Neighborhoods can be fluid. I'd challenge Mr. (or Mrs.) Hidemyfacebehindanonymous to look at any of the old city neighborhood maps and see what neighborhoods have disappeared and sprung up.

Sure, some have stayed the same whereas others have expanded.

And let's be honest, I never remembered old Canton of my youth being all that to write home about.

Warehouses and whorehouses, as my grandfather used to say...

Just for s***s & giggles, can anon say where Snake Hill used to be?

Right around the corner from Annabelle Lee.
Good luck finding it now.

He/she should send this letter to the Annabel Lee itself, because they also think they're in Canton (according to the Web site).

This reminds me of a similar angry letter to the editor we received at my college paper several years ago. The only thing missing from your letter and that one is the use of the word "whippersnappers."

Sadly, we could not print ours, as it was dated 1986, and it just didn't seem ethical to print a letter from an individual who thought he was living some 20 years in the past...

If you go to Baltimore City's i-map: http://maps.baltimorecity.gov/imap/default.aspx

you will see that Eastern is the divide between Highlandtown and Canton and that S. Conkling is the divide between Canton and Brewers Hill.

Wow, speaking of someone needing prunes!

Joyce W. the writer does NOT need prunes. The writer needs an ENEMA! There is a difference Joyce W.(!!!) Prunes are used south of Mulberry Street to relax digestive stress. While enem ... Wait. Sorry. I was thinking this was Sam's blog. Apologies Joyce W. Smoke if you got 'em, babe.

It was many and many an hour ago,
In a city, hon, by the sea,
That a commenter there whom you may know
By the name of Anonymous Lee;
And these comments he served with no other thought
Than to pinpoint where Highland town be.

I was a foodie and he was a map,
In this kingdom, hon, by the sea;
But we cooked on a stove that was more than stove-
usually convectionally;
With a deep fryer and a Bertazzoni
Coveted by Amicci’s.

And this was the reason that, long ago,
In this kingdom, hon, by the sea,
A wind blew out of a loud commenter
by the name of Anonymous Lee;
And brought his highhorse kinsman shame
And bored us to death did he,
Pinpointing a well known restaurant
In this kingdom, hon, by the sea.

The angels, not half so happy in heaven,
Went envying blogs and me-
Yes!- that was the reason (as all men know,
In this kingdom, hon, by the sea)
That the wind came out of the commenter,
Chilling and filling my pint glass for free.

But our stove it was hotter by far than the stoves
Of those who were colder than we- (duh)
with far more Budweiser than we-
And neither the angels in heaven above,
Nor the demons down under the sea,
Can ever dissever the quote from the throat
Of disgusted Anonymous Lee.

For the moon never beams without bringing me dreams
Of the commenter Anonymous Lee;
And three stars never rise but I feel the hot sighs
Of the commenter Anonymous Lee;
And so, all the night-tide, I lie down by the side
Of my blender- my shaker- my knife and my … corkscrew?
In the restaurant there by the sea,
In Canton, hon, by the sounding sea.

Actually, this is a very interesting question. Old timers in my neighborhood (Highland Ave. and Foster Ave.) come down on both sides of the issue.

Some of them say this has always been Highlandtown.

Others say that the border between Canton and Highlandtown is Foster Ave.

This is the first time I've heard Hudson Ave., or Eastern Ave., for that matter.

jl. God's sake, man. How do you do that?

I call them both the suburbs, full of people who WISH they lived in Fells' Point!

Annabel Lee is in Highlandtown, but claims to be in Canton, and is in Canton emotionally.

Canton used to just be a few blocks. Now it is eating the SE. I blame it on the realtors and out of town buyers who take realtors seriously.

I sometimes say that I live in Roland Park West.

The city maps consider it to be in Canton, as MB said. Eastern is the dividing line.

Of course that also puts the Highlandtown branch of the library in Brewers Hill.

neighborhood boundaries are one of the strangest controversies in this city.

