At Mile 100 Through the Years

July 4, 1828: Groundbreaking for the construction of the Baltimore and Ohio Railroad and Chesapeake & Ohio Canal.

1842: B&O Railroad reaches Martinsburg, 100 miles from Baltimore and division point for replacing train crews.

1848: New engine house to hold 11 engines with workshop under construction by B&O.

1858: Fifty prominent American artists arrive in Martinsburg on rail excursion promoting B&O crossing the Allegheny mountains.

1859: Group of B&O Railroad workers and citizens in Martinsburg, led by Capt. E.G. Alburtis, travel by train to Harper’s Ferry to help snuff out attempt by abolitionist John Brown to spark a slave rebellion; 8 wounded, 2 mortally.

1861: Confederate troops target B&O at Martinsburg, burn 14 locomotives, four passenger cars and mail and baggage car and transport parts of additional engines by animal power to Southern railways.

1862: Polygonal engine house, half-round engine house, machine shops and other railroad facilities at Martinsburg destroyed in Confederate attack.

1866-1867: New Round House for 16 engines, two shop buildings completed. 1872: “Round House No. 2” completed with pits for 16 engines, new sand house and turntable. Structure is rebuilt after roof collapsed in 1873.

1877: First national labor action in U.S. history begins in Martinsburg and then spreads to major U.S. cities before President Rutherford B. Hayes deploys troops to end the work stoppage.

1988: CSX Transportation, present owner of the B&O Railroad, cease operations at the Martinsburg Shops

1990: Roundhouse No. 2, today known as the East Roundhouse, is destroyed by arson fire.

1999: Berkeley County Commission acquires B&O Railroad Martinsburg Shops from CSX Transportation for $150,000.

2000: Berkeley County Roundhouse Authority; a public corporation authorized by the West Virginia Legislature, becomes owner of 12.94-acre historic railroad site.