| B&O history | | | | On December 8, 1976, the station was added to the |
| Construction | | | | register of National Historic Landmarks, granting it full |
| Designed by Baltimore architect E. Francis Baldwin in a | | | | protection as an historic site. The Mount Royal Station |
| blend of modified Romanesque and Renaissance | | | | train shed, one of the country last remaining such |
| styling, the station was constructed in 1896 by the | | | | structures, was renovated in 1985 due to advanced |
| Baltimore and Ohio Railroad (B&O) as part of its | | | | deterioration of the shed materials. In 1992, the AIA's |
| massive Baltimore Belt Line improvement project for | | | | Baltimore chapter honored the Maryland Institute and |
| its New York passenger service. Located at the north | | | | architects Cochran, Stevenson & Donkervoet |
| end of the B&O's Howard Street tunnel, the | | | | with a 25 Year Award for Excellence in Design of |
| station was built of Maryland granite trimmed with | | | | Enduring Significance for their adaptive reuse of the |
| Indiana limestone, with a red tile roof and landmark | | | | former train depot. |
| 150-foot (46 m) clocktower. The station's interior | | | | Between 20052007, MICA accomplished a |
| featured marble mosaic flooring, a fireplace, and | | | | two-phased, $6.3 million renovation of the building by |
| rocking chairs. It opened to the public on September 1, | | | | the architectural firm of Grieves, Worrall, Wright & |
| 1896. "It was considered," said the Baltimore Sun, "the | | | | Oatnick, Inc. The first phase, renovation of the interior, |
| most splendid station in the country built and used by | | | | was completed in Fall, 2005: interior finishes, such as |
| only one railroad." That evaluation was shared by | | | | the mosaic tile flooring, marble columns, tin ceilings, |
| railroad historian Lucius Beebe, who proclaimed Mount | | | | wood wainscot, and trim were cleaned and restored. |
| Royal "one of the celebrated railroad stations of the | | | | Classroom space was also increased, as well as the |
| world, ranking in renown with Euston Station, London, | | | | quality and quantity of studio space. The second |
| scene of so many of Sherlock Holmes' departures, the | | | | phase, restoration of the building's exterior and train |
| Gare du Nord in Paris, and the feudal fortress of the | | | | shed, was completed in Spring, 2007: stonework and |
| Pennsylvania Railroad at Broad Street, Philadelphia." | | | | wood were cleaned, repaired, and repainted, the slate |
| Train operations | | | | canopy restored, and the drainage system fixed; |
| The station's interior in 1958 | | | | clerestory and structural timbers in the train shed were |
| The B&O pioneered the first U.S. mainline railway | | | | replaced and the steel roof framing was reinforced. In |
| electrification system at Mount Royal Station when it | | | | keeping with the pedestrian landscaping and |
| opened in 1896, installing an overhead third rail system | | | | streetscape that MICA has created along Mount |
| in the station's trainshed and its tunnel approaches. | | | | Royal Avenue, a new plaza with benches, bike racks, |
| The most famous train associated with the Mount | | | | shrubs, and ornamental grasses and ground cover |
| Royal Station was the Royal Blue, which ran between | | | | was added. |
| Washington, D.C. and New York City. Luminaries using | | | | The Station Building, as it is now called by MICA, |
| the B&O's station over the years include U.S. | | | | houses the undergraduate departments of fiber and |
| Presidents Woodrow Wilson, Calvin Coolidge, Herbert | | | | interdisciplinary sculpture, 3-D classrooms, and the |
| Hoover, Franklin D. Roosevelt, and Dwight D. | | | | Rinehart School of Sculpture, as well as senior studios. |
| Eisenhower, along with Western showman "Buffalo Bill" | | | | See also |
| Cody, singer Enrico Caruso, and celebrated conductor | | | | Baltimore Terminal Subdivision |
| Arturo Toscanini, whose private Pullman car was | | | | Mount Clare Shops |
| parked on a siding during his appearances at the | | | | References |
| nearby Lyric Theatre. After the B&O discontinued | | | | ^ "National Register Information System". National |