I live in Glen Burnie, but in the future, I'm going to claim to be from South Federal Hill! What's a body of water (or two) between friends?

Yes. I say that I live in Federal Hill West.

Rob o' X Keys: We lived in Hampden (note the silent "p") for many years and we took to a' calling it "Roh-LAWND Place." The other name we used was your "Roland Park West." Hey great minds...The folk in Hampden actually called our neighborhood (north of 41st) "Rich Hampden" if you can believe it. We lived in 16-foot row houses instead of their 14-footers.

jl, you have talents that have yet to be tapped! There could be a book deal in this for you!

Lissa, "in Canton emotionally"?
Is that like being a citizen of Brigadoon or Margaritaville?
Or am I intellectually in Itawamba, Mississippi?

jl, are you channeling Edgar A. Poe now? Another brilliant bit!

My mother was born in a house on Patomac Street (Canton) and later moved to a house in the part of highlandtown that is now known as "Brewer's Hill".

she said that growing up, Canton started (or ended depending on which direction you're walking) at Highland Ave...which means that Annabel Lee IS in Canton!!!!

Great piece of purloined
Poe-try, JL. You're a raven genius!

When I was writing my nightlife review of the Annabel Lee, I realized the whole Highlandtown vs. Canton thing could set people off. I talked to Fred Rasmussen and Jacques Kelly about it, and together, we decided to go with "where Canton meets Highlandtown." Perfect.

Why didn't you tell me this earlier? EL

Lets wait until anonymous tries to sell his/her place. Probably list it as Canton!

Highlandtown, Canton, Federal Hill, New-South-Federal-Glen-Severn-on-the-Patuxent (Annapolis)...you call it what you want. I'm here for the food.

EL - can you take a picture of the rants and post each as an image?

Yeeeaaaah, its definitely all of us hippie, yuppy, rich kids bringing the crime to Canton. Please! I guess your creepy anonymous writer hasn’t looked out his window recently to see the sheer amount of young people who are choosing to raise families in the area. What a weirdo!

OK, now that we have the Canton issue resolved, perhaps we can discuss the Federal Hill vs South Baltimore vs Locust Point debacle? I'll start: anything below Fort Ave., NOT Federal Hill. Hear that, Rub, No Idea, Reserve? And oh yeah, you too Bicycle, and Taps. You're a little too close to Fort for my Federal Hill sensibilities.

Seriously, though, I blame the realtors.

It's like when the people of Nottingham took over Perry Hall. The hippies of Canton have taken over Fells Point, Highlandtown...What's next? Oh my God. They've taken over Federal Hill!!! Now they're headed to...Pigtown!!!

Awhhh... while I admit it's unfair such anger was directed to Elizabeth, there's something about the letter itself that makes me smile. One of Baltimore's best features is the distinctive character of the neighborhoods, and I kinda love that there's an old school Highlandtown resident out there defending his or her home turf.

Excellent point. EL

don't we all live in the great megalopolis of Boswash?

Doug, blame the news too. Now Brooklyn is southside!

Very funny when old timers from southside say they're moving to the county...Brooklyn.

You city slickers ain't the only ones got you border issues. I live in Gamber, got a Sykesville mailing address, but everybody calls it Finksburg.
I need a GPS just to determine if I've left my driveway.

@dirth- Last I heard, it was expanded to BosRich!

I live in Ruxton North. Is that better than West Towson

Wow, jl. Maybe we could conduct guided tours of your brain.

Kitkat - I grew up in Riderwood, and some of the folks in Ruxton would become highly upset if Ruxton was referred to as Riderwood

I was born in great area (Now LOWER Charles Village, aka Chuck Village) that didn't even become Charles Village till after my Ps and I moved "uptown." Now that "uptown" address, to which I've moved back--a few blocks north of Union Memorial Hospital--is considered "downtown," which is fine w/ me--I'm a downtown kind of person. My decades WAY up north in Towson (WEST Towson) were an aberration.

BTW, the city map disagrees with the Baltimore Parking Authority about the current name of the neighborhood where I live now.

