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.Bata Shoe Factory, Belcamp, Maryland

.Many thanks to Ed for the above image

     The history of Belcamp ( now known more as Riverside ) can account it's history to the Bata Shoe Company. Located on the Bush River, Czech refugees started the plant around the 1930's and was the areas main employer for years, with about 3,000 workers at one point. One of the interesting features of the old Bata Factory  located in Belcamp Maryland ( Harford County ) ,  was that you could actually look right through the building. The building sat more or less vacant from the 1980's through to 2005. The Bata Shoe Factory even had it's own small movie theatre for employees, listed in the Film Daily Yearbook for years as the " Belcamp Theatre" . A walk across Rt 40 and workers could catch a train to Aberdeen or Baltimore.  One emailer wrote us to say employees could actually walk across the Bush River to work, as the water wasn't really that deep. Much of the complex was torn down in the 1990's,  but in early 2005, the  rest of the complex, a large warehouse of windows came down to make way for a  new complex.


Belcamp's Bata show factory in the 1950's
..Drawing of the Bata Shoe Factory, circa 1953 and below a photo from the same year .
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An early shot of the Bata Shoe Factory Building in Belcamp Maryland.
(Circa 1930's)
I believe this building was constucted around 1939

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An aerial view of the Bata Shoe Factory complex in Belcamp, Maryland.
  Description of the Bata Factory from a 1953 Harford County Street Guide :
     Bata Shoe was located four miles south of Aberdeen, on U.S. Route 40.  The site was purchased in 1933, and consisted of 2200 acres of land. Included in the complex was the five-story  factory, a hotel, and 70 houses, built around the late 1930's and early 1940's. In the early days, the Bata Motel was leased to the U.S. Government, and was occupied by government employees from nearby Aberdeen Proving Grounds. A hall and a movie theatre were located inside the Motel and the theatre showed movies 4 evenings a week, and was just part of the entertainment Bata had. A Club Room was also located inside the Hotel, and had bowling teams, archery and other sport teams. Water sports were also popular with the employees, being so close to the Bush River. Nearby Sophia's Dairy was built in 1708 , and was used for years as a club for Bata Employees. Old news accounts from local Baltimore newspapers, during World War II found people weren't all that trusting of the company, with it's origins from Czech refugee and fears of what might have been going on at the old plant.
 

..Bata Shoe Factory Belcamp Maryland
Photos  - Courtesy of the Baltimore Gas and Electric Collection at the Baltimore Museum of Industry



 Bata Shoe Factory Belcamp Maryland Riverside
 




 An  early view northbound on Pulaski Highway ( U.S. Route 40 ) at the recently completed Bata Shoe Factory in Belcamp Maryland , Circa 1930's. The picture to the upper right is the same view, 2004, as the building is getting prepared for demolition. The photo directly to the right is the view after all was said and done. The site is now a parking lot, with new office buildings going up along the waterline.



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..........Bata Shoe Factory after demo
 
....................................................Bata Shoe Factory Belcamp Maryland



..Bata Shoe Factory Belcamp Maryland
  I've lived in Belcamp ( now Riverside ) for years now. The only structure visible of any past was the old Bata Show Factory, at the intersection of U.S. Rt 40 and Rt 543.  The pictures above show the building just before it was imploded.
 
.....  Bata Shoe Factory Belcamp Maryland


.Bat Shoe Factory sign 2006
The only item saved from the building was the red BATA sign, that had been on the northeast corner of the building. That sign currently resides on the complex lot.
....Bata Shoe Factory Belcamp Maryland water tower
  Bata Shoe Factory Belcamp Maryland





  When the complex was torn down, the first thing to come down was the old BATA water tower. The water tower, the tallest structure in Belcamp at the time, can be seen towering above the old building in the photo to the right just past the tower is the Bush River.
.Bata Tower Belcamp

Windows of the old Bata Shoe Factory Belcamp Riverside Maryland US 40
..Pulaski Highway Rt 40 Belcamp Bata Factory Riverside Belcamp
 
 A sign by the developer citing " water front " views was perhaps the mark for the end of the Bata Building. Real Estate values in the area have skyrocketed, and any waterfront property is being developed where it can be.







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.If you enjoyed this web page, please drop Kilduffs an email. We would love to hear your thoughts about the Bata Shoe Factory .
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