Baltimore & Ohio Railroad Station, Laurel, 101 Lafayette Avenue, Laurel, Prince George's County, MD

Significance: The Laurel B&O Station is significant as the only surviving railroad station in Prince George's County, and an example of decorative Victorian-era railroad architecture. It was designed by Baltimore architect Francis E. Baldwin who was responsible for most of the B&O's Maryland stations and two of its office buildings in Baltimore. The Baltimore & Ohio Railroad, one of the oldest in the nation, opened its Washington branch in 1835. The first and most important of three railways through Prince George's County, it entered Prince George's here in Laurel and continued in a southwesterly direction, carrying both freight and passengers, to Beltsville, College Park, Riverdale, Hyattsville and on to the District. The presence of the B&O in Laurel, as shown by this station, greatly affected its growth and prominence as a highly populated area of commerce, the industrial center of this agricultural county. The Laurel station is now the last of the old Washington Branch stations.
Survey number: HABS MD-973
Building/structure dates: 1884 Initial Construction