Western Maryland Railway Station - Hagerstown, Maryland
Posted by: 
BruceS
N 39° 38.737 W 077° 43.584
18S E 266060 N 4391978
Historic former railway station now police station in Hagerstown, Maryland.
Waymark Code: WMKF2J
Location: Maryland, United States
Date Posted: 04/04/2014
Views: 5
Constructed in 1913, the Western Maryland Railway Station is a 2 1/2-story hip-roofed brick building, reflecting the influence of the Commercial Style of the early 20th century and featuring overscaled Classical detailing. The building has a stone foundation, and is 11 bays long and 3 bays wide. A massive, modillioned cornice with stone disks defining each bay encircles the structure. The building is also encircled by a one-story porch that has a cantilevered roof on the south, east, and north sides and round metal columns on the west side (now Burhans Boulevard) where the trains originally unloaded. The roof is pierced by 12 dormers with brick facing and four tall chimneys. The end façades of three bays have one dormer over the central bay. On the longer or east and west façades, three dormers are located directly over the three central bays. There are also single dormers above the bays located second in from the outer edges of the building. Two chimneys are situated on each of the long façades flanking the three central dormers. The bays are defined by segmentally arched recessed panels which extend from the first to the second story. Within each panel on the first floor are double windows with double-hung wooden sashes. The second story has tripartite windows with transoms which follow the segmentally arched panels. The station is structurally sound and basically unaltered in its exterior appearance.
The Western Maryland Railway Station in Hagerstown is a 1913 structure which is significant for its history and architecture. Erected as a part of the railway's 1912 Improvement Program, the station is monumental in scale and expresses the functionalist concepts which influenced American architecture at the turn of the 20th century. The building reflects the importance of the Western Maryland Railway's presence in Hagerstown. The city's central location inspired the company to move its Maryland division shops to Hagerstown in 1906. Expansion of service westward to Cumberland and the Pittsburgh area resulted in a comprehensive upgrading of facilities called the 1912 program.
- Maryland Heritage Trust
The Western Maryland Railway ended service to the Hagerstown station in June 1957.
After being used for offices and storage and then vacant the old railway station was renovated and converted to serve as the headquarters for the Hagerstown Police Department.