The Building

The Boonsboro Trolley Station Museum is located within the last purpose-built trolley station in Washington County.  We have not been able to find a date for the construction of the building, however it is expected to have been sometime in the 1910’s.  The building has been restored, but has not been moved from its original location.

The trolley station in its heyday during the 1920s, compared with the building as it appears today.  The greatest change to the building was the removal of a canopy above the trolley tracks.

The porch of the building did not originally have railings, and served as the station platform.  Trolleys and railroad cars came to the front of the building, while wagons and trucks could be brought up to the side porch for loading and unloading.  The original porch with its recessed staircase was removed prior to 1970, and a new porch added sometime in the 1980s.

Replacement of original tin roof tiles and steel sheathing was part of the 2005-2009 restoration of the building, which also included the reconstruction of the interior wall which had been removed some time prior.  The internal portions of exterior walls are original to the building.

This building served as a dual-use station, offering a ticket office and waiting room for passengers as well as a small freight warehouse for cargo coming to and being shipped out by local businesses and farms.

It was physically attached to the neighboring Boonsboro Ice & Supply Company ice factory.

Much of the station’s history is not well documented.  From a few first hand accounts it is suspected that the building was sold to the Ice company when trolley service began to decline, and that company handled ticket and freight transactions on behalf of the railway instead of the town being assigned a railway ticket and freight agent.