G.O.B.A. - Greater Oakland Business Association

Save the Oakland Station Committee

Save Oakland Station was formed in August 1996 by the Town of Oakland and the Greater Oakland Business Association (GOBA). The committee was formed to acquire and restore the Oakland Railroad Station.

The committee is made up of volunteers from the community who are concerned with the preservation of the historical buildings in Garrett County. Save Oakland Station is a non-profit organization set-up as a branch of GOBA and the town.

A board of directors serves to ensure the committee meets the mission of acquisition and restoration of the station and are governed by a set of by-laws enacted in March 1997. The Board is made up of the Mayor, Town of Oakland, the President of the Greater Oakland Business Association, the Chairman, Downtown Revitalization Committee and five at large members from the community.

The Board is currently made up of:

Dave Saba, Chairman, Vice President, Rehab Solutions

Ron Patrella, Treasurer, Garrett Memorial Hospital Finance Director

Ken Perrin, Board Member, Postmaster, Chairman Oakland Revitalization

Asa McCain, Board Member, Oakland Mayor

Mikal McCartney, Board Member, President GOBA, Garrett Memorial Hospital

Bill Nemith, Board Member, Nemith Construction

Peggy Jamison, Board Member, Garrett County Economic Development

Marc Lorson, Board Member, Realtor

Committee Goals and Membership Information -

The goal for the Save the Oakland Station Committee is to acquire the station and ensure it's preservation as a historic landmark. It is intended to renovate the station as a visitor center to draw tourists to the town and improve the economic climate of the area and to once again allow a unique and proud building to serve people as it was intended.

Save Oakland Station depends on funding from the community and from grant money to complete its mission. Fundraising will be done throughout the year including events like the very successful "Night on the Plaza" and the upcoming "Night at the Station", to be held on June 28, 1997

                 DONATIONS

Membership is a critical part of saving the station.

FUTURE USES

CSX currently owns the station and it is used as a maintenance area for this area of track. Once the station is restored, it will be used for a visitor center with some retail space available. This will attract tourists the Oakland area and increase business in that area.

This is why the Oakland Revitalization Committee has put the acquisition as such a high priority. The increased traffic in the area will help local businesses and increase the historical awareness of visitors to the area. Please stop by the station and with your help, we can make this a reality - please send contributions to:

The following excerpt is from The Glades Star - the periodical published by the The Garrett County Historical Society in Volume 5, Number 32. Please take time to see their new museum location in the Professional Building, 3rd Street, Oakland.

The first train reached what is now Oakland in 1851. Two years earlier, the B&O had laid out streets and 64 lots for a town, suggesting that the town be called McCarty's Mills, to honor a local resident Isaac McCarty. At the time, the area was referred to as "Slab Town" because of a saw mill there, and it had traditionally been called "Yough Glades." The one name wasn't impressive, the other was neither pronounceable nor spellable by the unitiated.

Despite the wishes of the railroad, Mr. McCarty, with what someone called "his typical modesty" declined the honor and proposed giving the privilege of naming the town to his daughter Ingaba. She suggested "Oakland", a rather obvious choice, but we may be glad that she shared her father's modesty. Otherwise, we might be living in Ingabaville or even Ingababurgh.

In any event, when the first engineers arrived in the community, Mr. McCarty arranged for them to have a room in his house, on what is now Water Street. He may, in fact, have added a room especially for them.

We are not sure how long the McCarty House served the B&O. It was something of a community center, for it also housed the Post Office and the First Methodist Sunday School, and was the site of the First Mass held in Oakland. When the McCartys moved to Iowa in the late 1850's it was a loss to the community, although McCartys may have found Iowa quieter.

We could not find B&O references to a station in Oakland during the 1850's, although local histories mention that one was built in 1851 and the Post Office moved into it in 1854, when the same "Oakland" became official. In 1856 telegraph service between Washington and Wheeling with an office in Oakland was established, possibly at that station.

The Glades Hotel was built just south of the railroad in 1858, and a sketch of it includes a water tower and a building presumed to be the station. The hotel was so close to the railroad that travelers could get meals there during a twenty-minute layover.

Jones Raid in April 1863 destroyed a railroad bridge in Oakland and interrupted telegraph service, but did not, apparently injure the station.

However, in 1874, the original Glades Hotel burned down and with it the station, The hotel was rebuilt close to the earlier site.

The next year, the B&O built the Oakland Hotel, across the river on land including the present Terra Alta Road.

We could find nothing in the Annual Reports about what replaced the station burned in 1874. It seems improbable that the luxurious Oakland Hotel would be served by a three-sided shelter, but it is not until the Stockholders' Report of 1884 that there is mention of the start of construction of the new Oakland Station.

At this point in the tale of Oakland Terminal it becomes more helpful to leave the Annual Reports and turn to The Republican Newspaper:

April 12, 1884 - "The old depot building at Oakland has been taken down and the material removed to Mr. Weber's garden farm near Oakland where it will be used for construction of hot houses. When will we get our new depot building?"

This is so detailed that it seems convincing, but a story written in 1958 states that the early station was moved to Altamont. That seems less likely. Webers did build their first greenhouse in 1884, and Altamont is thought to have had just a three sided shelter.

Returning to The Republican, we quote:

June 21, 1884 - "It is said the new depot building in Oakland will be erected at once."

June 28, 1884 - "Work was commenced on the new depot this week at Oakland."

August 30, 1884 - "The foundation of the new depot at Oakland will be completed next week."

January 17, 1885 - "The new depot at Oakland is completed with the exception of plastering which will probably not be done until spring. A large force of carpenters are now engaged in laying of new platforms."

April 4, 1885 - "The finishing touches are being put on the new depot in Oakland."

June 13, 1885 - "The new depot will be ready next week."

There are no further news items about the station, so we assume that it was completed in June 1885, although several year later a few feet were amputated from the west end to improve the view from the hotel porch.

The station's architect was Francis Baldwin, who designed many B&O stations. No two were alike, but he favored a Queen Anne style, described as made from a kit of medieval and classical parts...enriched , enporched, encolumned....An eclectic extravaganza of delight." (From the Architecture Book by Norval White)