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58-540: In 1997, a preservation campaign and renovation project was completed, enabling the station to be operated as Baltimore Civil War Museum . The Baltimore and Port Deposit Rail Road (B&PD), founded in 1832, completed a rail line from Baltimore to the western shore of the Susquehanna River in 1837. The railroad's Baltimore terminus was on the east side of the basin now known as the Inner Harbor at

116-488: A "seaman's protection", a document obtained by his future wife, a free black woman, which was normally carried by free black sailors, of which there were many in the merchant fleets and the navy. Later, the railroad would require black passengers to have "a responsible white person" sign a bond at the ticket office before allowing them to board. In December, the PB&;W completed its Schuylkill bridge at Gray's Ferry. Named

174-576: A charter from State of Maryland to build the Union Railroad. Active steps to finance construction of the railroad and tunnel came only in the autumn of 1870, and actual construction began on May 1, 1871. On July 24, 1873, the first train passed through the tunnel. The original tunnel began at Bond Street, and passed under the bed of Hoffman Street to Greenmount Avenue , crossing under Dallas, Caroline, Spring and Eden Streets, Central and Harford Avenues, and Ensor, Valley and McKim Streets. Its length

232-578: A few miles south of Philadelphia's city limits. Passengers debarking at Gray's Ferry were taken by omnibus into the city. The disadvantages of tripartite ownership of the Philadelphia-Baltimore line became obvious, and the three remaining state-chartered railroads merged on February 12, 1838, to form the Philadelphia, Wilmington and Baltimore Railroad Company. (The new company's name differed from its predecessor's in that "The" at

290-553: A freight station into the 1940s World War II era but served some passenger trains until 1911. The Pennsylvania Railroad , which acquired the PW&;B in a merger in 1881, demolished the President Street's eastern train shed after heavy snow damage in 1913 and erected a new, shorter shed, built with wooden roof trusses. President Street Station was later used as a warehouse. The train shed was destroyed by fire, leaving only

348-509: A large number of civilians and four soldiers killed and many people wounded in the ensuing melee. On Friday, April 19, 1861, Baltimore Southern sympathizers attacked the passing 6th Massachusetts infantry regiment of the state militia and the "Washington Brigade" of Philadelphia from the Pennsylvania state militia. Both units were heading to Washington to reinforce defenses in response to the requests for troops in his proclamation declaring

406-564: A majority of the stock at the price specified. Meanwhile, Garrett's maneuver became known to the PRR, which quickly bought out a majority of the stock at a somewhat higher price, preemptively taking control of the PW&B. Garrett and the Baltimore and Ohio were forced later to construct an independent separate northeast line to Philadelphia, the Baltimore and Philadelphia Railroad , while paying

464-621: A snowstorm. In the 1990s, a public-private partnership supported by the Friends of the President Street Station (FofPSS) funded the reconstruction/restoration/renovation of the vacant station and historic site, The building reopened in April 1997 as the "Baltimore Civil War Museum" with the assistance of the Baltimore and Ohio Railroad Museum , located at the nearby Mount Clare Shops . President Street Station, Inc. operated

522-689: Is 3,410 feet (1,040 m). The total cost of the road and tunnel was some $ 3,000,000. As soon as the Union Railroad was completed, the Northern Central Railway obtained the right to use it, and in February, 1882, the Northern Central purchased the Union Railroad stock from the Canton Company, and assumed control March 1 of the same year. Additional work was done on the tunnels between 1928 and 1935 to prepare for

580-662: Is hauled on the route; formerly by the Conrail system and currently by Norfolk Southern . On April 2, 1831, the General Assembly of Pennsylvania , seeking to improve transportation between Philadelphia and points south along the Atlantic coast and Eastern seaboard, chartered the Philadelphia and Delaware County Rail-Road Company . The legislature allotted $ 200,000 to build a rail line from America's largest city to

638-691: Is now Washington Avenue, where it connected with the Southwark Rail-Road , built in 1835, to reach the Delaware River . In 1839, the railroad's ticket agents advertised daily mail-and-passenger trains that left Baltimore's old original Pratt Street station at South Charles Street of the B&;O (before 1857-65 construction of the now-famous Camden Street Station ) at 9:30 a.m., stopped for lunch in Wilmington, Delaware , and reached

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696-563: The American Civil War began at Fort Sumter , an angry mob of Southern sympathizers attacked a trainload of future Union Army soldiers at the PW&B's President Street Station , starting a street battle that spread to the Camden Street Station. This Pratt Street Riot produced the war's first deaths of Union volunteers by hostile action and set the nation irrevocably on the path to war. From 1863 to 1865,

