Tom Thumb - Baltimore, MD - Locomotives on Waymarking.com

A sign next to the Tom Thumb steam engine locomotive gives the history of both the locomotive, the inventor - Peter Cooper, and the myth surrounding the Tom Thumb. It is inscribed:

THE FIRST AMERICAN-BUILT
STEAM ENGINE

A JOURNEY FROM ROADS TO RAILS

The first steam engine used on the B&O's line was an experimental engine now known as the Tom Thumb. Designed by Peter Cooper, the engine’s inaugural journey carried the directors of the B&O from Baltimore to Ellicott's Mills on August 28, 1830. Built at the Mt. Clare shops and in nearby Canton, the engine really did not have a name when first used and was often called the “Teakettle.”

Cooper was an inventor and philanthropist from New York. He held many patents including one for gelatin that would be sold to a company that created instant gelatin, more commonly known as “Jell-O.” He is probably best known for forming a college known as the Cooper Union in the 1850s, with the premise being that a college education should be free. Today the Cooper Union is recognized as one of the leading American colleges in the fields of architecture, engineering, and art.

There is much debate over whether a race occurred with a horse-drawn railcar and the Tom Thumb. As the rumor goes, the Tom Thumb came upon a horse-drawn car on a return trip from Ellicott’s Mills, and a race ensued. The horse is supposed to have won because the Tom Thumb broke down. No direct evidence has ever been found to determine if the race actually took place. In fact, the first details of the story came from a speech by Benjamin Latrobe in 1868. While we may never know the truth, the story is great to emphasize a period in America's History of profound change taking place during the industrial and Transportation Revolutions in the early 19th century.

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