Overview of the Boonsboro Trolley Station Museum

The Boonsboro Trolley Station Museum was actually the first project of the National Road Heritage Foundation.

Opened in September 2009, the museum exhibits were originally a collection of objects and local photographs contributed by area residents and organizations.  Over the years these paper-based displays succumbed to climate and pest related problems and were in need of replacement.  In 2022, we received a mini-grant from the Heart of the Civil War Heritage Area to redevelop the exhibits, completely changing the exhibit area to tell the story of the local trolley system and the history of the museum property.

The building housing the exhibits is Boonsboro’s original trolley station.   The structure was surveyed by a Baltimore based historic architecture class in 2005, and the NRHF managed the building restoration.  The exact date of the station construction is unknown, though it is believed to have been built in the mid-1910s.  Previously, the office of a nearby factory had served as the ticket office.

While serving as the trolley station, there was no porch railing, and passengers boarded the trolleys from the “front porch.”  A track ran against the front of the building, along with a freight siding track which is still buried near the sidewalk.  The corner of the building neares the intersection was the waiting room for passengers, giving them somewhere out of the weather to keep warm, while the rest of the building was used to store cargo that was coming and going, including fruit and produce being exported from town, and products and supplies coming in to town which were ordered by stores, farms, and individuals.