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CHESAPEAKE BEACH RAILWAY MUSEUM

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c. 1900; 1980 restored. 4155 Mears Ave.
  • (Alexander Heilner)
  • (Alexander Heilner)
  • (Alexander Heilner)

This station marked the terminus for the Washington and Chesapeake Beach Railway that linked Washington with the former bayside resort and amusement park. Chesapeake Beach was among the many summer communities that developed along the Western Shore around the turn of the twentieth century, becoming the premier Bay-front attraction. The station is the last intact nonresidential building in Chesapeake Beach dating from that period, which once included luxury hotels, a boardwalk, a steamboat pier with miniature railway, a casino, a dance pavilion, a roller coaster, and a carousel. Chesapeake Beach fell into decline during the Great Depression and post—World War II eras, transitioning from summer resort to year-round residential community. The railway ceased operation in 1934, and this wood station, with its overhanging hipped roof with flared eaves, wraparound porch, and square tower, was allowed to deteriorate. It was restored in 1980 and reopened as the Chesapeake Beach Railway Museum.

Writing Credits

Author: 
Lisa Pfueller Davidson and Catherine C. Lavoie
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Data

What's Nearby

HOLLY HILL
MAIDSTONE
GRAHAME HOUSE

Citation

Lisa Pfueller Davidson and Catherine C. Lavoie, "CHESAPEAKE BEACH RAILWAY MUSEUM", [Chesapeake Beach, Maryland], SAH Archipedia, eds. Gabrielle Esperdy and Karen Kingsley, Charlottesville: UVaP, 2012—, http://sah-archipedia.org/buildings/MD-01-WS34.

Print Source

Buildings of Maryland, Lisa Pfueller Davidson and Catherine C. Lavoie. Charlottesville: University of Virginia Press, 2022, 45-46.

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