The U.S. state of Maryland is one of the original thirteen states. It was in this state where the National Anthem of the United States of America was written near Fort McHenry. The oldest Catholic Church is in this state. The oldest continuously operating airport in the world, College Park Airport, in located in the state. The capitol building in Annapolis is the only capitol building in the nation where the capitol dome is completely made with wood. It is where you will find the largest estuary, the Chesapeake Bay, in the nation. As for the railroad, the first railroad began in Maryland, and you can still ride the first mile and a half of railroad at the Baltimore and Ohio Railroad Museum in Baltimore. The oldest railroad bridge in the nation as well as the oldest railroad aqueduct in the nation are in the state and still used today by the Chessie Seaboard System (CSX). The oldest surviving train station in the nation is in Ellicott City and is open as a museum.
Then you have the city of Hagerstown. Located in the western region of the state, it is a city that is at a crossroads. The National Road (present day U.S. Route 40) passes through here as well as U.S. Route 11, and it is where Interstates 70 and 81 meet. In the city of Hagerstown, you have the Hagerstown Police Department. What is special about the Hagerstown Police Department? Well, it is like any other police department in the nation, but they do have one exception. What is special about the Hagerstown Police Department? We must look to their headquarters. Yes, some cities have a fancy elaborate headquarters for their police, but Hagerstown is different. How? It was not always the headquarters of the Hagerstown Police Department.
Before it was the Hagerstown Police Department Headquarters, it was a train station for the Western Maryland Railway. The structure you see today was not the original train station for Hagerstown. The current structure was built on the site of the original train station. When passenger serviced ceased to Hagerstown, the building was spared and bought by the city of Hagerstown and became the headquarters of the police department.
The Hagerstown Police Department Headquarters is located at the intersection of U.S. Route 11 and U.S. Route 40. Along with the station, there are a few monuments to the police and to the railroad on the grounds.
John Cowgill: Stories of the Railroad 