'Dickensian Baltimore' recalls era of commerce, and poverty

(Towson Times) Long before Towson resident John McGrain became the historian for Baltimore County, he began taking photographs of Baltimore City.
He took his first photo 65 years ago, said McGrain, who was the unofficial county historian for years before he became the official historian in 1998. He retired from that post in 2006.
It has been said of McGrain that he not only knows where the bodies are buried in the county, he knows what they were wearing. Continued