Alberton Area, Patapsco State Park

Rock Formation along Alberton Rd.

Alberton Area [map] is a relatively unknown portion of Patapsco Valley State Park [gallery], and it's a fairly unique part of the park as well.  This section of the park is actually an old road that once led to an old town called Daniels, MD.  Daniels was a mill town that had its beginnings in the early 19th century, but was abandoned in the late 1960s.  The remnants of the town were later destroyed by Hurricane Agnes in 1972.  The storm flooded the banks of the river, destroyed the town and pushed cars up the hills.  The area was never rebuilt, so the forest grew up around the ruins of buildings and old cars.  In a very real sense, this area is the reversal of the general trend of human interaction with nature.  Here, nature is reclaiming and renewing what man had made and abandoned.

Alberton Rd Path

I love going to this part of the park.  It reminds me of the resilience and renewing strength of nature.  There's a small parking area at the entrance to Alberton Rd, and you can walk the trail as long as you choose.  I've never gone too much farther than the dam on the Patapsco, but I love the walk.  As you're walking the trail, keep your eyes to the right, and look up the hills.  If you look carefully, you'll see the ruins of an old stone church, called St. Stanislas Kostka Church Church. The ruins are beautiful--to me it's a spiritual place.

Church Ruins

The grounds may not seem like much, but as you look more closely at the ruins, the combination of the stone structure and the trees has given me some of my favorite architectural compositions.

Church Ruins

Church Ruins

Spider on Vine by the Church Ruins

Also around that area, you can see the remains of old cars.  I suspect they were pushed up the hills when the floods came and were just left there.  They are very interesting photographic subjects, as nature takes them over.  If you walk farther down the road, you'll find another church, and more of it is standing.  There's graffiti on the remaining walls, and it's not quite as photogenic as the stone church, but it still can provide some interesting compositions.  All the park areas, like McKeldin and Avalon, have great photographic potential.  The renewal element present here make this a wonderfully unique place to see.

Car uphill from Alberton Rd.