Essex

Advertised in a 1909 sales brochure as �The Rising Suburb of the East,� Essex, Maryland, has seen its fate and fortune rise and fall and rise again. The town enjoyed its early reputation as a haven for city dwellers with picnic groves, hunting and fishing clubs, dance halls, and waterfront amusement parks. The boom continued with new jobs and prosperity until the 1950s, when a fire destroyed much of the town�s main street. Economic decay set in as a result of the loss of industry and an influx of low-income housing. Several attempts at redevelopment and legislation failed, resulting in the residents� distrust of government intervention. Finally a county-backed Renaissance project was established in 2002, bringing Essex a new epithet: �The Hidden Gem of Baltimore County.