Mt. Clare Station and Yard
The Birthplace of American Railroading
The National Museum of Railroad History & Innovation’s 40-acre historic site, called Mt. Clare, is a National Historic Landmark and is the original site where the Baltimore and Ohio Railroad founded America’s first commercial railroad in 1827. The site’s buildings and structures hold a unique and significant place in American history. The site saw the first passenger and freight station in the United States and is also the first railroad manufacturing complex in the country.
Recognized as the birthplace of American railroading, the Museum’s site represents the vision, establishment, development, and creation of the first common carrier railroad in the Western Hemisphere. The country’s first 1.5 miles of mainline railroad right of way carries visitors to the site where the First Stone of the Baltimore & Ohio Railroad was laid on July 4, 1828. The Mt. Clare Shops, established here in March 1829, are the oldest continually operating railroad shops in the world, from 1869-1990.
Explore our historic site
B&O Roundhouse
1884
Undoubtedly the most spectacular and best known of the museum’s buildings is the Roundhouse, which is a National Historic Landmark.
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.
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.
Annex
1891
The Annex Building was built alongside the roundhouse on Poppleton Street to serve as a storage and service area.
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.
Explore Stories That Happened Here
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.
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.
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.