Queen City Hotel

Queen City Hotel
Formerly listed on the U.S. National Register of Historic Places
The B&O's Metropolitan (left) and The Shenandoah at Cumberland, MD on December 5, 1970.
NRHP Reference #	71001052
Significant dates
Added to NRHP	1971
Removed from NRHP	1972

The Queen City Hotel was constructed in 1871 by the Baltimore and Ohio Railroad (B&O) in Cumberland, Maryland to serve both as a train station and as a destination. Hosting 174 rooms, it also had such features as formal gardens with a fountain, a ballroom and 400-seat dining room. It was torn down in 1972 to make room for a new main United States Post Office and Distribution facility with a much smaller station for Amtrak service between the new Post Office and the railroad tracks.

The hotel was built only a year after the B&O completed its rail connection to Pittsburgh. This placed Cumberland at a major junction of the route northwest to Pittsburgh and the B&O main line west of the Ohio River. The building was designed by Thomas N. Heskett of the B&O Road Department in the Italianate style, and the construction cost was over $350,000. The hotel served as a summer resort, although the railroad did not actively promote it as a tourist destination. Located in a valley surrounded by mountains, it provided an escape from the summer heat.

The year the hotel was finished, the B&O expanded its resort business by beginning the construction of the Deer Park Hotel in Garrett County. (The latter hotel closed in 1929 and was later destroyed by fire.)

The B&O completed construction of a new, expanded passenger station component in 1912. The station occupied three floors and included offices for the railroad company.

As with other railroads, passenger traffic on the B&O line declined in the mid-20th century. Interest in and occupancy of the hotel also declined. The hotel closed to the public in December 1964. Following a fire in 1969, the building was inspected by the city and declared to be a hazard. The B&O made plans to demolish the hotel, and supporters of historic preservation attempted court action to save the building. These efforts were unsuccessful and the B&O began demolition of the building in 1971.