Winters Lane - Greenwood Electric Park

Greenwood Electric Park was a rentable park used for family picnics and community outings in the Winters Lane area for Black families and residents in the area. It was a wildly successful amusement park that attracted visitors from all over the Baltimore metro area.

Electric Parks were fashionable at the time to highlight the relatively new electric lighting of building and recreational areas; there were several “Electric Parks” in Baltimore The Park was established about 1910 by the Catonsville Cooperative Corporation, a group of local Black businessmen who held shares in the corporation.

The Catonsville Cooperative Corporation, incorporated in 1890), was important to the development of African American businesses in Catonsville, prompting Winters Lane residents to operate and eventually own local commercial establishments.  The Catonsville Cooperative Corporation held its last meeting in the early 1960s.

The Park was located near the intersection of Winters Lane and Main Ave, but the exact location is unknown. It was very popular among the young Black population - dances and parties were held there. The park is mentioned in several of the reminiscences of senior citizens found in Diggs’ book “It All Started on Winters Lane”. See the below drawing of the Park from the Diggs collection. The park closed sometime in the 1930s.