The Baltimore and Ohio Railroad, America’s first passenger-carrying railroad, is born at a time when nothing moves faster than a horse. Within 40 years of increasing industrialization, railroads stretch across the 3,000 miles of a new country.
On the first trip from Baltimore to Ellicott City, the train transverses the Thomas Viaduct over the Patapsco River, the first arched and curved stone bridge. Crowds gather to see the first crossing of steam engines.
In 1844 Samuel F. B. Morse (1791-1872) sends the first encoded telegraphic message, “What hath God Wrought,” from the Supreme Court chamber in Washington via telegraph wires strung on poles to the B&O Mt. Clare Station in Baltimore.
