
				<img src="https://michaelvain.net/.wp-toolkit_0/wp-content/uploads/2018/05/past_strange_house02-300x225.jpg" alt="Author's home, Elkridge" itemprop="image" height="225" width="300" title="past_strange_house02"  />
	<p>While still a child, Michael's family moved to Elkridge, Maryland. His grandfather had become a lieutenant in the Howard County Police Department, and relocated his family to an 18th century colonial home, located directly adjacent to the Patapsco State Park, on the banks of the Patapasco River. It was a logical move for Mr. Kradz, and the new house provided both security and room for his family. The house needed extensive repair work, and the task of clearing out the clutter and repairing the house would become on ongoing project for several years.</p>
	<p>Sifting through the many objects in the house, they came across the several of the fully working shutters and a number of other historical artifacts, as they worked to restore the building to its former glory. The shutters were repaired and placed back on their original anchors, and the original fenceline was restored. Mr. Kradz recovered several sections of the original wrought iron fence from a salvage yard, where they had lain since the early '30s. He purchased and refinished them, and working from old photographs, restored the look of the house at the turn of the century. In doing research for the restoration, Mr. and Mrs. Kradz began to learn the history of the house, and of the Patapsco area.</p>
				<img src="https://michaelvain.net/.wp-toolkit_0/wp-content/uploads/2018/05/past_strange_house03.jpg" alt="author's home, side view" itemprop="image" height="199" width="300" title="past_strange_house03"  />
				<img src="https://michaelvain.net/.wp-toolkit_0/wp-content/uploads/2018/05/past_strange_viaduct02.jpg" alt="Thomas Viaduct, Elkridge, Maryland" itemprop="image" height="224" width="300" title="past_strange_viaduct02"  />
	<p>Elkridge, originally named Elkridge Landing, was first settled in 1690, and served as the gateway port for shipping agricultural and manufactured goods to and from the fertile Patapsco region. The house was once part of a plantation, and the Thomas Viaduct, the oldest keystone bridge in the U.S., and the world's largest multiple arched stone railroad bridge built in an arc, was completed in 1835 immediately adjacent to the house. The original Tom Thumb steam locomotive took a trip across the Thomas Viaduct, and the bridge is still in use today.</p>
	<p>Research revealed that Levering Avenue, the street upon which he lived, was named after the sea captain responsible for taking Napolean Bonaparte to Elba. The Captain brought back with him several seeds of an elm tree native to Elba, one of which was planted at the corner of the property. Construction on the main house began in 1723, with additions to the house occurring in various stages until 1763.</p>
<p>Built from the ballast of slave ships, the house was a stopping point for clipper ships coming up the Patapsco River.  The house featured several tunnels beneath it, which at one time led to a dock upon the river, and to a stairwell on the side of the Thomas Viaduct.</p>
				<img src="https://michaelvain.net/.wp-toolkit_0/wp-content/uploads/2018/05/past_strange_viaduct01.jpg" alt="Thomas Viaduct - Elkridge, Maryland" itemprop="image" height="199" width="300" title="past_strange_viaduct01"  />
				<img src="https://michaelvain.net/.wp-toolkit_0/wp-content/uploads/2018/05/past_strange_viaduct04.jpg" alt="Thomas Viaduct tunnel" itemprop="image" height="401" width="300" title="past_strange_viaduct04"  />
		Tunnel to the Thomas Viaduct
	<p>Further research seemed to indicate that these same tunnels were later used as a stop in the Underground Railroad, providing escaping slaves a temporary refuge in their flight to the north. This was just one of the interesting aspects of the house and its place in early American history.</p>
<p>Michael's grandparents would uncover a good deal of history relating to the house in the years to come.  Little did they know the impact the house would have on their own personal history, or how these events might play a part in the phenomena experienced there.</p>
	<p>One of the many surprises within the house's long history was its depiction in a woodcut of the Battle of Relay during the Civil War.  Michael came across this print in his fifth grade history book.  The house and the Thomas Viaduct had played a key role in several historic events, and awakened within the young author-to-be a fascination with the past, and an appreciation for history.</p>
				<img src="https://michaelvain.net/.wp-toolkit_0/wp-content/uploads/2018/05/past_strange_civilwar2-300x221.jpg" alt="Battle of Relay woodcut print" itemprop="image" height="221" width="300" title="past_strange_civilwar2"  />
		Civil War - Battle of Relay Woodcut
