State Center station (formerly State Center/Cultural Center station) is an underground

Baltimore Metro SubwayLink The Baltimore Metro SubwayLink is a rapid transit line serving Baltimore, Maryland, and its northwestern suburbs, operated by the Maryland Transit Administration. The segment in Downtown Baltimore is underground, while most of the line outsi ...

station in

Baltimore, Maryland Baltimore is the List of municipalities in Maryland, most populous city in the U.S. state of Maryland. With a population of 585,708 at the 2020 United States census, 2020 census and estimated at 568,271 in 2024, it is the List of United States ...

. It is a transit hub offering connections to the

Baltimore Light RailLink The Baltimore Light RailLink (formerly Baltimore Light Rail, also known simply as the "Light Rail") is a light rail system serving Baltimore, Maryland, United States, and its northern and southern suburbs. It is operated by the Maryland Transi ...

system, the tenth most northern and western station on the line, the first one in the area viewed by many as "

downtown Baltimore Downtown Baltimore is the central business district of the Baltimore, city of Baltimore traditionally bounded by Martin Luther King Jr. Boulevard (Baltimore), Martin Luther King, Jr. Boulevard to the west, List of streets in Baltimore#F, Frank ...

," and is within a 2 block walk of the

Cultural Center station Cultural Center station is a Baltimore Light RailLink station located along Howard Street in the Mount Vernon, Baltimore, Mount Vernon neighborhood of Baltimore, Maryland, adjacent to the Joseph Meyerhoff Symphony Hall. It has two side platfor ...

on the Light RailLink system, via Preston Street, and many area landmarks. The stations elevator and escalator entrance is located on the corner of West Preston Street and North Eutaw Street which is directly adjacent to the Maryland States Office Complex, hence the name "State Center." It is within the boundaries of the Madison Park neighborhood and is also very close to the adjacent neighborhoods of Bolton Hill, Mid-Town Belvedere,

Mount Vernon Mount Vernon is the former residence and plantation of George Washington, a Founding Father, commander of the Continental Army in the Revolutionary War, and the first president of the United States, and his wife, Martha. An American landmar ...

, and Seton Hill.

Artwork

State Center station features a mobile sculpture entitled "Venter," which is suspended in a large opening between its upper and lower level. The sculpture was created by Baltimore artist Paul Daniel at a $39,000 commission in 1983.

History

State Center station was initially referred to as the Bolton Hill station during its planning and construction, in reference to the adjacent neighborhood to the site's north.

Excavation and construction

The Bolton Hill tunnels constructed around State Center station were driven with a shield through

Cretaceous The Cretaceous ( ) is a geological period that lasted from about 143.1 to 66 mya (unit), million years ago (Mya). It is the third and final period of the Mesozoic Era (geology), Era, as well as the longest. At around 77.1 million years, it is the ...

alluvium Alluvium (, ) is loose clay, silt, sand, or gravel that has been deposited by running water in a stream bed, on a floodplain, in an alluvial fan or beach, or in similar settings. Alluvium is also sometimes called alluvial deposit. Alluvium is ...

and through

mica Micas ( ) are a group of silicate minerals whose outstanding physical characteristic is that individual mica crystals can easily be split into fragile elastic plates. This characteristic is described as ''perfect basal cleavage''. Mica is co ...

schist Schist ( ) is a medium-grained metamorphic rock generally derived from fine-grained sedimentary rock, like shale. It shows pronounced ''schistosity'' (named for the rock). This means that the rock is composed of mineral grains easily seen with a l ...

-derived residual materials. Hand mining was required to advance the face of the tunnel in some areas where the alignment passed through more resistant, hard residual materials.

References

External links

Preston Street entrance from Google Maps Street View
Metro SubwayLink stations Railway stations in the United States opened in 1983 1983 establishments in Maryland Railway stations in Baltimore Madison Park, Baltimore Bolton Hill, Baltimore Railway stations located underground in Maryland {{Maryland-railstation-stub