The Queen City Hotel was constructed in 1871 by the

Baltimore and Ohio Railroad The Baltimore and Ohio Railroad was the first common carrier railroad and the oldest railroad in the United States, with its first section opening in 1830. Merchants from Baltimore, which had benefited to some extent from the construction of ...

(B&O) in

Cumberland, Maryland Cumberland is a U.S. city in and the county seat of Allegany County, Maryland Maryland ( ) is a state in the Mid-Atlantic region of the United States. It shares borders with Virginia, West Virginia, and the District of Columbia to its s ...

to serve both as a

train station A train station, railway station, railroad station or depot is a railway facility where trains stop to load or unload passengers, freight or both. It generally consists of at least one platform, one track and a station building providing suc ...

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 Station may refer to: Agriculture * Station (Australian agriculture), a large Australian landholding used for livestock production * Station (New Zealand agriculture), a large New Zealand farm used for grazing by sheep and cattle ** Cattle statio ...

for

Amtrak The National Railroad Passenger Corporation, Trade name, doing business as Amtrak () , is the national Passenger train, passenger railroad company of the United States. It operates inter-city rail service in 46 of the 48 contiguous United Stat ...

service between the new Post Office and the railroad tracks.

History and design

The hotel was built only a year after the B&O completed its rail connection to

Pittsburgh Pittsburgh ( ) is a city in the Commonwealth (U.S. state), Commonwealth of Pennsylvania, United States, and the county seat of Allegheny County, Pennsylvania, Allegheny County. It is the most populous city in both Allegheny County and Wester ...

. This placed Cumberland at a major

junction Junction may refer to: Arts and entertainment * ''Junction'' (film), a 2012 American film * Jjunction, a 2002 Indian film * Junction (album), a 1976 album by Andrew Cyrille * Junction (EP), by Basement Jaxx, 2002 * Junction (manga), or ''Hot ...

of the route northwest to Pittsburgh and the B&O main line west of the

Ohio River The Ohio River is a long river in the United States. It is located at the boundary of the Midwestern and Southern United States, flowing southwesterly from western Pennsylvania to its mouth on the Mississippi River at the southern tip of Illino ...

. The building was designed by Thomas N. Heskett of the B&O Road Department in the

Italianate The Italianate style was a distinct 19th-century phase in the history of Classical architecture. Like Palladianism and Neoclassicism, the Italianate style drew its inspiration from the models and architectural vocabulary of 16th-century Italian R ...

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 constructing the Deer Park Hotel in

Garrett County, Maryland Garrett County () is the westernmost county of the U.S. state of Maryland. As of the 2020 census, the population was 28,806, making it the third-least populous county in Maryland. Its county seat is Oakland. The county was named for John Work ...

. (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.

Decline and attempt at preservation

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 Historic preservation (US), built heritage preservation or built heritage conservation (UK), is an endeavor that seeks to preserve, conserve and protect buildings, objects, landscapes or other artifacts of historical significance. It is a philos ...

attempted court action to save the building. These efforts were unsuccessful and the B&O began demolition of the building in 1971. The effort to preserve this ornate, Victorian-era structure was one of the classic preservation battles of the early 1970s. It was one of the last remaining railroad hotels in the U.S. The battle was lost when the building was demolished. The hotel site is now occupied by the Cumberland Post Office.

Images

image:B&O Cumberland, MD station facade on May 17, 1969 (22336867888).jpg image:queen_city_hotel_front.jpg image:queen_city_hotel_porch.jpg image:queen_city_hotel_cupola.jpg image:queen_city_hotel_entry.jpg

References

;Notes ;Works cited * *

External links

Queen City Hotel
National Register of Historic Places

* {{Adjacent stations, system1=Baltimore and Ohio Railroad , line1=main, left1=Connellsville, right1=Martinsburg , line2=main, left2=Mount Savage Junction, right2=North Branch , line3=St. Louis Line, left3=Amcelle, right3= History of Cumberland, MD-WV MSA Former Baltimore and Ohio Railroad stations Historic American Engineering Record in Maryland Hotels in Maryland Buildings and structures in Cumberland, Maryland Demolished hotels in the United States Demolished railway stations in the United States Railway hotels in the United States Hotel buildings completed in 1871 Buildings and structures demolished in 1972 Italianate architecture in Maryland 1871 establishments in Maryland 1972 disestablishments in Maryland Former railway stations in Maryland Demolished buildings and structures in Maryland Former National Register of Historic Places in Maryland

History and design

Decline and attempt at preservation

Images

See also

References

External links