"South Shore of the Patapsco" Curtis Bay by grandmaR

Sunset from the cruise ship

On June 29, 1663, 200 acres of land north of Arundel Cove, on which part of the U.S. Coast Guard Yard is now located, was a large U-shaped peninsula which was "patented" to one Paul Kinsey, who named his estate "Curtis' Neck". Kinsey was the first colonist to take title to any property in northern Anne Arundel County. This is the area know as "Brooklyn-Curtis Bay", bounded on the north and east by the Patapsco River and its Middle Branch and on the south and west by the Baltimore City Limits of 1919 - an area of about 4½ square miles and an approximate population of 23,000. Furnace and Marley Creeks (which have streets named after them) unite to form Curtis Creek and its cove, Curtis Bay

Its individual communities and neighborhoods consist of Brooklyn, Curtis Bay, Fairfield, Wagner's Point (or East Brooklyn), and Hawkins Point. Just across the city line in Anne Arundel County are the communities of Brooklyn Park, Brooklyn Heights, Arundel Gardens, Arundel Village, and Roland Terrace whose beginnings are shared with us now in the city. We used to live in Brooklyn Park and we made clear that Brooklyn Park was our address and not Brooklyn-Curtis Bay or even just Baltimore (we had a Baltimore zip code) because insurance rates were much higher in Baltimore City.

Shore from the Key Bridge

In 1976, construction of the Baltimore Beltway was completed with the opening of the Outer Harbor Crossing facility AKA the Key Bridge, (top photo) bridging the Patapsco from Hawkins Point to opening of Sollers Point in Dundalk. Included in this project have been two bridges over Curtis Creek; one for the Beltway and one for Pennington Avenue to replace the 1930 Curtis Creek Bridge.