1884 Oakland Train Station - Oakland, Maryland - Signs of History on Waymarking.com

Given the architectural design term "Queen Ann Style" by its architect E. Francis Baldwin, the Baltimore and Ohio Railroad's "1884 Oakland Train Station" is the third building to occupy this location. The first station was a small, square two-story wooden building constructed shortly after the railroad passed through Oakland in October 1851. It was destroyed by fire in 1874, when the Glades Hotel across the tracks burned. A one story utility building served as the station until the present structure was built in 1884.

The center part of the building contains the main passenger waiting room and the Station Agent's office. The Station Agent and his assistants handled sales of passenger train tickets and arriving and departing freight shipments on the tracks behind the station. The east side of the station contains a second passenger waiting room, sometimes called the "Ladies Waiting Room."

Between these two rooms was the railroad's telegraph operator office that in later years also served as the Western Union office. An important feature of the "Queen Ann Style" building is the rounded tower and roof over the telegraph office. The west side of the station building contained a baggage room, once dominated by the Railway Express Agency.

At one time, a 250,000-gallon water tank used to supply water for steam locomotives stood 50 feed from the east end of the station. It was removed in the early 1920's.

The last regular passenger train to depart from the station was B&O No. 12 that left at 6:30 p.m. on April 30, 1971.

The Town of Oakland purchased the entire station property in 1998 and began the renovation work that was completed in 2000. Since that date, the 1884 Oakland Train Station has become a model for the "revitalization work" of downtown Oakland.

Regarding 1884 Oakland Train Station
Oakland was once a busy station, even as passenger trains were declining, greeting 8 long-distance express passenger trains a day in the 1940s and 1950s and numerous locals between Parkersburg and Cumberland.

B&O Train No. 12 (mentioned on the marker) was once a named train, the "Metropolitan Special", eastbound from St. Louis to Washington. No. 11 with the same name was the westbound train on the same route. The Metropolitan Special was a daily train with sleeping, dining and lounge cars as well as reclining seat coaches. It left St. Louis MO at 11:30 PM, got to Cincinnati OH at 7:30 in the morning, Parkersburg WV at 1:33 PM, and stopped in Oakland at 6:15 PM the on its way to Washington and then Baltimore. It would get to Washington at 11:10 PM, almost 24 hours after it left St. Louis. The westbound Metropolitan Special left Washington at 8 AM, stopped at Oakland at 1:21 PM and arrived St. Louis at 7:40 AM the next day.

Other named trains through Oakland were B&O Nos. 1 and 2, The National Limited, (New York to St. Louis via Washington); 3 and 4, The Diplomat, (New York via Washington to St. Louis); and 23 and 24, the West Virginian, (Washington to Wheeling WV).

Group that erected the marker: Town of Oakland URL of a web site with more information about the history mentioned on the sign: [Web Link] Address of where the marker is located. Approximate if necessary: 104 East Libety Street Oakland, MD USA 21550

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Date Logged Log   04/01/2023 Don.Morfe visited it