The President Street Station in Baltimore, Maryland

Maryland

Maryland is a U.S. state located in the Mid Atlantic region of the United States, bordering Virginia, West Virginia, and the District of Columbia to its south and west; Pennsylvania to its north; and Delaware to its east...

 is a former train station

Train station

A train station, also called a railroad station or railway station and often shortened to just station,"Station" is commonly understood to mean "train station" unless otherwise qualified. This is evident from dictionary entries e.g...

. Built in 1850, it is the oldest surviving big city railroad terminal in the United States

United States

The United States of America is a federal constitutional republic comprising fifty states and a federal district...

. The station was an important rail transportation link during the Civil War

American Civil War

The American Civil War was a civil war fought in the United States of America. In response to the election of Abraham Lincoln as President of the United States, 11 southern slave states declared their secession from the United States and formed the Confederate States of America ; the other 25...

 and is now home to the Baltimore Civil War Museum.

History

Opened on February 18, 1850, the station was built by the Philadelphia, Wilmington and Baltimore Railroad

Philadelphia, Wilmington and Baltimore Railroad

The Philadelphia, Wilmington and Baltimore Railroad was the Pennsylvania Railroad's main line from Philadelphia, Pennsylvania southwest to Baltimore, Maryland in the 19th and early 20th centuries...

 (PW&B) as their Baltimore terminus. In addition to the brick head house, the original station also had a long barrel vault

Barrel vault

A barrel vault, also known as a tunnel vault or a wagon vault, is an architectural element formed by the extrusion of a single curve along a given distance. The curves are typically circular in shape, lending a semi-cylindrical appearance to the total design...

ed train shed over the tracks. A track ran along Pratt Street to connect PW&B trains arriving from Philadelphia with Baltimore and Ohio Railroad

Baltimore and Ohio Railroad

The Baltimore and Ohio Railroad was one of the oldest railroads in the United States and the first common carrier railroad. It came into being mostly because the city of Baltimore wanted to compete with the newly constructed Erie Canal and another canal being proposed by Pennsylvania, which...

 (B&O) trains at Camden Station

Camden Station

Camden Station, now also referred to as Camden Yards, is a train station at the intersection of Howard and Camden Streets in Baltimore, Maryland, served by MARC commuter rail service and local Light Rail trains. It is adjacent to Oriole Park at Camden Yards...

 to Washington, D.C.

Washington, D.C.

Washington, D.C., formally the District of Columbia and commonly referred to as Washington, "the District", or simply D.C., is the capital of the United States. On July 16, 1790, the United States Congress approved the creation of a permanent national capital as permitted by the U.S. Constitution....

.

The station was involved in the Baltimore riot of 1861

Baltimore riot of 1861

The Baltimore riot of 1861 was an incident that took place on April 19, 1861, in Baltimore, Maryland between Confederate sympathizers and members of the Massachusetts militia en route to Washington for Federal service...

, when Massachusetts

Massachusetts

The Commonwealth of Massachusetts is a state in the New England region of the northeastern United States of America. It is bordered by Rhode Island and Connecticut to the south, New York to the west, and Vermont and New Hampshire to the north; at its east lies the Atlantic Ocean. As of the 2010...

 troops bound for Washington, D.C., were marching to the B&O's Camden Station

Camden Station

Camden Station, now also referred to as Camden Yards, is a train station at the intersection of Howard and Camden Streets in Baltimore, Maryland, served by MARC commuter rail service and local Light Rail trains. It is adjacent to Oriole Park at Camden Yards...

 ten blocks west and were attacked by an angry mob of Southern sympathizers, with several people killed and the ensuing melee.

President Street station was largely replaced in 1873 by Pennsylvania Station

Pennsylvania Station (Baltimore)

Pennsylvania Station is the main train station in Baltimore, Maryland. Designed by New York architect Kenneth MacKenzie Murchison , it was constructed in 1911 in the Beaux-Arts style of architecture for the Pennsylvania Railroad. It is located at 1515 N...

, but continued to have some passenger train usage until 1911. It was later used as a freight station and then as a warehouse, although the train shed was destroyed by fire, leaving only the present head house by 1970, when it was abandoned. The derelict building was acquired by the City of Baltimore in 1979 for a proposed extension of Interstate 83

Interstate 83

Interstate 83 is an Interstate Highway in the eastern United States. Its southern terminus is in Baltimore, Maryland at the Fayette Street exit; its northern terminus is in Harrisburg, Pennsylvania at Interstate 81....

, which was never built.

As a museum

The vacant station was restored in the 1990s, funded by a public-private partnership, and reopened in 1997 as the Baltimore Civil War Museum. The museum closed in 2007 has since re-opened on a part-time basis with limited weekend hours, operated by the Maryland Historical Society

Maryland Historical Society

The Maryland Historical Society , founded in 1844, is the oldest cultural institution in the U.S. state of Maryland. The society "collects, preserves, and interprets objects and materials reflecting Maryland's diverse heritage." MdHS has a museum, library, holds educational programs, and publishes...

 and, more recently, by volunteers from a group of interested museum supporters, the Friends of President Street Station. The Civil War Museum was open on weekends in February, 2010, in observance of Black History Month

Black History Month

Black History Month is an observance of the history of the African diaspora in a number of countries outside of Africa. Since 1976, it is observed annually in the United States and Canada in February, while in the United Kingdom it is observed in October...

, although heavy snowfall forced closure of the museum on two weekends.

The future of the historic property is uncertain: the City of Baltimore announced plans in 2009 to designate the old depot as a landmark, which would restrict modifications to the building's exterior. But plans by the city to advertise a request for proposals (RFP) in 2009 for commercial development of the grounds are opposed by the Friends of the President Street Station group. They have called instead for the station's preservation and management as a museum by the National Park Service

National Park Service

The National Park Service is the U.S. federal agency that manages all national parks, many national monuments, and other conservation and historical properties with various title designations...

. The director of Baltimore's Commission for Historical and Architectural Preservation, which will review the RFP responses, told the Baltimore Sun

The Baltimore Sun

The Baltimore Sun is the U.S. state of Maryland’s largest general circulation daily newspaper and provides coverage of local and regional news, events, issues, people, and industries....

that any commercial use "must be subordinate to the history" and that a multi-use partnership would be ideal for better use of the building.