Went To The Towson Mall Today

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  • brianns

    Ultimate Member
    MDS Supporter
    Dec 29, 2015
    3,559
    Montgomery County
    Here are some photos of Towson Plaza as I remember it. As I said, it has changed.

    The first view is looking north, with Hutzler's in the foreground and Goucher College in the distance.

    The next two are looking south: the second is from May of '59, the month it opened.

    Thanks for putting up the pictures. When I was young I recall there was another deck put on top of the Hutzler's parking lot shown in the picture. I think it predated my awareness of it, but I recall it being covered as early as I could recall when I would be driven there with my Mom through the years.
     

    Threeband

    The M1 Does My Talking
    MDS Supporter
    Dec 30, 2006
    25,234
    Carroll County
    So Towson Plaza became Townson Town Center?

    Yup.

    I last visited maybe 30 years ago, and tried to find some remnant of the place I remembered.

    This is all I could find:

    In the aerial views you can make out an open air courtyard, right in the middle of the complex, where a pair of outdoor escalators connect the upper and lower levels. In that courtyard there was a small fountain.

    That fountain was still there in the 90s. It would be at the very lowest level of the mall.
     

    Michigander08

    ridiculous and psychotic
    MDS Supporter
    May 29, 2017
    7,685
    Yup.

    I last visited maybe 30 years ago, and tried to find some remnant of the place I remembered.

    This is all I could find:

    In the aerial views you can make out an open air courtyard, right in the middle of the complex, where a pair of outdoor escalators connect the upper and lower levels. In that courtyard there was a small fountain.

    That fountain was still there in the 90s. It would be at the very lowest level of the mall.

    I will look for it next time I am there. I usually just go into parking lot E and take elevator up or walking though the entrance that takes you to the food court.
     

    MAH

    Member
    Dec 23, 2013
    4
    Those are some really good pictures. It's amazing to me that Joppa Road was built as a bridge right in front of Hutzler's. I'd love to know why they did that, the cost must have been astronomical.

    Here are some photos of Towson Plaza as I remember it. As I said, it has changed.

    The first view is looking north, with Hutzler's in the foreground and Goucher College in the distance.

    The next two are looking south: the second is from May of '59, the month it opened.
     

    Sundazes

    My brain hurts
    MDS Supporter
    Nov 13, 2006
    21,304
    Arkham
    Those are some really good pictures. It's amazing to me that Joppa Road was built as a bridge right in front of Hutzler's. I'd love to know why they did that, the cost must have been astronomical.

    There were are still are stores under that bridge.
    Apparently, in the 70's I needed a SBQL, because I kept getting run off by the police for skateboarding in/at Towson Plaza.
     

    MAH

    Member
    Dec 23, 2013
    4
    Borders, and then Trader Joe's was there until 5-6 years ago. It was turned into a parking lot about 3 years ago.

    There were are still are stores under that bridge.
    Apparently, in the 70's I needed a SBQL, because I kept getting run off by the police for skateboarding in/at Towson Plaza.
     

    Threeband

    The M1 Does My Talking
    MDS Supporter
    Dec 30, 2006
    25,234
    Carroll County
    Those are some really good pictures. It's amazing to me that Joppa Road was built as a bridge right in front of Hutzler's. I'd love to know why they did that, the cost must have been astronomical.

    The parking lot was at the level of the lowest level of Hutzler's, and I'm pretty sure there was an entrance to the store on that level.

    That was a long time ago, and I have little memory of that spot. I do seem to recall a basement entrance there, though. I do remember the stairs going up to the sidewalk and the ramp for cars to drive up to Joppa Road by the Shell building.

    Joppa Road was only two lanes. I lived a few blocks east of Hutzler's. In 1968 the County widened Joppa Road to four lanes and took 2/3 of our front yard and
    lowered Joppa Road twelve feet. That's when those huge towers were built all over Towson.

    We got out, moved to Columbia.
     

    Threeband

    The M1 Does My Talking
    MDS Supporter
    Dec 30, 2006
    25,234
    Carroll County
    There were are still are stores under that bridge.
    Apparently, in the 70's I needed a SBQL, because I kept getting run off by the police for skateboarding in/at Towson Plaza.

    There was an elderly cop who used to "chase" us for racing shopping carts there and running up the down escalator in the 60s.

    The first skateboards were homemade out of a board and a roller skate. I remember my brother made one. He said it was a surfer thing, from California. I got a store-bought one.
     

    Ammo Jon

    Ultimate Member
    Mar 3, 2008
    20,787
    There were are still are stores under that bridge.
    Apparently, in the 70's I needed a SBQL, because I kept getting run off by the police for skateboarding in/at Towson Plaza.

    The wheel was invented at that point?
     

    MAH

    Member
    Dec 23, 2013
    4
    That is funny about getting out and moving to Columbia. My wife's grandparents moved from Towson, to just outside of what would be Columbia, in the late 1950s because she saw kids in the neighborhood smoking and said Towson was going down hill.

    The parking lot was at the level of the lowest level of Hutzler's, and I'm pretty sure there was an entrance to the store on that level.

    That was a long time ago, and I have little memory of that spot. I do seem to recall a basement entrance there, though. I do remember the stairs going up to the sidewalk and the ramp for cars to drive up to Joppa Road by the Shell building.

    Joppa Road was only two lanes. I lived a few blocks east of Hutzler's. In 1968 the County widened Joppa Road to four lanes and took 2/3 of our front yard and
    lowered Joppa Road twelve feet. That's when those huge towers were built all over Towson.

    We got out, moved to Columbia.
     

    Threeband

    The M1 Does My Talking
    MDS Supporter
    Dec 30, 2006
    25,234
    Carroll County
    That is funny about getting out and moving to Columbia. My wife's grandparents moved from Towson, to just outside of what would be Columbia, in the late 1950s because she saw kids in the neighborhood smoking and said Towson was going down hill.

    Durn kids.

    Sounds like she got out just before Towson Plaza opened.

    They built all those new houses in Campus Hills, off Goucher and Providence. All them durn baby boom kids.

    It really started going to hell when they took the running boards off the cars.
     

    Threeband

    The M1 Does My Talking
    MDS Supporter
    Dec 30, 2006
    25,234
    Carroll County
    There were huge amounts of little cracker box houses built all over after the War. Not just Towson, all over.

    Little boxes, on the hillside,
    Little boxes made of ticky-tacky...

    After WW Two there was a big housing shortage all over the country, as GIs came home, married, and started having kids (that's how they used to do it).

    The housing boom got rolling in the late 40s, and lasted through the 50s and beyond.



     

    Sylvester The Cat

    Active Member
    Jun 18, 2021
    221
    I bought one of those $hit box WW2 houses in Parkville. Sold it for a big loss long ago. Bungalow dump of a home.

    Had a renter. Single mom with 2 kids on lease documented....turned out to be more like 8 coming and going. No good b!tch stole my door knobs on the way out after defaulting on rent.
     

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