After the July 2016 tragedy, women of Main Street share their stories
Though Sweet Elizabeth Jane has a new storefront, it’s back where it belongs on Main Street
Text by Halima Aziza and Amanda Loudin Photography by Mary C. Gardella
December 2016/January 2017
In the aftermath of the storm, Tammy Beideman, owner of Sweet Elizabeth Jane, set up a table at the Ellicott 
City Old Town Market to sell any of the vintage inspired clothing that had survived the flood. She also sold T-shirts bearing the motto Flooded with Hope. And while the building where the store had been located will likely not reopen for at least a year, she says, Sweet Elizabeth Jane has a new home. The Reedy Electrical Building, a circa 1920 wheat-colored brick building at 8289 Main Street, is more removed from the river than the shop’s previous home.
Five years ago, Beideman opened her shop and named it after her two grandmothers – Elizabeth and Jane. Beideman has always loved old things. “I would find old furniture and paint it and sell it,” she says. Her passion to create would drive her to expand from occasional do-it-yourselfer to full blown retailer.
Beideman, who grew up in Baltimore, was familiar with Ellicott City’s charm, so when she was ready to open a store of her own, she settled on the Caplan building at 8125 Main Street.
“I had always dreamed about being able to do big window displays,” says Beideman. “I love the opportunity to create fun experiences for people and pull together collections of great stuff and keep it changing.”
By 2016, Sweet Elizabeth Jane had grown to 15 employees. The store was keeping up a steady flow of revolving merchandise and regularly hosted live music events.
And then the rain came. On Friday, July 29, Beideman, who lives in Fulton with her husband and three children, stayed at the store until 11 p.m. working with her display coordinator to set up newly arrived fall merchandise. Saturdays were the busiest day of the week at Sweet Elizabeth Jane, and Beideman planned to take her 15-year-old daughter Malina to an event in Washington, D.C., the following day. She wanted to ensure that everything was in order.
The next evening, Beidemen received an urgent phone call from her store manager. The manager, Mariah Cohee, told her about the “grave situation,” Beideman recalls. “Three girls were inside the store. There was terrible flooding, water was coming up through the floor.” Cohee, who was not in Ellicott City at the time, told her employer that merchandise was floating away and cars were surfing down the street. The manager had been able to reach one of the employees at the shop that night, Natalie Walterhoefer, but their call was disconnected, leaving both Cohee and the shop owner aghast. “It was unimaginable. It didn’t feel like it could be real,” Beideman says. She told Cohee to call 911.
Beideman, who was still in D.C. with her daughter, jumped in her car and drove through the torrential
downpour while fielding phone calls. Malina sat in the passenger seat following the Ellicott City community Facebook postings as they headed back toward Howard County. She gasped when she saw a photo of Main Street buildings with water up to the second level.
“I can’t really put into words what that image did to me as I was driving through D. C. in the storm,” says 
Beideman. “All I could think about was if the girls had made it up to the apartment above the store, then they must be absolutely terrified. I felt physically ill.” Thankfully, her employees weathered the flood, though their story was filled with drama. (One was Sarah Huber, whose story appears on page 34.)
Although Beideman had a supplemental flood insurance policy, she, like many of her fellow merchants, lost a lot of merchandise that insurance will not cover. Her GoFundMe page has helped to close the gap somewhat, raising $22,309 just in the month of August.
Beideman is happy to welcome back customers and thrilled to remain in Ellicott City. Her goal, she says, is to stay loyal to the town and its vibrant new life. “Leaving it in its time of need didn’t really jive with who we are,” she says. *
– H.A
