Safe Harbor Mini-Adventure: Safe Harbor Village

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Location: Find the . 40°02’35.6″N 76°18’16.5″W.

History Brief: A short distance from Safe Harbor Dam (and also celebrating its 90th anniversary) is The Village at Safe Harbor. It is likely the most unique planned community in the entire county. The “village” is a single street in size and comprised of 21 beautiful English Tudor-style buildings, a Bachelor Quarters apartment, and a multipurpose building complete with a ballroom for all for Safe Harbor workers and their families.

Clue: Find a 3D printed gray medallion with black lettering attached to a tree near. It is hanging around eye level. Record what’s printed on it. (five letter word)

Rest of the Story: The dam was not the only construction project at Safe Harbor in the early 1930s. Just a few hundred yards away, one of the more unique planned communities in the entire county was being built—The Village at Safe Harbor. 

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This was to be no shantytown of temporary buildings. The Safe Harbor Power Corporation commissioned architects to design beautiful English Tudor-style buildings along a single street. There were 21 brick and half-timber single-family homes, a Bachelor Quarters apartment, and a multipurpose building complete with a ballroom for workers and their families.

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Aerial view of the Village of Safe Harbor.

Also, there were two office buildings to serve as administrative headquarters associated with the dam and its operation. Work on the complex began in 1929, with most aspects completed by 1932.

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During construction in the early 1930s.

During WWII, the Village also temporarily housed U.S. Military troops to protect the hydroelectric plant immediately following the attack on Pearl Harbor. Those troops were not misplaced as Adolf Hitler had Safe Harbor targeted as a strategic point, for at the time, it primarily powered the railroads and the city of Baltimore with its ports and industry.

Safe Harbor Partners LP purchased the 210-acre property in 2014 for $1.25 million from Safe Harbor Water Power Corp. Homes, apartments, and office space in the historic buildings are available for rent today.

Additional Location Details

For a shortcut to the Village at Safe Harbor, find the long staircase where Powerhouse Road terminates at River Road.

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