its most prominent nationwide exposure in 1998, when Baltimore native John Waters filmed his movie Pecker there. Starring Hollywood actors like Edward Furlong, Christina Ricci, Martha Plimpton, and Lili Taylor, the film depicted a very elaborate & fictional view of Hampden and its young residents. Additionally, the novelist Philipp Meyer grew up on Hampden's 36th Street during the late 1970s and 1980s; much of his novel American Rust was reportedly influenced by his childhood there. Housing architecture As Hampden was originally a center of mills and factories, much of its original structures were built to house workers. Small two-story row houses, made out of brick or stone, were built to hold families of mill workers. Larger houses, many built with stone, were built for managers and upper level staff. One can find more modern housing that was built around the edges of the Hampden area. In the 20th century, apartment complexes were built around Roland Avenue and north of Hampden. There are few areas amenable to further development in the neighborhood, a factor in the rising housing costs in the area. Hampden was forecasted to "see the most home value appreciation in 2013" in the city. This has led to many rehab projects of existing housing stock. However, a very large mixed-use development began construction in late 2013 in North Hampden, at the site of the Rotunda Shopping Center. The size and scale of this development has created some controversy in this neighborhood, mostly concerning congestion in car traffic and parking as nearly 400 new apartments and numerous businesses, including a high-end movie theatre, opened in 2015. Landmarks and schools Local Hampden landmarks include an original branch of the Enoch Pratt Free Library, Burgee Hess Funeral Home, St. Thomas Aquinas Catholic Church, St. Luke's Lutheran Church, and Hampden School #55. Background Hampden first came into being in 1802 as a cluster of houses built for workers who manned the newly erected flour and cotton mills along the Jones Falls Stream Valley. The creation of such mills helped spur the growth of the port of Baltimore, which exported the grains milled in Hampden. In 1810, the first cotton mill was opened on the Jones Falls by Washington Manufacturing Company in what is now Mount Washington. The most important mills and factories in the area included the Mt. Vernon Mills (later the Mt. Vernon-Woodberry Mills), the Hooper Mills, and the Poole &