It was July Fourth of 1828 when Charles Carroll of Carrollton, the last surviving signer of the Declaration of Independence, laid the first stone of what would become the Baltimore & Ohio Railroad to the cheers of 60,000 Baltimore citizens. Carroll described the event as the second most important act of his life.
Today, this spot is located at Mt. Clare Station and historically marks the beginning of the Baltimore & Ohio Railroad (B&O), which revolutionized transportation in our young and growing new nation. Its birth would spur the development of new industries that would line the waterfront of the deep-water port city.
The B&O, however, was not the first railroad. England had developed rail service for moving coal more easily, with horses pulling carts along the line in the 1700s. But, with the settlement of the American frontier, there grew a demand for innovative ways to move people and goods.
In the 1800s, transportation across the expanding country was challenging. Turnpikes were toll roads and privately-owned; waterways were preferred, but slow. And then, in 1807, along the Hudson River, Robert Fulton paraded the first commercial steam ship, the Clermont, firmly establishing a more efficient way to power ships. By 1825, English engineer George Stephenson demonstrated steam locomotive technology to transport 450 people about 25 miles from Darlington to Stockton at 15 miles per hour, marking the world’s first public passenger steam train.
At the time, the City of Baltimore was home to many progressive entrepreneurs. Eyeing the bounty of the western territories and the development of competitive canals to carry trade East, investment banker Alex Brown contemplated making a railway from the city to the Ohio River Valley as early as 1825. “If we can do this,” he opined, “it will make…our city in a short time second to no city in the nation.” (By 1850, Baltimore had become the second largest and wealthiest city in America.)
The challenge was accepted, and a team of city leaders set about selling stock to raise money for a railroad of 400 miles to be laid westward. Twenty-two thousand investors—a quarter of the city’s population total—bought stock to build the B&O. (In later years, Johns Hopkins would allocate $7 million of B&O stock to fund a hospital and a university.)
A contingent of Baltimore’s finest led by Philip Thomas and George Brown (Alex’s son) visited England to explore the railway enterprise. When they returned in 1826, they helped introduce legislation to the Maryland General Assembly to charter the B&O railroad. It was established on February 28, 1827, that the B&O be built from the Port of Baltimore to the Ohio River. With this action, Baltimore became the birthplace of the American Railroad and the first chartered railroad location in the country.
CSX Engine on the Thomas Viaduct. Photograph creative commons license.
Horsepower drove the first railroad cars. But in 1830, a small steam locomotive named the Tom Thumb was built to challenge the horse. Peter Cooper built a small coal burning locomotive, which could achieve speeds of 10 to 14 miles per hour. In folklore, Tom Thumb was tiny in comparison to later locomotives. A challenge to horsepower was set with a race scheduled along the railroad. Tom initially led the race, but then broke an engine belt and the horse was the victor. Despite the locomotive losing this race, the stage was set for the use of steam power.
Having reached 13 miles to Ellicott City by 1830, the B&O line then branched into Washington, D.C. At the time, railroad engineering was in its infancy. The route would have to span the Patapsco River and its valley between the towns of Relay and Elkridge. Benjamin Latrobe II was commissioned to design the route, which would include several viaducts. The first bridge, the Carrollton Viaduct, is the oldest railroad bridge in America, the third oldest in the world, and is still carrying trains today.
But it is Thomas Viaduct that would be controversial. It was the longest bridge in the USA in 1835. Called “Latrobe Folly,” it was predicted to collapse with the first locomotive crossing. It didn’t. It survived the Civil War, during which time the B&O had 236 locomotives in operation, including its first three—the York, Franklin, and Atlantic—purchased from England. The viaduct survived the great flood of 1868 that destroyed everything in the Patapsco Valley, and Hurricane Agnes in 1972. Today, 300-ton diesel locomotives still cross the viaduct. This signature structure was designated a Historic Landmark in 1964.
In 1843, the first telegraph line was built from Baltimore to D.C. along the B&O and Samuel F.B. Morse uttered the famous words, “What hath God wrought.” Hotels and horse barns were also created by the railroad company in the Patapsco Valley and popularized small towns as weekend picnic spots.
The B&O was a railroad of many firsts. It was the first to earn passenger revenue, the first to house a freight station, the first to publish a timetable of departures/arrivals, and the first to operate a steam-powered locomotive. The B&O had the first passenger service station, the oldest in the country, in Ellicott City. It was the first railroad into the Nation’s capital and the first to hire women. For moving passengers and freight, the B&O became the engineering and business model for railroads across the country and around the world. It was noted for pioneering innovations in railroading as it built its way through the Appalachian mountains to the Ohio River.
Today, the route of the old B&O railroad still passes through the town of Ellicott City above Main Street; the updated tracks are used by the CSX freight line.
Coupled with the newly-harnessed power of the steam engine, the B&O revolutionized transportation and adjacent industries. The technologies sparked a building spree of railroads connecting towns and cities, where grand hotels and shops and restaurants would be in demand. New industries such as Bethlehem Steel, and employment opportunities would sprout up. Newly accessible time zones and schedules invigorated a mass market paperback reading industry. Pocket watches became standard dress for everyone. Town clocks kept new retail businesses operating on time.
Exactly 160 years after being chartered, the B&O merged with the Chessie system and had expanded into 13 states with more than 10,000 miles of track. Today, the routes and rails of the old B&O are operated by the freight company, CSX Corporation, and passenger lines of Amtrak.
When Charles Carroll of Carrollton called the laying of the first railroad stone his second greatest act, perhaps he understood that the B&O would spark another American revolution—the industrial. It began in Baltimore in the 1800s, where a group of 25 visionaries and doers led by Alex Brown plotted the way from the Patapsco Valley to Ohio’s to deliver goods from Chesapeake ports and capture the resources of the American West. Their efforts invigorated a new vibrant nation, connected and fueled by its railroads.
A 1907 wooden four-wheeled C-1775 classic “Little Red Caboose” on display at the0 B&O Railroad Museum. Photograph by Barry Eagel.
Visit the B&O Railroad Museum
Trains, trains, trains! For aficionados of the iron horse and America’s railroads, one of the best museums in our nation is close to home. The B&O Railroad Museum in downtown Baltimore is known as the “birthplace of American railroading. Located on the site of the 1884 Baldwin Roadhouse and Mt. Clare Station, the museum now houses locomotives, railcars, and historic objects that hark back to the early days of railroading through present day.
Visitors can experience the trains up close, with the opportunity to walk through many of them, and even ride along the One Mile Express on a stretch of the original B&O line. There are seasonal events and exhibitions throughout the year. All ages will appreciate the museum.
Located at 901 W. Pratt Street, Baltimore, Maryland, the museum is open daily from 10 a.m. to 4 p.m. Free, off-street parking is available. Learn more at borail.org.