Why a Beach Resort … part 2!
The Washington & Chesapeake Railroad, the Washington & Chesapeake Beach Railroad, the Washington & Chesapeake Beach Railway, or simply the Chesapeake Beach Railway…well that all depends on when you are talking about it.
This blog is the prequel to my earlier blog: ‘Why a Beach Resort?‘
These series of blogs are for the true die-hard railroad buffs who really love the nitty-gritty details and little side stories history leads to!
First, a brief recap
The need for a railroad to connect Baltimore & Washington to Southern Maryland had been recognized since the mid-1800s.
A number of different railroad plans swirled around with attempts to reach Southern Maryland… and while some points were reached, it never quite made it to the full imagined plan. The Civil War slowed and disrupted progress initially, but the plans and ideas remained.
The Baltimore & Drum Point Railroad came close-ish. The intent was to build a railroad between Baltimore and the southern tip of Maryland, running through Prince Frederick. It was chartered in the mid-1860s. Rights-of-ways were obtained, lands cleared, but ultimately it was abandoned in 1891 for a variety of reasons. It is an amazing story in its own right, but not to be told here! You can read an excellent recap of the Baltimore & Drum Point Railroad in the Chesapeake Dispatcher titled: The On-Again, Off-Again Railroad, by John Riedesel pg.3.
[Simon J. Martenet] – Many of the Railroads listed were proposed rather than actually built – *Baltimore & Drum Point Railroad proposed line through Calvert County
The thread is loose, but below is what I believe to be the first mention of “the” railroad plan that would ultimately lead to the Chesapeake Beach Railway Co., the company that actually built a railroad!
Here we go, the first mention 1871 – 1st piece of the puzzle:
The first mention I can find of The Washington and Chesapeake Railroad was on October 13, 1871 in the Evening Star (note: no “Beach” & the word RailROAD, not RailWAY). A man named Thomas Y. Greenfield proposed a “connection of the Capital with the Chesapeake Bay by a Short Line of Railway.” I do not know much about him, except that he “examined the route” which was not far off from what would become The Chesapeake Beach Railway. His proposed route began at Pennsylvania Ave, crossed over the Patuxent (just south of where it actually crossed 30 years later) to a point at or below Fishing Creek on the Bay, the proposed distance had the short line running approximately 21 miles. He further expounded on the benefits of the railroad, for travelers, a coal depot, transportation of fruits, vegetables AND fresh fish from the Patuxent and the Bay (he also adds in fresh fish from the West Indies here). His vision was that this train would connect Washington DC to the Bay and continue further south to Virginia and beyond.
Great vision, however, it fell flat.
The second worthy mention/“attempt” was in 1881 – 2nd piece of the puzzle:
This worthy mention was on January 13, 1881, when “Mr. Vance,” who I believe to be Senator Zebulon Baird Vance from North Carolina, introduced a bill to authorize the “Washington and Chesapeake Railroad Company to extend a railroad into the District of Columbia” (again, note no “Beach” in the title & the word RailROAD not RailWAY). Obviously there had to be some background story happening with the railroad plan leading up to this bill being introduced, but I did not find any plans, mentions, whispers of the more recent 1881 plan leading up to Mr. Vance’s proposal.
This second attempt seemed to get a smidge further than the first and lingered around from 1881 to around 1883. They actually held stockholder meetings in early 1881 for the company. This plan was similar to the first idea, connecting Washington DC with the rest of Southern Maryland and with a proposed terminus at or near Fair Haven (in Anne Arundel Co.).
It is worth noting that Senator Zebulon Vance had been a captain in the Confederate Army. He would leave the army and become the Governor of North Carolina during the Civil War, and for a later second term. He shifted gears and became a U.S. Senator for North Carolina from 1879 until his death in 1894. After the Civil War he supported modernization of the Southern economy, railroad expansion and reconciliation with the North. It is not clear how the Washington & Chesapeake Railroad Co. came to cross his path, but likely his stance on railroad expansion, was the key. And clearly, these men with power and persuasion traveled in the same circles.
I note also that in February 1881, the House authorized this train entry/expansion into the District of Columbia for the Washington & Chesapeake Railroad, AS WELL AS, authorizing the Southern Maryland Railroad Company to extend a railroad into and within the District. This was an interesting note because it was a separate bill/request, yet a very similar company that had somewhat overlapped throughout the years… It is unclear if it means there were now two completely separate entities, or if they were “working together” for a similar cause (The Southern Maryland Railroad Co. had made several attempts to extend into the district for some time).
However, like the first idea… it petered out.
3rd(ish) attempt 1883 – somewhat blended with previous 1881 try – 3rd piece of the puzzle:
In 1883 it was reported yet again, in the Evening Star, that a company was organized in New Jersey, The Columbia Contracting Company, with the purpose of building a railroad between DC and “the Chesapeake beach.” I believe at this point, it was “a beach“ on the Chesapeake Bay, not “the Chesapeake Beach“ that exists today. The destination point would be a “summer resort.” This time there were some new players that entered the picture, Mr. George M. Robeson & Mr. Garret A. Hobart. Both men were from New Jersey and were listed as members of the company, bringing another piece of the puzzle. — *They were both representatives from New Jersey at the time of their interest in the railway).
This was another push to making the railway a reality. This connects to my blog “Why a Beach Resort?”. The previous blog discussed how this particular group pushed the idea along, and what this New Jersey connection brought/delivered to the plan… which was a concrete vision of what the new seaside, summer resort could be… like an Atlantic City, Asbury, or Cape May.
[*note, I have adjusted my assessment slightly since writing that earlier blog/article, only to say that 1871 mention is what I now believe to have gotten the ball rolling on making The Chesapeake Beach Railway a reality. Click on the blog title “Why a Beach Resort?” to read more on the details of that particular group of investors!]
There were a few more articles here and there for the remainder of 1883… with little tidbits of how the plan was moving along. Colonel S.T. Suit, who had been involved since 1881, stayed involved and appears to have been drumming up attention and trying to drum up excitement for the Washington & Chesapeake Railroad plan.
March of 1884 sees newspaper reporting again about right-of-way being obtained, with the terminus still planned at a point near Fair Haven. There is an interesting note in the Baltimore Sun on March 3, 1884, that Calvert County residents say they would gladly welcome a railroad in Calvert County, but they had little faith in the two proposed roads (Washington & Chesapeake RR and the Baltimore & Drum Point RR).
The county residents had high hopes of a railroad, but reality had dampened their expectations!
1884 has one key piece of the puzzle added, official mention of the Town of Chesapeake Beach!
There was some negative press in April of 1884 when the railroad company was sued by E.G. Hall, a landowner, for damages to his land when the right-of-way was cut. I don’t know the outcome, and the company did seem to peter out a bit with one fairly big exception… well at least noteworthy to this story!
In 1886 a new player entered the court, Charles T. Clagett, a Senator from PG county from 1886-1888 and introduced a bill to incorporate the Town of Chesapeake Beach, MD… which was again attempted in 1888.
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