Patapsco River Tour Hike

The Patapsco River bottom, from just below the current Woodstock Bridge upriver to Possum Hollow, had once been part of the Woodstock Jesuit College grounds. John Brantley, who led the tour, began by pointing out where the original St. Alphonsus Church stood; the church was destroyed after a lightning strike in 1968. On the river bottom, just below the church site, the Woodstock Jesuits established their first baseball diamond in 1870, a ball field used by various Granite and Woodstock sandlot teams for many decades thereafter. Along the river trail John pointed out various spots cherished by the Jesuits, including a large sandbar which the Jesuits called “The Beach” and two large, impressive rock outcroppings jutting into the river, one named “Theologians Rock” and one “Meditation Rock”. Between those two outcroppings there is still visible stonework which once provided footing for “Gil Schmidt’s Bridge”, a swinging bridge which spanned a narrow spot in the river during the early 1900s.