754-485: The Pennsylvania Railroad 's original mainline to Philadelphia, Pennsylvania and points north. The tunnel consists of two parallel bores: the original bore from 1873 has a single track, while a newer bore from 1934 has two tracks. The Union Tunnel was originally constructed as part of the Union Railroad and served as the northern and eastern approach to Calvert Street Station . In all, the Union Railroad

812-402: The Philadelphia, Baltimore and Washington Railroad . The New Castle and Frenchtown Turnpike and Rail Road Company (merged May 15, 1877) The New Castle and Wilmington Rail Road Company (merged May 15, 1877) Union Tunnel The Union Tunnel is a railroad tunnel on Amtrak 's Northeast Corridor in Baltimore, Maryland adjacent to Pennsylvania Station that was built to connect

870-494: The Philadelphia, Wilmington and Baltimore Railroad (PW&B), transferred passengers to the B&O's first downtown depot at East Pratt and South Charles streets by a horse-drawn car on B&O's connecting track. (The Baltimore City Council prohibited the operation of locomotives on this track for reasons of frightening horses and fears of fires). By 1838, the PW&B was carrying passengers from further northeast through Philadelphia to Baltimore, where they could transfer to

928-563: The Wilmington and Susquehanna Rail Road Company (W&S, $ 400,000) to build from Wilmington to the Maryland state line. On March 5, the State of Maryland chartered the Baltimore and Port Deposite Rail Road Company (B&PD) (with $ 1,000,000) to build from Baltimore northeast to the western bank of the Susquehanna River . On March 12, the Delaware and Maryland Rail Road Company (D&M)

986-561: The electrification of the Pennsylvania Railroad's New York - Washington mainline. The original Union Tunnel, too small to accommodate overhead catenary on its two tracks, was supplemented by an adjacent double-track tunnel to the east, then converted to a single track which provided adequate clearance for electrification. 39°18′21″N 76°36′32″W  /  39.3058°N 76.6088°W  / 39.3058; -76.6088 This United States rail–related article

1044-551: The " Newkirk Viaduct " after PW&B president Matthew Newkirk , it allowed trains to run from downtown Philadelphia to downtown Baltimore, with only the Susquehanna River steam railroad ferry interrupting the ride. (The railroad marked this achievement by erecting the Newkirk Viaduct Monument , a 15-foot marble obelisk designed by Thomas Ustick Walter , a future Architect of the Capitol .) That interruption

1102-495: The 9.9-mile old alignment less than a year later, leasing it on July 1, 1873, to the Philadelphia and Reading Railway for 999 years with the stipulation that it would be used solely for freight. (The Reading dubbed the line, along with some connecting track, its Philadelphia and Chester Branch; southbound trains reached it via the Junction Railroad (jointly controlled by PW&B, Reading, and PRR) and continued on to

1160-486: The B&O and continue west to Ohio or by a new branch line further south to the national capital at Washington, D.C. The PW&B started building its own station at the southwestern corner of President Street with Canton Avenue with train yards, including a roundhouse, shops and freight warehouses of about six square city blocks, extending east along Canton Avenue, later renamed Fleet Street. The Greek Revival -style station opened on February 18, 1850. In addition to

1218-428: The B&O line to reach Washington, D.C. , from Philadelphia and Baltimore by agreeing to allow the builder to use the PW&B right-of-way in exchange for the use of the communications equipment. On January 12, 1846, Buckley was replaced by Edward C. Dale, a grandson of Richard Dale , one of the U.S. Navy's first commodores. Between 1846 and 1849, the railroad ordered five more locomotives, likely 4-4-0s , from

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1276-566: The Delaware state line. In July 1835, surveyors began to look at possible routes, and in October, they reported that the best option, a 17-mile line, would cost $ 233,000 to build. Further south, across the Mason–Dixon line , the Delaware and Maryland legislatures , were doing their part to create a rail link to Wilmington and Baltimore . On January 18, 1832, the State of Delaware chartered

1334-553: The Market Street depot in Philadelphia at 4 p.m. In 1842, Newkirk resigned as PW&B president. He was replaced by Matthew Brooke Buckley (1794-1856), who had become a PW&B board member on Jan. 10, 1842, and one week later had taken over leadership of one of the railroad's three executive committees, the Northern one. As president, Buckley helped create the first telegraph line. In 1844, Samuel Morse arranged for

