New Mural Memorializes the ‘Goldfish King’ of College Park

The twinkling goldfish that now swim across the exterior brick wall of Popeye’s on Baltimore Avenue aren’t simply a nostalgic callback to a childhood pet—they’re a fins-and-all link to a part of College Park history that 21^st-century Terps likely have no idea existed.

“The Last Goldfish,” created by Baltimore-based artist Andy Dahl and funded by grants from the city of College Park and Prince George’s County, was installed in December. The design is a reference to 19^th-century German immigrant Henry Bishop, who leased many ponds in the nearby Lakeland community and used them as breeding grounds for millions of goldfish.

“It seemed like an interesting, whimsical story about the area that hasn’t been told or delved into,” said Dahl.

Bishop crewed on steamships as a young man and spent three years working for P.T. Barnum, nurturing his interest in the natural world, particularly fish and birds, before he settled in Baltimore and opened a pet store in 1874. He transformed the American aquarium industry, introducing products like the ubiquitous one-gallon globes and 10-gallon tanks. He developed what was at the time the largest goldfish industry in the country, supplying the saffron-colored swimmers to businesses in Washington, D.C., New York and Detroit. The New York Times announced his death in 1907 with the headline “Gold Fish King Is Dead.”

He raised his money-making fish in Lakeland, partly on the land that is now Lake Artemesia. The area was low-lying and prone to flooding, so it was turned into some 25 acres of ponds that were leased out for research or business. Bishop held onto many of those ponds for decades. (By 1915, the federal government had taken over breeding fish in the area.)

When Dahl came across the request for proposals to turn the College Park wall into a mural, he didn’t know any of this history, only that the artwork should tie into its surroundings. He read about the history of the area, but nothing was inspiring him. Then, “I was just on the Internet researching, and found the quirky history of Henry Bishop,” he said. “I thought it was unique and interesting, and I also thought goldfish would make an interesting mural component.”

After securing the grant, Dahl, whose bright and often botanical-themed murals are displayed on many buildings around Baltimore, set to work designing the fish and the plants using Adobe Illustrator. The College Park site presented several challenges. “There are these vertical columns and lots of windows and things that stick out,” Dahl said. “It’s pretty complicated to have to carefully measure all the open spaces where you might attach something and then design something and figure out how to make the design fit within the dimensions.”

The 20-foot-tall 3D mural of weather-resistant plywood also includes color-changing LED lights that are activated at night, meant to mimic the wavering, multi-tonal effect of an aquarium in the dark.

Dahl and the College Park City-University Partnership hope that passersby will not just enjoy the aesthetics of the artwork, but get curious about the singular place of goldfish in College Park’s annals and scan the accompanying QR code for more information. “Usually the art around College Park is associated with the iconography of UMD, but the goldfish are actually deeply connected to College Park,” said Kendra McAbee, communications coordinator for the partnership.