Monocacy () is a passenger rail station on the MARC Brunswick Line between

Washington, D.C. Washington, D.C., formally the District of Columbia and commonly known as Washington or D.C., is the capital city and federal district of the United States. The city is on the Potomac River, across from Virginia, and shares land borders with ...

and

Frederick, Maryland Frederick is a city in, and the county seat of, Frederick County, Maryland, United States. Frederick's population was 78,171 people as of the 2020 United States census, 2020 census, making it the List of municipalities in Maryland, second-largest ...

. This station is one of two stations on the Frederick extension.MARC station list (includes Monocacy)
''MARC official website'' It is also the only station on the Brunswick Line other than Union Station to have a high-level platform. There is also a low level platform at the north end of the station. Monocacy station is located at 7800 Genstar Drive, a

cul-de-sac A dead end, also known as a ''cul-de-sac'' (; , ), a no-through road or a no-exit road, is a street with only one combined inlet and outlet. Dead ends are added to roads in urban planning designs to limit traffic in residential areas. Some d ...

with a large

parking lot A parking lot or car park (British English), also known as a car lot, is a cleared area intended for parking vehicles. The term usually refers to an area dedicated only for parking, with a durable or semi-durable surface. In most jurisdi ...

off the east side of

Maryland Route 355 Maryland Route 355 (MD 355) is a north–south road in western central Maryland in the United States. The southern terminus of the route is in Bethesda, Maryland, Bethesda in Montgomery County, Maryland, Montgomery County, where ...

in Frederick. It was built on the old Frederick Branch of the

Baltimore and Ohio Railroad The Baltimore and Ohio Railroad was the oldest railroads in North America, oldest railroad in the United States and the first steam engine, steam-operated common carrier. Construction of the line began in 1828, and it operated as B&O from 1830 ...

. The architects of Cochran, Stephenson & Donkervoet, Inc. designed the small station to resemble B&O stations from the past.

Bus connections

MTA Maryland Commuter Bus *Route 204 *Route 515 TransIT Services of Frederick
TransIT Route 20TransIT Route 10
By request only)

History

Monocacy Station, served at the time by the

, played a brief but key role during

John Brown John Brown most often refers to: *John Brown (abolitionist) (1800–1859), American who led an anti-slavery raid on Harpers Ferry, Virginia, in 1859 John Brown or Johnny Brown may also refer to: Academia * John Brown (educator) (1763–1842), Ir ...

's 1859 raid on the Federal Armory in nearby Harpers Ferry, Virginia (since 1863, West Virginia). Because John Brown's rebels cut the Railroad's telegraph line, no news of the rebellion reached Baltimore, the Railroad's center of operations, for several hours. The one train Brown eventually let proceed through Harpers Ferry and over the

B & O Railroad Potomac River Crossing The B & O Railroad Potomac River Crossing is a historic site where a set of railroad bridges, originally built by the Baltimore and Ohio Railroad, span the Potomac River between Sandy Hook, Maryland and Harpers Ferry, West Virginia. The site w ...

into Maryland stopped at Monocacy, which was the next station with staff and a telegraph, something not available in the stations at the hamlets of

Sandy Hook, Maryland Sandy Hook is an unincorporated community and census-designated place in Washington County, Maryland, United States. Its population was 188 as of the 2010 census. History Sandy Hook was briefly important as, for a few years, it was the end of ...

, and

Point of Rocks, Maryland Point of Rocks is an Unincorporated area, unincorporated community and census-designated place (CDP) in Frederick County, Maryland. As of the 2010 United States census, 2010 census, it had a population of 1,466. Point of Rocks is named for a roc ...

. The conductor stopped the train and sent a message about the abolitionist rebellion to B&O headquarters. After confirming it, the Railroad notified President

James Buchanan James Buchanan Jr. ( ; April 23, 1791June 1, 1868) was the 15th president of the United States, serving from 1857 to 1861. He also served as the United States Secretary of State, secretary of state from 1845 to 1849 and represented Pennsylvan ...

, Virginia Governor

Henry A. Wise Henry Alexander Wise (December 3, 1806 – September 12, 1876) was an American attorney, diplomat, politician and slave owner from Virginia. As the 33rd Governor of Virginia, Wise served as a significant figure on the path to the American Civil ...

, and other officials about the raid/revolt, beginning the operation to suppress it.

References

External links

Monocacy station official website
{{MARC Train 2001 establishments in Maryland Brunswick Line Transportation buildings and structures in Frederick County, Maryland MARC Train stations Railway stations in the United States opened in 2001