Baltimore & Ohio Railroad Station

Baltimore & Ohio Railroad Station

For many years, town residents had hoped to take ownership of the B&O station for restoration & use as a tourist attraction. In 1987, William Hall wrote a letter to CSX to plead the case for the town's ownership of the B&O station. After some time, the station property was sold to Southern States, which then donated the building to the town. The decision was made to restore the building. A few local residents did not like the idea and forced the town to place the idea of the ownership of the station on the next election ballot as a referendum. Naturally, reason prevailed, and the referendum easily passed.The building was in expectedly poor condition. It was being used by CSX for the storage of creosote and tools and for the maintenance crews. One of the first things to do was the removal of trash, and demolition of several non-original interior walls. Jonathan Herman and Wiley Purkey met to knock non-original the interior walls, and the trash & debris was removed to the town maintenance crew. Money was needed for the restoration, and the Sykesville Historic District Commission (SHDC) began a fundraising program. The idea of a large auction was floated, and local barns, attics & basements were scoured for items to sell. Mark Rychwalski, Wiley Purkey & others drove around in a van picking up items until the last day. The auction was held on and was very successful. By the time the fundraising was over, the SHDC had raised over $30,000. The station restoration was done by... The paint colors of chocolate brackets & green trim was noted by Historian TCW from her research in the newspaper " The Democratic Advocate". Her notation of the original colors was confirmed by Wiley Purkey using the method of careful observation of original paint chips examined under a microscope. One ot the items that was missing from the station was the entrance portico, and eventually money was raised to replace it and design was done by Jonathan Herman, and was built and installed by...

The former Baltimore & Ohio Railroad Station was designed and built by the B&O's chief architect E. Francis Baldwin in 1883. It was restored in 1989 by the Town of Sykesville.