Antietam Station - Sharpsburg MD
N 39° 27.097 W 077° 46.128
18S E 261758 N 4370554
This station house built in 1910 replaced the earlier railroad station in Sharpsburg, Maryland. Thousands of visitors have passed through this station to commemorate and reflect on the 1862 Battle of Antietam.
Waymark Code: WM72P0
Location: Maryland, United States
Date Posted: 08/24/2009
Published By:
PFF
Views: 3
Antietam Station is located about 1.5 miles southwest of Sharpsburg, Maryland, along Route 34. Following the Battle of Antietam on September 17, 1862, families traveled by horse and buggy to the battlefield to search out the remains or whereabouts of their loved ones. Over the years, commemoration of the battle was formalized with Decoration Day first observed in Sharpsburg during the month of May. By 1883, the Shenandoah Valley Railway built a station in Sharpsburg and veterans and families would then travel by rail to attend the memorial ceremonies. That station burned down in 1910 and the present station was built by the Norfolk and Western Railroad to replace it for freight and passenger service. Many people arrived here to attend ceremonies for the 50th anniversary commemoration in 1912.
The station is said to have been renamed from Sharpsburg to Antietam after a train collision was caused by engineers' confusion between the names Sharpsburg and nearby Shepardstown.
The station was last used in the 1950's and would have been dismantled except that the railroad did not have the correct permits. It came into private ownership and the building was turned around during remodeling so that the station masters' bay window now faces Shepherdstown Pike rather than the rails.
In 1992, the station was again saved from demolition due to the efforts of a coalition of historic preservation organizations. It was turned over to the town of Sharpsburg in 1997 and has been leased to the Hagerstown Model Railroad Museum for preservation and restoration.
Is the station/depot currently used for railroad purposes?: No
Is the station/depot open to the public?: Yes
If the station/depot is not being used for railroad purposes, what is it currently used for?:
The station is used as a model railroad club museum. Information about the club can be found at
http://echoesrecordingstudio.hypermart.net/HMRM/index.htm
Check their website for visiting times.
What rail lines does/did the station/depot serve?: Shenandoah Valley Railway and Norfolk & Western Railroad
Station/Depot Web Site: [Web Link]
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Visit Instructions:
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