Annapolis & Baltimore Short Line Railroad (1887 to 1968)

In 1879, Luther Giddings became the Treasurer of the Annapolis & Baltimore Short Line Railroad and negotiated to have the railroad cross the Severn River through the peninsula of West Annapolis to Annapolis. In 1885, groundbreaking ceremonies took place across the river.  At the peak of construction, some 800 men were employed a day. The tracks were built with pick, shovel, mule and scrapers. In 1886, Elizabeth Giddings conveyed 5 acres of land as a right of way to the Annapolis & Baltimore Short Line Railroad. The rail line eventually linked Camden Station in Baltimore to Bladen Street Station in Annapolis. The trains went through West Annapolis with 18 trips a day at its height of passenger trips. The first passenger station out of Annapolis was actually called “Giddings Station '' (later West Annapolis Station) and then onto Wardour Station and across the Severn River’s trestle bridge. A spur rail line in West Annapolis after current day Tucker Street went towards the Naval Academy’s Bancroft Hall. Railroad tracks still remain in West Annapolis and Wardour, including the spur to the Naval Academy and at the new Gateway Park on Rowe Boulevard.