dickeyville was annexed to Baltimore City in 1918 and became a designated Historic District under the city’s Commission for Historical and Architectural Preservation in 1969.
Dickeyville is remarkable for its architectural diversity and integrity. Structures from four distinct building periods are easily discernable, reflecting the economic and social changes that shaped the community. The earliest homes, such as those at 2500 Pickwick Road, use fieldstone and cement with irregular window placement, a hallmark of the late eighteenth century. The Franklin Paper Mill period introduced larger, more symmetrical stone houses. The Wethered era brought more pretentious workers’ dwellings, painted white, as well as important public buildings. The Dickey Company period is marked by Victorian-style stone and frame houses, as well as significant community buildings like the church, school, and social hall.
Despite the construction of some modern houses since the village’s renaissance, all new development has been carefully designed to harmonize with the older structures and the character of the neighborhood. The original millstream, dam, and pond are still in existence, providing open space and maintaining the rural appearance of the village.
A surviving nineteenth-century mill town is unusual in itself; that one has survived within the limits of a major East Coast city is truly extraordinary. Dickeyville is not only a unique survival of four periods of growth from the late eighteenth century through the Victorian era, but it is also Baltimore’s earliest example of a community restoration project. The district remains a living record of the evolution of industrial communities in America, illustrating cycles of prosperity, disaster, decline, and revitalization.
† Adapted from: The Dickeyville Historic District National Register of Historic Places nomination form was prepared by: Romaine S. Somerville, Executive Secretary, and Catherine F. Black, Preservation Commission for Historical and Architectural Preservation. The form was completed and signed in March 1972. Additionally, the original survey for the district was conducted by the Commission for Historical and Architectural Preservation in 1967 and the district was designated by Baltimore City Ordinance #331 on January 27, 1969. The nomination was officially reviewed and signed by the State Liaison Officer, Orlando Ridout IV, on May 12, 1972.
Street Names
Cottontail Lane • Forest Park Avenue West • Pickwick Road • Purnell Drive • Sekots Road • Tucker Lane • Weaver Lane • Wetheredsville Road