1392-602: The National Park Service to study the suitability and feasibility of designating the station as a unit of the National Park System . It was incorporated into the John D. Dingell Jr. Conservation, Management, and Recreation Act and enacted in 2019. In 2019 NPS initiated its President Street Station study. In 2022 NPS conducted a public meeting and a public comment period on the study, and stated that

1450-504: The Norris Works. In February 1850, the PW&B improved its Baltimore terminus with a new station with a 208-foot (63 m) barrel-vaulted train shed. Because locomotives were not allowed to transfer through the city—possibly for fire safety reasons—service onward to Washington was facilitated by drawing the coaches by horse down Pratt Street to the B&O terminal, first at East Pratt and South Charles Streets, and, after 1857, to

1508-404: The PRR had this to say about the significance of the PW&B, which it had acquired and gained control of fourteen years before: An important constituent of a great North and South line of transportation, it challenges ocean competition and carries on its rails not only statesmen and tourists but a valuable interchange of products between different lines of latitude. As a military highway, it is of

1566-583: The PRR substantial fees to continue service further north to New York City over their lines. The new line opened in 1886; the Reading also used it to avoid the Junction Railroad. A number of branches were built, bought and sold from 1881 to 1891, as described below. In 1895, the main line was realigned and straightened at Naaman's Creek in Delaware. The old line would become sidings for Claymont Steel . The PRR's Baltimore and Potomac Rail Road

1624-682: The PW&B formally absorbed the New Castle and Frenchtown and New Castle and Wilmington railroads, forming a branch line from Wilmington to Rodney. On May 21, 1877, it then absorbed the Southwark railroad, extending its main line to the Delaware River waterfront. In 1880, a conflict began between the PRR and the B&O, both of which operated over the PW&B. The B&O was working to reduce its reliance on PRR tracks; it had recently arranged to switch its Philadelphia-New York trains to

1682-527: The PW&B was purchased by the Pennsylvania Railroad (PRR), which was at the time the nation's largest railroad. In 1902, the PRR merged it into its Philadelphia, Baltimore and Washington Railroad . The right-of-way laid down by the PW&B line is still in use today as part of Amtrak 's Northeast Corridor and the Maryland Department of Transportation's MARC commuter passenger system from Baltimore to Maryland's northeast corner. Freight

1740-505: The President Street Station to Camden Station in order to thwart the Baltimore Plot assassination attempt. The station was involved in the Baltimore riot of 1861 , as Massachusetts state militia troops bound for Washington, D.C. were being pulled in several connecting horse cars and later marching to the B&O Camden Station, ten blocks west and were attacked by an angry mob of Southern and Confederate sympathizers, with

1798-691: The State to $ 400,000; and changed its name, on March 14, to The Philadelphia, Wilmington and Baltimore Railroad Company . On July 4, the PW&B began building its bridge over the Schuylkill River , the most significant obstacle on its part of the route. The bridge would cross at Gray's Ferry Bridge , south of the city. Meanwhile, on April 18, the D&;M merged with the W&;S, forming the Wilmington and Susquehanna Railroad Company . Work also proceeded in Delaware and Maryland . By July 1837, there

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1856-554: The beginning of the titled name was not part of its formal incorporated name. ) Among the passengers that year was Frederick Douglass , a slave who escaped his Baltimore owner by boarding a PB&W train, perhaps at Canton or somewhere east of where the President Street Station would be built in 1849, and riding it northeast to Philadelphia. To avoid detention, Douglass, a future world-famous abolitionist, statesman, Federal official, orator and publisher, borrowed

1914-424: The brick head house with a distinctive arched roof, the original station also had a 208 feet (63 m) long barrel vaulted train shed over the tracks. The PW&B added a similarly styled freight house, adjacent to the south of the passenger station, in 1852. On February 23, 1861, President-elect Abraham Lincoln , traveling in secret after abandoning his inauguration whistle stop train tour , transferred from

1972-461: The connecting Chester and Delaware River Railroad .) The PW&B, which had competed so fiercely with the Pennsylvania, began to see their interests align. In 1873, the PRR opened the Baltimore and Potomac Rail Road (founded 1853, organized 1858), from Baltimore to Washington. The PW&B agreed to allow the PRR to use its track between Philadelphia and Baltimore, helping the PRR offer a shorter and more direct trip to Washington. On May 15, 1877,

2030-675: The existence of an insurrection by President Lincoln after the firing on Fort Sumter in Charleston harbor in South Carolina by newly organized Confederate States military forces a few days earlier. In 1873, the newly organized Union Railroad built a new set of tracks in northeastern Baltimore, connecting the original PW&B main line with the Northern Central Railway (NCRY) going north to York and Harrisburg, Pennsylvania . The new connection ran through

