Oakland Baltimore and Ohio Railroad Station and Museum

Built in 1884 by the Baltimore and Ohio Railroad to support the company's efforts to promote the town and county as a resort destination, the Baltimore and Ohio Railroad Station in Oakland, Maryland is one of the finest remaining examples of Queen Anne train stations in the country.

Today, it is the Oakland B&O Railroad Museum, operated by the Garret County Historical Society, and features rotating exhibits and artifacts from the company, various local artifacts, and a Baldwin Locomotive Works locomotive, acquired in 2018. The station is an integral part of Oakland's history and was listed on the National Register of Historic Places in 1974.

John Work Garrett became president of B&O in 1858. He promised Abraham Lincoln that the line the company was building through Maryland (and briefly through Confederate territory) would be dedicated to the Union. After the war, he became a powerful figure in the state and instrumental in furthering western Maryland's development. In addition to the station, he also built hotels and a church in Oakland. Amtrak trains used the station between 1976-1981 on the Shenandoah service but the station is not actively served by any trains today.

The B&O built the hotel resort in Oakland following the commercial success of the Queen Anne Hotel in Cumberland, Maryland, and the station followed six years after the hotel. The building itself, built of brick, features a circular tower, a two-story central section and one-story wings, likely built by the architectural firm Baldwin and Pennington, which included famed B&O architect E. Francis Baldwin.

The museum opened following a restoration in 2000 and features B&O locomotive No. 476 (the Baldwin Locomotive acquired in 2018), B&O caboose car C-2884, a green box car, and indoor exhibits and a library.

Exhibits, Oakland B&O Museum. Accessed August 14th, 2024. http://oaklandbandomuseum.org/exhibits.html.

Oakland B&O Museum, Oakland B&O Museum. Accessed August 14th, 2024. http://oaklandbandomuseum.org/index.html.

Baltimore and Ohio Railroad Station, Oakland, National Register of Historic Places. Accessed August 14th, 2024. https://npgallery.nps.gov/NRHP/AssetDetail/b6276401-2bbc-403a-a2e4-72baedd2de1c.