In 1854, the nearby Herring Run stream on the northeast corner from the old city limits at Boundary Avenue (now North Avenue) of 1818 to 1888) and flowing southeastward into Back River and then Chesapeake Bay in Baltimore County, was identified as a possible source of drinking water for the rapidly expanding pre-American Civil War City of Baltimore.

Montebello Filtration Plant 1, situated on the east side of Hillen Road, which began operation in 1915 after a two-year construction period.

This additional land with growing population and its following urban development spurred the construction of subsequent Montebello Plant 2, which began operation in 1928.

[1] Since World War II, the tremendous growth of the Baltimore Metropolitan region in central Maryland now extending into outer counties of Carroll, Harford, and Howard Counties with a wider service area "beyond the Beltway" (1958-1972) of interstate highways and the suburbanization communities surrounding the central city put an additional strain and pressure on the public water supply and sewage treatment systems now met by several public works departments led by the city and additional counties for a region-wide master plan of services.

The original indoor filter tanks housed in the 1915 era red brick buildings of Italian Renaissance style architecture with tile roofs remain in use today.