2088-513: The greatest strategic importance to the national, industrial, and commercial capitals – Washington, Philadelphia and New York. It presents some of the very best transportation facilities to the commerce of the cities after which it is named and could not be obliterated from the railroad map of the United States without materially disturbing its harmony. The PW&B merged with the Baltimore and Potomac on November 1, 1902, to form

2146-793: The museum until 2000, when the building lease was partnered with the Maryland Historical Society (MdHS), located on their campus of buildings on West Monument Street, until 2006. The lease/partnership arrangement with the City and the FoPSS originally expired in 2017. The museum temporarily closed in 2007, due to budget constraints by the MdHS in connection with their nearby extension at the new Fells Point Maritime Museum on Thames Street, then re-opened on weekends only, operated by MdHS and subsequently by FofPSS volunteers. The Civil War Museum

2204-537: The new Camden Street Station . Unwieldy as it was, the arrangement allowed the railroads to temporarily compete with the Philadelphia and Columbia Railroad (renamed Pennsylvania Railroad after 1857) on routes going west from Philadelphia. By 1853, the Camden and Amboy Railroad and New Jersey Railroad were also part of this agreement, providing through service from New York City to the West. In 1861, one week after

2262-416: The new Reading -controlled "Bound Brook Route," which had recently broken the PRR's monopoly on travel to New York via New Jersey. At the time, northbound B&O trains left the PW&B at Gray's Ferry Bridge in southwest Philadelphia and traveled over the Junction Railroad to Belmont, where they reached Reading rails and continued north. However, a mile of the Junction Railroad's track through Philadelphia

2320-412: The new Union Tunnel to NCRY's new Charles Street Station, north of Mount Royal Avenue. The Charles Street Station, originally named "Union Station," was rebuilt twice and renamed " Pennsylvania Station " in 1928. The station on North Charles Street and its successors, in the northern reaches of the city, largely replaced the President Street Station for passenger service. The latter continued to serve as

2378-423: The northern portal of the Baltimore and Potomac Tunnel . The Union Railroad joined the Northern Central at Bayview Junction, Maryland 39°17′48″N 76°33′12″W  /  39.29677°N 76.5533°W  / 39.29677; -76.5533 on the northeast side of Baltimore. It also included a spur from just west of Bayview Junction that went due South to Canton. In 1866 the Canton Company of Baltimore obtained

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2436-484: The noted lawyer, artist and civic activist, John H. B. Latrobe, brother of Chief Engineer Benjamin H. Latrobe, II (grandson of famous architect Benjamin Henry Latrobe ), or Roswell L. Colt . Six days later, Colt became railroad line president, but his term lasted just five weeks; he was soon replaced by Lewis Brantz . In 1836, P&DC opened its first segment of track; saw its allowable expenditures upped by

2494-473: The present head house by 1970, when it was abandoned. In 1979, the derelict building was acquired by the City of Baltimore, which planned to demolish it to clear the way for a proposed southern extension of the Jones Falls Expressway ( Interstate 83 ). The proposed extension, which was not built, would have connected to Interstate 95 . In 1989, the station's wooden arched roof collapsed in

2552-628: The present-day Inner Harbor waterfront and its Canton industrial, commercial and residential neighborhood to the southeast. But Matthew Newkirk , who had invested $ 50,000 in the B&PD including funds borrowed from the United States Bank, grew impatient. On Oct. 6, he wrote to the Company Board "demanding that Pres. Finley resign and be replaced by someone who will be more aggressive in collecting from delinquent subscribers and pushing project forward." As alternates, he suggests

2610-463: The railroad ordered ten 4-4-0 locomotives from the Norris Works. The PB&W also extended its reach into Delaware – on March 15, 1839, it bought the New Castle and Frenchtown Turnpike and Rail Road running from New Castle, Delaware , to Frenchtown, Maryland  – but it took 13 years to connect the line to the rest of the PW&B. The "New Castle and Wilmington Railroad"

2668-409: The southern end of President Street. The B&PD exchanged freight cars with the Baltimore and Ohio Railroad (B&O), the oldest railroad line in the country, established in 1827, which had built a track along Pratt Street , to the eastern basin harbor area from its original Mount Clare depot on the western side of the central business district. The B&PD and its merger successor company,

2726-560: The southwest corner of President and Fleet Streets, east of the Jones Falls , the eventual future site of the President Street Station . The line ran east along Fleet Street, turned southeast onto Boston Street and ran along the waterfront past Canton before turning northeast and leaving the city limits, heading east, then northeast towards the Susquehanna. In Philadelphia , the line ended at Broad Street and Prime Avenue, which

