FOR THE INDUSTRIAL AGEmsa.maryland.gov/megafile/msa/speccol/sc5300/sc...FOR THE INDUSTRIAL AGE 1890s...

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THE CHALLENGE OF CHANGEAfter focusing its energies west-ward, following the Civil War B&Odecided to compete for the pas-senger traffic along the northeastcorridor. The new service from

Washington to New Yorkwas called The RoyalBlue Line, known for its

quality, style, and class. To createthe most efficient route, in 1891,B&O began digging a tunnelfrom Camden Station to the siteof its new uptown station, whichwould serve the expanding neigh-borhoods of Bolton Hill andMount Vernon. Construction ofthe Mount Royal Station began in1894. It was completed in 1896.

TECHNICAL INNOVATIONB&O was the first railroad in the

United States to operatean electric locomotiveto pull trains through a

tunnel. At the Mount Royal Stationthis prevented smoke produced bycoal-burning trains from billowingout of the Howard Street tunneland polluting the surroundingneighborhoods.

The luxurious appointments andarchitecture of the Mount RoyalStation were responses to growingcompetition along the profitablenortheastern corridor. Opening

on September 1, 1896,Mount Royal Stationwas a point of pride for

the B&O and Baltimore, with itsstriking mix of Romanesque andRenaissance-style architecture anddistinctive 150-foot-high clocktower. The new station epitomizedthe Royal Blue Line’s ideals of

first-class travel—theturn-of-the-century dining car offered

terrapin on its dollar menu.

INFLUENTIAL ARCHITECTUREMount Royal Station architect, E. Francis Baldwin (1837–1916)designed some of Baltimore’s mostnotable Victorian-era structures,including the Maryland Club.Working for the B&O Railroad forthe last quarter of the nineteenthcentury, Baldwin and his partner,Josias Pennington, were amongthe most important and prolificarchitects of the period. The pairdesigned the famous 22-sidedroundhouse next to the MountClare Station. The world’s largestcircular industrial building when

completed, it is nowhome to Baltimore’sB&O Railroad Museum.

The vaulted two-story ceilings andrich décor of the MountRoyal Station’s mainwaiting room made it

a memorable stop on the RoyalBlue Line. B&O customers waitedin style—mosaic tile floors, oakwainscoting, and stamped metalceilings were among the manydetails for which the B&O sparedno expense. Modern amenitiesincluded a private ladies’ parlor, agentlemen’s smoking room, and anews and cigar stand. Rockingchairs (added in the 1920s),Oriental carpets, and fireplaces at each end of the waiting roomadded a graceful touch. A gramo-phone played music.

The B&O Glee Clubsang holiday carols withpassengers. Dignitaries

passing through the station included U.S. presidents WoodrowWilson, Herbert Hoover, CalvinCoolidge, Franklin Roosevelt, andDwight Eisenhower; Queen Marieof Romania and British PrimeMinister Ramsay McDonald; andsuch celebrities as Buffalo BillCody, Enrico Caruso, and ArturoToscanini—whose private Pullmancar “parked” at the station while he

conducted at the nearbyLyric theater, shown in a view from the station.

A NEW NEIGHBOR As the Mount Royal Stationmarked its tenth year, the Maryland

Institute’s new MainBuilding in Bolton Hillneared completion oneblock north. The college’s1851 building had beendestroyed in the Great

Fire of 1904—along with theB&O’s headquarters and 1,300other structures in the heart ofdowntown. MICA’s RinehartSchool of Sculpture, which hadbeen established in 1896, the yearthe station opened, was the first

school of its kind in thecountry. Its first graduatingclass is shown here.

A MODEL OF LUXURY CENTERPIECE FOR COMMUNITY

Baltim

storic

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