B & O Railroad Potomac River Crossing
The B & O Railroad Potomac River Crossing is a 15-acre (6.1 ha) historic site where a set of railroad bridges, originally built by the Baltimore and Ohio Railroad, span the Potomac River between Sandy Hook, Maryland and Harpers Ferry, West Virginia. The site was added to the National Register of Historic Places on February 14, 1978, for its significance in commerce, engineering, industry, invention, and transportation.
From left to right: Stone piers from 1851 at Bollman Truss Railroad Bridge; the bridge in 1894; and the bridge in 1931
West Portal of the Harpers Ferry Tunnel
View from the Split Rock overlook in 2021
Image: Harpers Ferry Bollman Bridge
Baltimore and Ohio Railroad
The Baltimore and Ohio Railroad was the first common carrier railroad and the oldest railroad in the United States. It operated as B&O from 1830 until 1987, when it was merged into the Chessie System; its lines are today controlled by CSX Transportation.
Baltimore and Ohio Railroad's Columbian crossing the Potomac River from Maryland to Harpers Ferry, West Virginia in 1949
Cornerstone of the B&O, laid July 4, 1828, by Charles Carroll of Carrollton, now displayed at the B&O Railroad Museum
Twelve and a half cent note issued by the Baltimore and Ohio Railroad Company in 1841.
Scenes of the B&O Railroad. Decorative title page for Ele Bowen, Rambles in the Path of the Steam-Horse, 1855
