Mount Royal Station

Mount Royal Station
The former B&O station, now part of the Maryland Institute College of Art, in 2009
Line(s)	Baltimore and Ohio Railroad
History
Opened	September 1, 1896; 120 years ago (1896-09-01)
Closed	June 30, 1959; 57 years ago (1959-06-30)
Services
Former services   Preceding station   Baltimore and Ohio   Following station Baltimore Camden Station toward Chicago Grand Central Station Main Line (Baltimore Belt Line) Terminus Baltimore Camden Station Terminus Philadelphia Branch Gay Street toward Philadelphia
Mount Royal Station
U.S. National Register of Historic Places
U.S. National Historic Landmark
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Location	Baltimore, Maryland
Coordinates	39°18′20″N 76°37′14″W / 39.30556°N 76.62056°W / 39.30556; -76.62056Coordinates: 39°18′20″N 76°37′14″W / 39.30556°N 76.62056°W / 39.30556; -76.62056
Area	6 acres (2.4 ha)
Built	1896
Architect	Baldwin, E. Francis; Pennington, Josias
Architectural style	Renaissance
NRHP Reference #	73002191
Significant dates
Added to NRHP	June 18, 1973
Designated NHL	December 8, 1976

The Mount Royal Station and Trainshed was the Baltimore and Ohio Railroad's third train station in Baltimore, Maryland, at the north end of the Baltimore Belt Line's Howard Street tunnel in the fashionable Bolton Hill neighborhood. It was the first railroad station in the world to have electrified passenger trains when it opened on September 1, 1896, serving the B&O's famed Royal Blue line. Following its closure as a railroad station in 1961, it became part of the Maryland Institute College of Art (MICA) in an acclaimed adaptation preserving the building's original architectural features. The building is now used for MICA art studios.

Designed by Baltimore architect E. Francis Baldwin in a blend of modified Romanesque and Renaissance styling, the station was constructed in 1896 by the Baltimore and Ohio Railroad (B&O) as part of its massive Baltimore Belt Line improvement project for its New York passenger service. Located at the north end of the B&O's Howard Street tunnel, the station was built of Maryland granite trimmed with Indiana limestone, with a red tile roof and landmark 150-foot (46 m) clocktower. The station's interior featured marble mosaic flooring, a fireplace, and rocking chairs. It opened to the public on September 1, 1896. "It was considered," said the Baltimore Sun, "the most splendid station in the country built and used by only one railroad." That evaluation was shared by railroad historian Lucius Beebe, who proclaimed Mount Royal "one of the celebrated railroad stations of the world, ranking in renown with Euston Station, London, scene of so many of Sherlock Holmes' departures, the Gare du Nord in Paris, and the feudal fortress of the Pennsylvania Railroad at Broad Street, Philadelphia."