In 1840, a steam railroad branching off the Baltimore and Ohio reached Annapolis, shrinking time and distance and effectively bringing the city closer to Baltimore and Washington.

At the Odenton Heritage Society’s open house on Sunday, February 2, a new display, “By Rail to Annapolis,” will explore social and technological changes that the new railroad brought.  From the birth of telegraphy to electronic journalism, railroad-mounted artillery, prisoner of war transport, and crops shipped to market by rail, the fledgling railroad changed the rhythms of daily life.  See how politicians commuted to the state capital and presidents traveled there more comfortably.  Learn how the Annapolis line formed a crucial supply route to Washington during the Civil War.  View villages growing up along the railroad and the construction of Camp Meade during World War I.  Witness the railroad’s conversion to a modern electric transit line before its demise during the Depression.

Admission to the OHS Historical Center, which includes a community and railroad history museum with costumed docents, is free.