Interesting material about Dashiell Hammet

From Fred Blosser--thanks Fred:


Ed, I came across this document on the web, a Maryland state historic trust form
and supporting documentation describing Hopewell and Aim, the one-time Hammett
family property in St. Mary's County, MD, where Dashiell Hammett was born in
1894. Very interesting stuff for a Hammett fan; I pass it along for posting on
the blog if you'd like:
http://www.msa.md.gov/megafile/msa/stagsere/se1/se5/026000/026500/026515/pdf/msa_se5_26515.pdf
.


There's also a highway marker for Hammett on Great Mills road, near the
property. I don't see a photo on any of the Maryland state sites offhand, but
there's one (with a funny accompanying writeup) on the "Big Read Blog" from
7/14/2008 at http://www.arts.gov/bigreadblog/?cat=9&paged=2 .

Now if only someone could find the files of Hammett's service with the
Pinkertons, so we would know for sure whether Hammett was offered money to
murder labor organizer Frank Little, as the story goes . . . and whether the
reference to the wide-open 1915 boom town of Hopewell, VA, in "Nightmare Town"
reflected Hammett's first-hand experience . . . and the name of the young woman
who didn't tell young Sam in Washington, DC, in 1917 that his work as a private
investigator must be very interesting. From all accounts, sadly, the Pinkerton
records no longer exist.

Fred