Penn-North station is an underground Metro SubwayLink station and transit hub serving many buses in West

Baltimore, Maryland Baltimore ( , locally: or ) is the most populous city in the U.S. state of Maryland, fourth most populous city in the Mid-Atlantic, and the 30th most populous city in the United States with a population of 585,708 in 2020. Baltimore was ...

. Its name comes from its location and neighborhood it serves

Penn-North Penn-North is a neighborhood in the city of Baltimore, Maryland, United States. It is located southwest of Druid Hill Park, west of Reservoir Hill, north of Bolton Hill, and east of Mondawmin. It is bounded Northeast by the Druid Park Lake Dri ...

, at the corner of Pennsylvania and North Avenues. It is the deepest underground station, eighth most northern and western station on the line, and the first station when starting from

Owings Mills Owings Mills is an unincorporated community and census-designated place in Baltimore County, Maryland, United States. It is a suburb of Baltimore. Per the 2020 census, the population was 35,674. Owings Mills is home to the northern terminus of ...

that does not have free parking.

Station layout

Artwork

In September 2021, the Maryland Transit Administration (MTA) announced the installation of a new mural project at Penn-North station painted by Baltimore artist Megan Lewis on a $60,000 commission. This is the first new artwork commissioned for the Baltimore Metro subway system in many years.

History

Excavation and construction

Penn-North station was referred to as North Avenue station during its planning and construction, in reference to just North Avenue and not including Pennsylvania Avenue in the name. The station is the deepest in the Baltimore Metro subway system, with its platform 120 feet below street level. Penn-North station, like the other underground stations of the Baltimore Metro subway system, was constructed using the cut-and-cover method. The excavation for the station mostly occurred in schist-derived residual materials. The underlying geology consists of the crystalline metamorphic rocks and their derivatives which are characteristic of the Piedmont physiographic region which contacts Cretaceous sedimentary formations along the diagonal Fall Line in Baltimore.

Mondawmin station Mondawmin station is a Metro SubwayLink station in Baltimore, Maryland. It is located under the intersection of Reisterstown Road and Liberty Heights Avenue in the Mondawmin neighborhood, adjacent to the Mondawmin Mall. It is the northernmost u ...

and Upton station, the other subway stops built in the northwestern portion of the underground alignment, are also underlain by metamorphic Piedmont material. The excavation for Penn-North station was supported by soldier piles anchored in the earth beneath it; extending through soil up to 50 feet below street level and through rock at greater depths. References points were installed and monitored to survey the impact of

structural settlement Settlement in a structure refers to the distortion or disruption of parts of a building due to * unequal compression of its foundations; * shrinkage, such as that which occurs in timber-framed buildings as the frame adjusts its moisture content; ...

on the buildings adjacent to the excavation. The area around Penn-North station at the time of excavation included two-story residential

rowhouses In architecture and city planning, a terrace or terraced house (British English, UK) or townhouse (American English, US) is a form of medium-density housing that originated in Europe in the 16th century, whereby a row of attached dwellings party ...

two- to three-story warehouse-type buildings. 0.14 feet of settlement was measured and attributed to gradual groundwater drawdown which occurred during the excavation, resulting in deep-seated lateral movements which caused little observable distress on the overlying structures. Penn-North station opened in November 1983 when trains started running on the Baltimore Metro subway line. While investments occurred in the areas around many of the Baltimore Metro stations, initial plans for development around Penn-North station in the 1980s fell through.

2015 protests

In April 2015, riots broke out around the station protesting the

death of Freddie Gray On April 12, 2015, Freddie Carlos Gray Jr., a 25-year-old African American, was arrested by the Baltimore Police Department over his legal possession of a knife. While being transported in a police van, Gray sustained injuries and was taken to ...

References

External links

North Avenue entrance from Google Maps Street View
{{DEFAULTSORT:Penn-North (Metro SubwayLink station) Metro SubwayLink stations Railway stations in the United States opened in 1983 1983 establishments in Maryland Railway stations in Baltimore Penn-North, Baltimore Druid Heights, Baltimore Railway stations located underground in Maryland