| passenger service to New York on April 26, 1958, | | | | Register of Historic Places. National Park Service. |
| Mount Royal Station became the eastern terminus of | | | | 2008-04-15. |
| B&O's passenger trains. It was one of thirteen | | | | ^ "Mount Royal Station and Trainshed". National Historic |
| Baltimore buildings selected in 1959 for the Historic | | | | Landmark summary listing. National Park Service. |
| American Buildings Survey. On June 30, 1961, the | | | | Retrieved 2008-06-17. |
| B&O consolidated its Baltimore passenger train | | | | ^ a b John F. Stover, History of the Baltimore and Ohio |
| service at Camden Station, permanently ending its use | | | | Railroad. West Lafayette, Ind.: Purdue University Press, |
| of Mount Royal Station after 65 years of operation. | | | | 1987 (ISBN 0-911198-81-4), pp. 172176. |
| Art studio conversion | | | | ^ a b Timothy Jacobs, The History of the Baltimore |
| The vacant railroad station building, train shed, and the | | | | & Ohio. New York: Crescent Books, 1989 (ISBN |
| surrounding 3 acres were subsequently acquired by | | | | 0-517-67603-6), p. 68. |
| the Maryland Institute College of Art (MICA) in 1964 for | | | | ^ a b Potter, Janet Greenstein (1996). Great American |
| $250,000. The sale amount was far below market | | | | Railroad Stations. New York: John Wiley & Sons. |
| value and represented "a substantial donation on the | | | | p. 134. ISBN 0-471-14389-8. |
| part of the B&O", said MICA officials. After | | | | ^ Salamon, Stephen J.; Oroszi, David P., and Ori, David |
| $1 million was raised by MICA for the project, the | | | | P. (1993). Baltimore and Ohio: Reflections of the Capitol |
| station was converted for use by art students in 1967 | | | | Dome. Silver Spring, Md.: Old Line Graphics. pp. 24. |
| at a final cost of $18 per square foot of building space, | | | | ISBN 1-879314-08-8. |
| which was considerably less than the estimated cost | | | | ^ a b c Charles V. Flowers, "Mount Royal Closes |
| for a new building of $25 per square foot. The former | | | | Doors But Tower Clock Will Run", The Baltimore Sun, |
| B&O baggage room and platform areas were | | | | July 1, 1961. |
| enclosed for use as studios and the station's exterior | | | | ^ Beebe, Lucius and Clegg, Charles (1993). The Trains |
| and clock tower were retained. The original 800-foot | | | | We Rode. New York: Promontory Press. p. 111. ISBN |
| (240 m) long iron trainshed remains over CSX | | | | 0883940817. |
| Transportation's active mainline tracks. This adaptive | | | | ^ a b Binney, Marcus (1979). Railway Architecture. |
| reuse preserved the Mount Royal Station as an | | | | Save Britain's Heritage (Association). pp. 226. ISBN |
| example of late 19th century industrial architecture, | | | | 0-442-20393-4. |
| using it for a purpose different from its original one. | | | | ^ Frank P. L. Somerville (September 22, 1964). "Institute |
| Design work for the conversion was performed by | | | | Buys B&O Station". The Baltimore Evening Sun. |
| Richard Donkervoet of Cochran, Stephenson and | | | | ^ Harwood, Jr., Herbert H. (1990). Royal Blue Line. |
| Donkervoet. Donkervoet retained as much of the | | | | Sykesville, Md.: Greenberg Publishing. pp. 171. ISBN |
| building exterior appearance as possible, and also | | | | 0-89778-155-4. |
| preserved much of the interior character, including the | | | | ^ Dorsey, John; Dilts, James D. (1981). A Guide to |
| vaulted ceilings, columns, and mosaic floor. Architectural | | | | Baltimore Architecture (Second ed.). Centreville, ryland: |
| Forum recognized the station renovation for "sensitivity | | | | Tidewater Publishes. pp. 180181. ISBN |
| by later architects to the initial conception by the | | | | 0-87033-272-4. |
| original," and Margaret Mead, in a lecture given at the | | | | External links |
| station, commented that the renovation "is perhaps the | | | | Wikimedia Commons has media related to: Mount |
| most magnificent example in the Western World of | | | | Royal Station |
| something being made into something else". | | | | Mount Royal Station, Baltimore City, including photo in |
| A CSX Transportation train under the trainshed in | | | | 2004, at Maryland Historical Trustv d e |
| 2009 | | | | U.S. |