"On the evening of May 13, 1861, General Benjamin Butler and 1,000 Union soldiers arrived at Baltimore's Camden Street Station by train. Under the cover of a thunderstorm, they fortified Federal Hill to ensure the city of Baltimore remained under Union control, after the Pratt Street Riot less than a month earlier."
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The Fair of the Iron Horse - PP167
Collection finding aids of Photograph Collections
in the Prints and Photographs Division
of the Maryland Historical Society Library
THE FAIR OF THE IRON HORSE ALBUM
1927
PP167
PRINTS AND PHOTOGRAPHS DIVISION
MARYLAND HISTORICAL SOCIETY
201 W. MONUMENT ST.
BALTIMORE, MD 21201
Finding aid created by Katherine Cowan
with funding from the Andrew W. Mellon Foundation
April 2000
History
The Baltimore and Ohio Railroad began operation in 1827, and would soon transport passengers from Mt. Clare, Mt. Royal and Camden Stations in Baltimore to destinations in New York, Washington, Cumberland, Cleveland, Chicago, St. Louis, and points in between. The Fair of the Iron Horse was a centenary exhibition and pageant of the railroad, held September 24-October 8, 1927 in Halethorpe (Baltimore Co., Md.).
Daniel Willard (1861-1942) was president of the Baltimore and Ohio Railroad from 1910-1941, and the original owner of this album. His son Daniel Willard, Jr. (1894-1940) was assistant general counsel for the railroad beginning in 1926.
Collection Origin
Purchase, 1997.
Scope and Contents
The collection consists of 1 album containing 221 black and white photoprints, some of which have color added. The album documents the 1927 Fair of the Iron Horse at Halethorpe (Baltimore Co., Md.), the Baltimore and Ohio Railroad’s centenary celebration. All images are captioned.
Images depict the fairgrounds, showing many exhibits, spectators, and characters and floats from the pageant. Pageant participants included costumed individuals portraying historical characters such as Peter Cooper, but also actual Native Americans who are Blood and Piegan people of the Blackfeet Nation. From this latter group there are full portraits of Princess Dawn Mist and Chief Two Gun White Calf.
Exhibits featured railroad engines and cars from the first hundred years of the Baltimore and Ohio Railroad, along with many aspects of transportation including rail construction, telegraphy, baggage, traffic, and commercial development.
Note: Related materials are found in the Manuscripts Department of the Maryland Historical Society. Among many collections dealing with the Baltimore and Ohio Railroad are company records, including: MS. 1078, 1135, 1192, 1763, 2090, and 2157.
Arrangement
The photographs remain in one album. Items are individually captioned, but inventory is not available.
Note: Album cover has red-rot.
Container List
1 Box
1 Album
33 x 26 cm. Black leather cover stamped with gold lettering: "D. Willard"; title page has illustration and text: "The Fair of the Iron Horse/Centenary Exhibition and Pageant of the Baltimore [and] Ohio Railroad/Baltimore, Maryland/September 24-October 8, 1927". 221 photoprints, 1927. Some prints have color added.
