“[The Edmondson Village Shopping Center] was such a beautiful place, especially at night when the stores were lit up and the signs were lit up,” says lifelong Edmondson Village community member Lashelle Bynum. Screenshot from video by Baltimore Heritage.

As more Americans were able to afford cars in the 1940s, developers Joseph and Jacob Meyerhoff set out to create a shopping center that people could drive to.

Built in 1947, the Edmondson Village Shopping Center was inspired by the architecture of Colonial Williamsburg.

In this video, Baltimore Heritage executive director Johns Hopkins and lifelong Edmondson Village resident Lashelle Bynum talk about the shopping center’s history, as well as how white flight and the rise of other shopping centers and malls in the area impacted businesses in Edmondson Village.

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Marcus Dieterle

Marcus Dieterle is the managing editor of Baltimore Fishbowl. He returned to Baltimore in 2020 after working as the deputy editor of the Cecil Whig newspaper in Elkton, Md. He can be reached at marcus@baltimorefishbowl.com...