Baltimore and Ohio Railroad Company

Description

Photograph of Charles Carroll of Carrollton (left, portrayed by Charles White) and his African American attendant (right, portrayed by Fearless Williams), an exhibit from the Baltimore and Ohio Railroad Company's "Fair of the Iron Horse", a celebration of its one hundredth birthday held from September 24 to October 15, 1927 at outdoor fairgrounds in Halethorpe, Baltimore County, Maryland. "Iron horse" was, of course, an early term used for locomotive. At the time, the Baltimore and Ohio Railroad was the largest operating railroad in the world. The Fair attracted over one million visitors. Included in this celebration was the Pageant, which portrayed the history of inland transportation on the North American Continent. Charles Carroll, delegate from Maryland to the Continental Congress and the only Catholic signer of the Declaration of Independence, was instrumental in 1828 in establishing the Baltimore and Ohio Railroad Company. At a groundbreaking ceremony to lay the cornerstone of the first route, he is reported to have said, "I consider this to be the most important act of my life, second only to the signing of the Declaration of Independence." In the portrayal, both men are wearing the livery of the Early American period.

Record Contributed By

Enoch Pratt Free Library / State Library Resource Center

Record Harvested From

Digital Maryland