5.26.23 Chesapeake Railway Museum

 

5.26.23

Yesterday I took a short day trip out to the Chesapeake Railway Museum. Part of what I want to do is share

my thoughts and opinions on historic sites and museums that I go to. Ideally, I'd like to do research before I

go somewhere so that I have extra contextual understanding of the location but I didn't have a chance to do

that this time. Think of posts like this as reviews/sneak peaks into these places so that if you want to go you

know a bit about what to expect. For this post a lot of my information comes from the museum website and

the signage at the museum.

During the “Gilded Age,” which lasted roughly from 1877 to 1896, the push for industrialization and dreams

for “Monte Carlo”-esque vacation spots expanded beyond the big cities and reached out to rural beachside

communities like Chesapeake, Maryland. The Chesapeake Railway Museum is housed in the extant, original

building. The train line, beginning at East Capitol Street in Washington D.C., had eighteen stops. The last of

which was in Chesapeake, Maryland at a resort vacation spot, then known as Chesapeake Beach Resort. 

Construction of the rail line began in 1897, and despite professional advice safety regulations were

overlooked in order to speed the construction. Thirty-one trestles and bridges were built to accommodate the

tracks. Some of which had supports as tall as fifty feet, which were driven into the ground only four feet

rather than the recommended ten. The rails that were used were second-hand and were held down with an

inferior style of ties. 

“The Honeysuckle Route,” called such because of the plentiful presence of wild honeysuckle that grew

alongside the tracks, cost fifty cents to ride from the District to Chesapeake Beach. The Express line took an

hour and the local lines took an hour and a half. Day trippers carried picnic baskets on their laps, and

overnighters and weekenders stored luggage on the overhead racks. The baggage car held the belongings of

those who intended to have an extended stay at a waterfront hotel. 

Originally dreamed to be a Monte Carlo destination (a boys club, casino, race track, kind of place) shifted and gave way to a family oriented destination spot, aided by the destruction by fire of the original Belvedere Hotel. In this new period of family fun, the resort boasted access to fishing, crabbing, swimming, and boating as well as attractions like the Dentzel carousel and the roller coaster that extended out over the water. This amusement park was eventually moved onto land in 1929 due to expensive waterfront upkeep. 

1930 saw the park rebranded as Seaside Park, Inc. with two new attractions: a 100 foot saltwater pool and a

ballroom that overlooked the bay. Instead of increasing traffic to the park, patronage was actually on the

decline; the lowest passenger count on the train into the park occurred in 1934. This decrease, along with the

country's economic depression, resulted in the park entering into “receivership.” This meant that the park was

placed in the care of an official who would then “hold custodial responsibility” of the park. Due to rationing

brought on by World War II, the park would end up closing in 1942 and would remain closed for the duration

of the war. 

Rebranded again as Chesapeake Beach Amusement Park and Fishing Wharves in 1945, the park was leased

by Herman B. Anglemyer. Unfortunately, due to financial difficulties the park was repossessed shortly after.

Then in 1946, it was purchased by Wesley Stinnett, Joseph O’Mara, and the Cate Brothers of Baltimore. It

was then renamed to Chesapeake Beach Park, Inc. Improvements were made, a fleet of boats were purchased

for group fishing trips, and events like church dances, bingo, and more were held in the Ballroom.The 1950’s

saw groups of people as numerous as 4,000 on weekends. 

Changing times began to catch up to the park once again. In 1968 slot machines were outlawed, the

Chesapeake Bay Bridge opened providing access to the ocean, and new theme parks began to open.

Eventually in 1972 the park would close for good. 

Getting to the museum was easy enough and so was finding parking. Both parking and the museum are free!

The museum space itself is small, it’s housed in the original station building. Speaking with the attendant

who was there I found out that it was recently renovated and made into what it is now. Previously, I was told

that it looked a bit like an antique shop. I thought that the signage was really well done and that the space

was used as best as possible. Even the walls were used, some superimposed images, a few objects were

displayed on the wall, and around the very top there was a timeline of the railway and the park. There were

a variety of objects displayed and my favorite was a board game of the Glad Game from Pollyanna. 

I really enjoyed the displays of swimsuits through the years. My favorite was this pink one from the 1940’s. The attendant told me that before the red cross taught women to swim, many of them were drowning due to the heavy wool swimsuits that they wore. A lot of women also sewed weights into the hems in order to keep the skirt from floating up. This weight is demonstrated to people with a bucket filled with twenty-five to thirty pounds worth of rocks and sand. In the farthest room there is a large, hand-made display with a train loop showing what the park originally looked like. It has a train with a whistle and a carousel, all of which are activated by buttons that guests can press. 

The smallest room had the original safe for the station, and the attendant told me that the building was

actually built around the safe. This same room had a desk display with lots of papers and books as well as a

typewriter. There is also a small desk that has a telegraph machine which types out “Chesapeake Beach” in

morse code. There is a replica machine that guests can use to try to type things out on as well. 

Overall I really enjoyed this museum. Despite how small it is, there is a wealth of information packed into it.

There is a wide variety of things to look at and lots of prompts to encourage thinking and reflection. The

attendant who was there was very knowledgeable and was super willing to answer questions and provide

more information. The signage, like I said before, was very well done. While there was a good flow to the

space, it did take me a moment to find a definitive “start” spot. There are audio aids as well as visuals which

I really liked. Overall I would definitely recommend this museum, but be warned that it may not take you

very long to get through it and you may want to find other activities in the area.        

I got a recommendation from the attendant about another nearby small (free) museum and I think I may go

check it out later this summer. I hope that this was an interesting and fun post and that you’ll look forward to

similar posts in the future. I want to do things like this with places that I see on my trip around the UK this

summer and even beyond that I’d like to make trips to see places after doing some research so that I can

notice more details or have a better contextual understanding to relay to you guys. I’m working on editing

together bits of my senior paper to share here and I’m putting together a list of other things that I’d like to

share and talk about here. 

Until then, keep learning and exploring!

Anne