2784-768: The station's preservation and management as a museum by the National Park Service (NPS). The director of Baltimore City's Commission for Historical and Architectural Preservation, which will review proposals, said that any commercial use "must be subordinate to the history" and that a multi-use partnership would be ideal. As of 2015, Friends of the Pennsylvania Street Station operates the museum. In 2015, U.S. Senators Barbara Mikulski and Benjamin Cardin introduced bill S. 521 The President Street Station Study Act, which would authorize

2842-458: The study was expected to be complete in 2023. Baltimore and Port Deposit Rail Road The Philadelphia, Wilmington and Baltimore Railroad (PW&B) was an American railroad that operated independently from 1836 to 1881. Headquartered in Philadelphia , it was greatly enlarged in 1838 by the merger of four state-chartered railroads in three Mid-Atlantic states to create a single line between Philadelphia and Baltimore . In 1881,

2900-539: Was 9.62 miles (15.48 km) in length, extending from the northern terminus of the Baltimore and Potomac Railroad (B&P) and the southern terminus of the Northern Central Railway (NCRY) to the southern terminus of the Philadelphia, Wilmington & Baltimore Railroad . It connected with the B&P and the NCRY at the Calvert Street Station, since replaced by the current Pennsylvania Station , near

2958-697: Was bridged at last by the PW&;B Bridge , a 3,269-foot (996 m) wooden truss , finally creating a continuous rail connection between Philadelphia and Baltimore. To avoid swampy areas and serve more populated ones, the PW&B built the Darby Improvement, which diverged from its existing main line just south of the Grays Ferry Bridge , passed through Darby , and rejoined it at Eddystone , just upriver from Chester . The new inland track opened on November 18, 1872. The PW&B dispensed with

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3016-399: Was chartered for $ 3,000,000 to build from Port Deposit or any other point on the Susquehanna's eastern river bank north to the Delaware line. In 1835, the W&S hired architect/surveyor William Strickland to make a preliminary survey to the southwest between Wilmington and North East, Maryland . That same year, the B&PD began operating trains between Baltimore harbor's basin at

3074-677: Was chartered to do so, and opened in 1852. The line also provided a connection with the Delaware Railroad , which the PW&B took over and began to operate on January 1, 1857. In 1859, the NC&;F was abandoned west of Porter , the junction with the Delaware Railroad. By 1866, these moves and others allowed the PW&B to dominate the Delmarva Peninsula rail market. In November 1866, the Susquehanna River

3132-410: Was continuous track from Baltimore to Wilmington, broken only by the wide Susquehanna River , which trains crossed by steam-powered ferryboats at Havre de Grace to Perryville . That year, the railroad ordered seven 4-2-0 steam locomotives from Norris Locomotive Works ; it ordered two more in or about 1840. On January 15, 1838, the PW&B opened service from Wilmington to Gray's Ferry , then

3190-479: Was eventually bridged under pressure of the heavy traffic needs in 1864–5, the later days of the Civil War . After a disastrous storm damaged the new spans, reconstruction began anew and was completed by 1866. The Baltimore and Ohio Railroad (B&O) began using the tracks that same year to offer service northeast of Baltimore to Philadelphia. In Baltimore , the PW&B's terminus and business office sat at

3248-503: Was formally leased to the PW&B on November 1, 1891. The Elkton and Middletown Railroad , opened in 1895, was planned as a cutoff between the main line at Elkton, Maryland , and the Delaware Railroad at Middletown, Delaware . However, only a short piece of track, serving industries in Elkton, was ever constructed. It was consolidated into the Philadelphia, Baltimore and Washington Railroad on September 15, 1916. An 1895 historian of

3306-425: Was open on weekends in February 2010, in observance of Black History Month , although heavy snowfall forced closure of the museum on two weekends. In 2009, the City of Baltimore announced plans to designate the old depot as a landmark, which would restrict modifications to the building's exterior, and to request proposals for commercial development of the grounds. FofPSS opposed the city's plan, and called instead for

3364-429: Was owned and used by the PRR, which showed great ingenuity in arranging delays to B&O trains. The irate John W. Garrett (1820–84), the Civil War -era president of Baltimore and Ohio Railroad, decided to counter-attack by quietly buying out the PW&B, which would have cut off the Pennsylvania Railroad from its Baltimore & Potomac subsidiary . However, his agent encountered unexpected difficulties in buying up

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