Mt. Clare Station and Yard
The Birthplace of American Railroading
The B&O Railroad Museum’s 40-acre historic site, called Mt. Clare, is a National Historic Landmark and is the original site where the Baltimore and Ohio Railroad founded America’s first commercial railroad in 1827. The site’s buildings and structures hold a unique and significant place in American history. The site saw the first passenger and freight station in the United States and is also the first railroad manufacturing complex in the country.
Recognized as the birthplace of American railroading, the museum’s site represents the vision, establishment, development, and creation of the first common carrier railroad in the Western Hemisphere. The country’s first 1.5 miles of mainline railroad right of way carries visitors to the site where the First Stone of the Baltimore & Ohio Railroad was laid on July 4, 1828. The Mt. Clare Shops, established here in March 1829, are the oldest continually operating railroad shops in the world, from 1869-1990.
