Weltmer Bowl

The Weltmer Bowl is a multi purpose athletic field on the grounds of Spring Grove Hospital Center, a state-operated psychiatric hospital that is located in Catonsville, near Baltimore, Maryland. The field was built in 1936 and is named after Silas W. Weltmer, M.D., who was the hospital's superintendent during the 1930s and 1940s. Weltmer Bowl is the final resting place of hundreds of deceased patients, many of whom were never claimed by their families, or became wards of the State. Burial of patients stopped by 1960. [ cite web|url=http://www.springgrove.com/HistoryPics/weltmer1.html |title=The Weltmer Bowl |accessdate=2007-04-30]

The Bowl is most known for baseball. During its heyday in the 1930s to the 1960s, the bowl was standing room only for the hospital's baseball team. This field saw many future Major League stars, and future Hall of Famers. In the early 1960s, Hall of Famer Reggie Jackson played here, and his team defeated Spring Grove for the championship. The Welmer Bowl is regularly used today for amateur and semi professional baseball, softball, soccer and lacrosse.

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