Queen City Hotel
Queen City Hotel | |
Formerly listed on the U.S. National Register of Historic Places | |
.jpg) The B&O's Metropolitan (left) and The Shenandoah at Cumberland, MD on December 5, 1970. | |
| Coordinates | 39°39′01″N 78°45′27″W / 39.650144°N 78.757421°W |
|---|---|
| NRHP reference No. | 71001052 |
| Significant dates | |
| Added to NRHP | 1971 |
| Removed from NRHP | 1972 |
The Queen City Hotel was constructed in 1871 by the
History and design
The hotel was built only a year after the B&O completed its rail connection to
The year the hotel was finished, the B&O expanded its resort business by constructing the Deer Park Hotel in Garrett County, Maryland. (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.[3]
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.[2] The B&O made plans to demolish the hotel, and supporters of historic preservation attempted court action to save the building.[3] These efforts were unsuccessful and the B&O began demolition of the building in 1971.[1]
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.[2]
Images
.jpg)
See also
- Cumberland station (Western Maryland Railway) (extant)
- Cumberland station (Maryland), the current Amtrak station
References
- Notes
- ^ ISBN 978-0-7385-4381-9.
- ^ a b c Whetzel, Dan (Spring 2005). "Steam--Cumberland's Heritage" (PDF). Mountain Discoveries. Cumberland, MD: Advertising Art Design Inc.: 35–37.
- ^ a b Rada Jr., James (November 29, 2009). "Looking Back 1909: The B&O's Christmas Gift to Cumberland". Cumberland Times-News.
- Works cited
- Newell, Dianne (1975). The Failure to Preserve the Queen City Hotel, Cumberland, Maryland. Case Studies in Preservation. Washington, D.C.: Preservation Press. ISBN 978-0-89133-023-3.
- Stakem, Patrick H. (2008). Railroading Around Cumberland. Charleston, SC: Arcadia. p. 25. ISBN 978-0-7385-5365-8.
External links
- Queen City Hotel National Register of Historic Places
- Cumberland Amtrak Station
- Historic American Engineering Record (HAER) No. MD-4, "Baltimore & Ohio Railroad, Queen City Hotel & Station, West Side of Park Street, Opposite Ann Street, Cumberland, Allegany County, MD", 36 photos, 2 measured drawings, 4 data pages, 2 photo caption pages
| Preceding station | Baltimore and Ohio Railroad | Following station | ||
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Connellsville toward Chicago
|
Main Line | Martinsburg toward Jersey City
| ||
| Mount Savage Junction toward Chicago
|
North Branch toward Jersey City
| |||
St. Louis
|
St. Louis Line | Terminus | ||