Mayor Preston’s Pone

With the citizens of Baltimore eager to look forward, the 2016 mayoral election is already an issue that has been generating a lot of interest. That’s as much as I will say on that topic which I am opportunistically using to segue into yet another excuse to bake cornbread.

This corn pone recipe was contributed to “Eat, Drink and Be Merry in Maryland” by James H. Preston, who had served out his two terms as Mayor of Baltimore by the time of that book’s publication. Preston served from 1911-1919, which was an important time for Baltimore in terms of adapting to widespread automobile usage and other urban updates.

“As mayor, Preston established many elements of Baltimore city’s modern infrastructure: the completion of the sewerage and water systems, paving many roads and building others, providing the impetus for the formation of the Baltimore Symphony, and the establishment of a city flag.” – Maryland Historical Society

Preston may be most famous for the formation of a terraced park on a downtown strip of St. Paul street that is now known as “Preston Gardens.” Accounts differ as to the intentions for building this park. According to some, Mayor Preston was a visionary who “felt communities needed ‘a place to congregate, reflect and admire beauty.’” Other accounts describe the park plan as a way to remove a black community under the pretext of it being a ‘slum’ in order to promote segregation downtown.

“…the first clearance of a slum area was completed in 1919 and was followed by James H. Preston’s planned widening of St. Paul Street and the construction of a park (known to proponents as Preston Gardens and to detractors as Preston’s Folly.) This first iteration of slum reclamation set a pattern in which the promise of increased tax revenue motivated site selection more than did housing provision or public health.” – Infectious Fear: Politics, Disease, and the Health Effects of Segregation By Samuel Roberts

At least some of that might sound eerily familiar to informed Baltimoreans of the modern era.

1926 Postcard of Preston Gardens showing parking lot in foreground

Preston was certainly no visionary when it came to race, as this 1911 clip from the Afro-American demonstrates:

The St. Paul Street park lives on and remains beloved by many, even after alternating eras of neglect and restoration. Preston also oversaw the covering of part of the Jones Falls downtown to create the Fallsway.  This drastic transformation is often credited as an advance in public health, concealing the filthy water and putting an end to the expensive, deadly floods that the falls occasionally experienced.

Another interesting event I found during Preston’s term was the 1914 “Star-Spangled Banner Centennial.” Five years later, a “Report of the City Officers and Departments“ documents praise for Mayor James H. Preston for devoting his “time and ability” for the planning of the celebration which “reflected the greatest credit upon the people of Baltimore and.. also brought our City of Baltimore to the attention of the world in a way most gratifying to all Baltimoreans…” In light of the continuing pride that Baltimore takes in all things “Star Spangled,” this event has had a lasting legacy.

History rarely leaves us with heroes or visionaries, and frankly neither do elections. The best we can ever seem to do is inch forward and perhaps reflect backwards.

Recipe:

• 3 Cups cornmeal
• 1 scant Teaspoon baking soda
• 3 eggs
• 1 teaspoon of sugar
• 1 Cup lard, melted
• 2 Cups buttermilk

Sift together corn meal and soda. Beat eggs and sugar together, add buttermilk and meal. Lastly, stir in the lard. Pour into hot skillet. Bake at 425 for fifteen to twenty minutes.

Recipe adapted from “Eat, Drink & Be Merry in Maryland”