Earlier this month, Preservation Maryland and the Patapsco Valley Heritage Greenway led a preservation-in-progress tour through Ellicott City. We will be offering similar tours and volunteer days in the future, so make sure you are subcribed to our newsletter.
On December 3, 2016, Preservation Maryland’s Ellicott City Field Director, Renee Novak, teamed up with Mary Catherine Cochran, Executive Director of the Patapsco Heritage Greenway, for a behind-the-scenes tour of Ellicott City’s Main Street. Attendees on the two-hour tour learned about the timeline of the devastating July 30th flood that swept through downtown Ellicott City, destroying over 90 businesses and claiming two lives.
Included on the walking tour was a discussion about the impacts of future flood resiliency on the overall environment, and how historic preservation plays a critical role in maintaining this long-term effort. Attendees had the opportunity to meet several business and property owners whose buildings were damaged by the flood and learned first-hand about the various techniques being used to restore these historic buildings.