Benjamin H. Griswold, IV to Co-Chair the B&O Railroad Museum’s 200th Anniversary Campus Transformation Campaign
Baltimore, MD – The B&O Railroad Museum, the birthplace of American railroading, is pleased to announce that Benjamin H. Griswold, IV will co-chair the Museum’s $38 million dollar capital campaign with Joe Hinrichs, President and CEO of the CSX Corporation (NASDAQ: CSX), to transform the Museum’s campus in preparation for the 200th Anniversary of American Railroading in 2027.
The B&O Railroad Museum is a historic site located in Baltimore, Maryland, on the original grounds of the Baltimore and Ohio (B&O) Railroad, the first commercially chartered railroad in the country in 1827. The Museum’s campus extends 40 acres into Southwest/West Baltimore and contains the first mile of commercial railroad track ever laid in the country, five historic buildings, including the 1851 Mt. Clare Station (designated a National Underground Railroad Network to Freedom Site) and the beautiful 1884 B&O Roundhouse. As a national historic landmark, the Museum annually receives visitors from all 50 United States and over 40 countries.
The Museum will restore the South Car Works building located on its property, the oldest, continuously operating railroad repair facility in the United States if not the world, 1869 – 1990. In restoring this nationally significant 33,000 square feet building and making it the new entrance to the Museum, the Museum will reimagine its campus flow to face Southwest Baltimore to spark community economic development. The restored building will create space for an Innovation Hall to exhibit the present and future of American railroading technology, add state-of-the-art educational space, and house the Museum’s extensive historical archives.
Ben Griswold is the great-great-great-great grandson of Alexander Brown, who in 1800 founded Alex. Brown & Sons, the first investment bank in the United States. It was also at Alex’s son’s house where Baltimore merchants convened to charter the first American common carrier railroad to compete against New York merchants who were investing in the canal system. The B&O Railroad was conceived with the goal to reach the Ohio River from Baltimore to transport goods west. The B&O Railroad reached the Ohio River in 1852 and ultimately expanded over 10,000 miles. Today, railroads facilitate over $2 billion dollars a day of economic commerce in the country.
“I am proud to lend my support to co-lead the Museum’s 200th Anniversary Campus Transformation Campaign, given both Baltimore’s and my family’s history with the formation of the railroad in this country,” said Ben Griswold. “As proud as I am of our heritage, I am equally excited about the future of Baltimore and the investment being made in Southwest Baltimore as we move toward the city’s renaissance and the celebration of the 200th anniversary of American railroading in 2027.”
“I am pleased to welcome Ben Griswold as co-chair of the B&O Railroad Museum’s 200th Anniversary Campus Transformation Campaign,” said Joe Hinrichs, CEO of CSX. “We look forward to benefiting from Ben’s leadership in the Baltimore community. CSX shares his commitment to the enduring vitality of this important institution. Welcome aboard, Ben.”
“We could not be more honored to have Ben Griswold, serve as our 200th Anniversary Campus Transformation Campaign Co-Chair,” said Kris Hoellen, Executive Director of the B&O Railroad Museum. “Ben and Joe as co-chairs is symbolic – from the first to the present of American railroading, literally. Plus, they are both extraordinary people who understand the value of preserving the past while preparing for the future.”
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About the B&O Railroad Museum
The B&O Railroad Museum is the birthplace of American railroading and is home to the oldest, most comprehensive collection of railroad artifacts in the Western Hemisphere, including an unparalleled assemblage of 19th and 20th-century railroad rolling stock and equipment. As the B&O Railroad was our nation’s first public-private partnership infrastructure project, the Museum’s continued ability to tell the story of American through the lens of the railroad depends upon public-private partnerships. With the inaugural contribution, CSX is encouraging fellow corporate partners to support the Museum’s campaign.
Media Contact: Stephanie Jayakanthan
B & O Railroad Museum
520-233-3947
sjayakanthan@borail.org
