History Travels Full Circle

Locals and guests alike are readily fascinated by the grandeur of the historic building that was once the B&O Railroad headquarters and is now the place Hotel Monaco Baltimore calls home. What good fortune to experience the stories of yesteryear and combine them with ones of modern times...

Designed by Parker & Thomas, this fabulous building opened its doors at midnight on September 12, 1906 to the dazzling spectacle of more than 5,000 electric lights that "burst into fire and presented a grand spectacle," as reported by The Sun. The newspaper went on to point out that Oscar G. Murray, the B&O president, chose to move into his office suite the next day, September 13. "The structure is 13 stories high; Murray started in the railroad business on January 13, 1872; and, he was elected the thirteenth president of the railroad." Of course, his office was Number 13 and his phone number was the same.

In addition to the amusing, the exterior shows a dignified and monumental design, with beautiful carving and ornamental work that show off the craftsmanship of days gone by. Perhaps one of the most compelling features is the building's statuary over the main entrance. Believed to predate the statuary at New York's Grand Central Station and designed by John Evans & Co. of Boston, the figure of Mercury and an allegorical feature cradling a locomotive represent transportation and commerce.

Walking through the streets of Baltimore is a history lesson in itself. The city exhibits numerous architectural styles covering more than two centuries and is also the canvas for the work of many famous architects: I.M. Pei, Mies Van Der Rohe and Benjamin Latrobe among them. Famous for its rowhouses, some dating back to the 1790s, Baltimore is also home to the oldest Catholic Cathedral in the United States, to the country's first lasting structure built expressly as a museum and to the tallest equilateral pentagonal building in the world—I.M. Pei's World Trade Center. Coming full circle, the Hotel Monaco Baltimore, in its historic B&O Headquarters building, is an express reminder of an important juncture in the history of this city, a symbol of Baltimore's industrially prosperous past and its new resurgence as a thriving service economy.