Town file
Middle River, Maryland
Middle River, Maryland (Baltimore County, Maryland) is the town in one episode of Small Town Murder, the comedy true-crime podcast: episode 178, "Proud To Be Cruel" (2 July 2020). Middle River is an unincorporated community in Baltimore County, Maryland, about 25 minutes from Baltimore and roughly 95 minutes from Philadelphia.
- Town
- Middle River
- County
- Baltimore County
- State
- Maryland
- Country
- USA
- Episodes
- 178
- Approximate location
- 39.340, -76.429
Episode 178 / 2 July 2020 / 157 min / full
Proud To Be Cruel
"Middle River, yeah, it's north central Maryland... 25 minutes to Baltimore; later, this is in Baltimore County, as a matter of fact" about 0:05:00
The case: Murder spree of (August to September 1990). Read the case file.
The figures, as told in 2020
- Population
- 25,654
- Median age
- 38
- Median household income
- $59,113
- Median home value
- $205,300
- Two-bedroom rent
- about $1,270
- Cost of living
- 101
- Religious
- 41%
- Property crime
- ▲ about 50% high
- Violent crime
- ▲ about 25% high
History, in brief
- Middle River was once known as Little Appalachia. about 0:06:23
- Families came down from West Virginia and the hills for factory and wartime jobs in Baltimore in the 1940s, 1950s and 1960s, then stayed. about 0:07:40
- The town butts up against Essex, and Eastern Avenue in Essex was once made of oyster shells. about 0:09:24
- One of the big groves served a fish sandwich and a glass of beer for five cents. about 0:10:07
- Lewis Holzneck came back from the First World War and with his brothers built an ice plant. about 0:10:20
- Before that, the Highland town ice company cut ice from a pond in freezing winters and stored it in an ice house. about 0:10:29
- President Taft was inaugurated in 1909 during a huge blizzard here. about 0:11:02
- Local lore has a roadhouse saving a freezing man's life; he asked for a priest and last rites, then died anyway. about 0:11:08
- During the flood of August 1933 boats were washed up on the car tracks over Back River and the bridge was condemned. about 0:11:31
- The last car over the bridge was half full of water and the occupants did not know how they crossed it. about 0:11:47
- A piano washed off Pleasure Island at Bay Shore all the way around the bay to Porter's Bar, and a new house was washed overboard at Bowley's Quarters. about 0:12:03
- Street cars were overturned in the flood, and afterwards a new bridge was built. about 0:12:15
The reviews read out
3 stars
"Schools are in walking distance, but the area does not seem like a safe place for a kid to be walking around alone."about 0:12:38
2 stars
"Some neighbours are nice, but many people degrade the area and litter; people are loud and obnoxious, it is a poor area with no manners, overall below average."about 0:13:20
2 stars
"Kids are constantly throwing stuff into people's yards and harassing the neighbours' animals."about 0:13:52
2 stars
"I would not move here if I had the opportunity and would continue to search for a new place."about 0:14:17
2 stars
"Unhealthy lifestyles are common, with doped-up people walking into the grocery store, many obese people and bad hygiene."about 0:14:41
2 stars
"People here are rude and trashy and it is not uncommon to see multiple people on the news being murdered; the problem is safety."about 0:15:40
Nearest Small Town Murder towns
- Joppatowne, Maryland6.7 miles
- Elkridge, Maryland19 miles
- Cape St. Claire, Maryland20 miles
- Westminster, Maryland35 miles
- Lothian, Maryland37 miles
- Largo, Maryland38 miles
Everything here is as told in the episode, on the date it went out; figures and places may have changed since. Endings are covered: open an episode and use the spoiler switch to read them.