Historic Site

Mt. Clare Station and Yard 
The power to impact the future. It comes from having a history.

In 1827, they didn’t have influencers. Then again, maybe they did. Step inside our 200-years young historic site, Mt. Clare, and you’ll see what we mean.

The birthplace of railroading began right here—at this original site—where the Baltimore and Ohio Railroad founded America’s first commercial railroad in 1827. As you admire the first passenger and freight station, as well as the first railroad manufacturing complex in the country, imagine what the future will bring.

Then ride the first mile and a half of the historic B&O Railroad to the site where the First Stone was laid on July 4, 1828. Or listen to a story about the first common carrier railroad in the Western Hemisphere in our new amphitheater, which is opening this fall! Look back through the Mt. Clare Shops, established here in March 1829, and then move forward through our Innovation Hall where human ambition and breakthrough imagination come together at scale.

Here, influence is all around you. This is a place that didn’t just change industries, it changed how a nation lives, works, connects, and grows. Experience it. Embrace it. Share it. From the Mt. Clare Station to the Innovation Hall that’s opening this winter, this is where America’s engine of influence started—and never stopped.

Roundhouse

1884

Undoubtedly the most spectacular and best known of the museum’s buildings is the Roundhouse, which is a National Historic Landmark.

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Mt. Clare Station

1851

The Mt. Clare Station, also known as Mt. Clare Depot, is the oldest surviving building on the museum’s historic campus and is a National Historic Landmark.

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B&O Passenger Car Works

1869-70

The B&O’s Passenger Car Works, or Car Shops, consists of two buildings commonly referred to as the North Passenger Carshop and the South Passenger Carshop.

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Annex

1891

The Annex Building was built alongside the roundhouse on Poppleton Street to serve as a storage and service area.

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Tender Kitchen Ruins

1919

The B&O built this car repair shed in 1919. Although it was nicknamed “tender kitchen” because it was occasionally used for repairing locomotive tenders, it was primarily used for repairing freight cars.

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The National Road

America’s First Highway Venture

The National Road (also known as the Cumberland Pike or Cumberland Turnpike) was the first American highway funded by Congress.

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The Underground Railroad at Mt. Clare

The Underground Railroad was an American network of abolitionists who aided and sheltered enslaved people seeking freedom prior to the end of the Civil War and Emancipation in 1863.

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2003 Roundhouse Roof Collapse

On February 17, 2003, the roof of the 1884 Baldwin Roundhouse on the National Museum of Railroad History & Innovation’s campus collapsed due to record snowfall in Baltimore of more than 28 inches.

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