About this property
Cumberland station is a historic railway station in Cumberland, Allegany County, Maryland. It was built in 1913 as a stop for the Western Maryland Railway (WM). The building was operated as a passenger station until the WM ended service in 1959, and it continued to be used by the railway until 1976. It was subsequently restored and currently serves as a museum and offices, as well as the operating base for a heritage railway. The station was designed by Baltimore architect C. M. Anderson, and sited on a filled-in basin at the terminus of the Chesapeake and Ohio Canal. The building is a large commercial-style building that expresses the architectural functionalism of the turn of the 20th century. The brick structure is nine bays long and three bays wide, with two monumental stories on the west facade and three stories on the east. A one-story platform shelter runs along the west facade and extends out toward the tracks. The WM began daily through-train passenger service between Baltimore and Chicago, by way of Cumberland, on June 15, 1913. For several years the premier trains on the route, the Chicago Limited and Baltimore Limited, featured Pullman sleeping car service. Other WM trains ran between Cumberland and Elkins, West Virginia. The number and variety of passenger trains decreased through the years of the Great Depression and afterward. The WM ended its passenger train service between Cumberland and Baltimore in 1953, and the Cumberland-Elkins trains ended in 1959. The WM used the upper floors of the station for its Western Division offices, and a control tower, even after the railroad's absorption into the Chessie System, until the dispatchers were reassigned in 1976. The building slowly fell into disrepair, and Chessie leased it, and later sold it to the Kelly Tire Company to store tires. The City of Cumberland subsequently bought the building for one dollar. With the advent of the initiative in Cumberland to create a scenic railroad using the former WM trackage north out of the city, the station was partially restored in 1990. Full restoration did not begin, however, until the creation of the Canal Place Preservation and Development Authority in 1996. This restoration created a museum area for the National Park Service on the first floor; a waiting area, gift shop, and cafe on the second floor; and office spaces on the third and fourth floors. Exterior work included the construction of an elevator tower; third, display track; a second platform; handicapped passenger accessibility ramp; and the restoration of the platform shelters, WM employee memorial, and the pedestrian railroad underpass.
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Property data from the National Register of Historic Places, National Park Service (public domain).
Description adapted from Wikipedia under the Creative Commons Attribution-ShareAlike 4.0 International License.
Everything a full report reveals about Western Maryland Railway Station
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Questions about this property
When was Western Maryland Railway Station listed on the National Register?
Western Maryland Railway Station was listed on the National Register of Historic Places on June 18, 1973.
What type of historic resource is Western Maryland Railway Station?
Western Maryland Railway Station is classified as a building in the National Register of Historic Places.
What is the period of significance for Western Maryland Railway Station?
The period of significance for Western Maryland Railway Station is recorded as the industrial era, specifically around 1913.
Can I research the history near Western Maryland Railway Station?
Yes. Aubrey Research reports search National Register listings, battlefield records, land patents, and other primary historical sources within any radius of a US address. A report for an address near Western Maryland Railway Station will include this listing and all other historical records in the area.
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An Aubrey US report for an address near Western Maryland Railway Station will include this listing alongside battlefield records and other historical sources within your chosen radius.