--cl

My parents currently own a house (which may be up for sale soon) several doors from the restaurant. My grandfather owned several houses and lived several doors away for 70+ years, and since I consider him an authority on Highlandtown, that's what it will always be to me.

Trixie - I don't know exactly where I live. Thornleigh I think, but could be Riderwood. Still always aspire for Ruxton.

Wow Kitkat, if you live near the elementary school, you are right around the corner from where I lived and my folks still do! Yeah, I do believe that is also considered Riderwood.

"Better Waverly" is still my favorite neighborhood name,

Even better than Hoes Heights?
Four by Four?
Langston Hughes?
"Forest Park" being right next to "The Concerned Citizens of Forest Park?"

Odie B, for some reason my brain censors "Hoes Heights."

Trixie - I'm on east side of Thornton right beside the stream nearer to Jeffers

jl, I must have been your neighbor for the past twenty years before I returned to Baltimore. I love the fact that every crossroads in Carroll County has a location name. I used to refer to my location in the Sykesville zipcode (& of course, now the post office is actually in Eldersburg) as Gamber-ish. Clarinda, I remember that you grew up in Chuck. I was one of the 70s rehabbers in CV. Now the real estate folks want to extend Charles Village all the way to North Avenue.

City Redux, you must know ... I think it's Smallville? ... at 32 and Deer Park. A deserted gas station, a church, a church converted into a gift shop and the cemetery. Talk about a small town. 98% of its residents are supine and subterranean.

I tell ya Dahlink, the fun you can have with the wall-sized City Neighborhoods map is infinite.

I've had it for going on 3 years and still look at it weekly.

For instance, did you know we actually have an intersection of Pothouse & High in the city?

It's a block from the intersection of High & Low.

Kitkat - It is a small world. My folks live on the other side of the stream, where the field is! If you ever see a woman walking a beagle mix, that's me!

I thought Hoes Heights was that stretch of Calvert Street just above Mt. Royal.

jl - it's Smallwood. The live population does increase once a year for the annual Dutch Picnic LOL There's a really nice park if you turn right at the church.

Smallwood! City, that's it. And I've seen the picnic but never had the courage to check it out. Next time. And I'll check out the park. I've been curious, but always in a hurry to be somewhere beyond.

I have lived in Bel Air (that's two syllables) for 19 years. One way to get there from Baltimore is to take Bel Air Road (and that's one syllable, pronounced "B'lair"). Go figure!

Canon, it may be more appropriate to describe the town as two words (Bel Air) while the street is actually one word (Belair Road, not Bel Air Road).

My favorite realtor misnomer is calling parts of Govans "Old Homeland." Although Anonomous was a stinker about the whole thing, its part of being from Baltimore to be proud of YOUR neighborhood. That's why we love this place, after all...

When I was looking for a house to buy in Baltimore, I was confused at the listings. For instance, when I looked up the address for a house in Canton, it seemed to actually be in Highlandtown (or Brewers Hill, or Patterson Park). I didn't care one way or the other, I just wanted a nice, affordable, house. But to echo ET's comment, I really love how long-time Baltimoreans are so defensive about their neighborhoods.

I ended up (obviously) buying a house in Hampden. NOT Medfield! It seems Medfieldians do not want to be considered part of Hampden. I don't know why. What's so bad about Hampden, and what's so good about Medfield?

To get back to a food-related topic, Hampden has King's Grilled Kabob!

I can't figure out why you never include Linwoods in Owings Mills in any reviews. It is a great restaurant and I have eaten there for 15 years and yet to have a bad meal. the service is perfect and people seem to want to make you happy.

Yes, I've always given it good reviews. Maybe it's time to go back. EL

foreign spam at 6:09!

Also a shill spam at 6:10 AM (which, like the 6:09 AM post, is from the German branch of that European family of electronics websites).

And a special shout-out to Joyce W. for joining the effort to point out shillers and spammers!

Thanks, hmpstd! My pleasure to help protect and serve!