Episode 37: Chesapeake Railway Beach Museum

Curator's Choice

This week we meet with Kristin DeGrace at the Chesapeake Beach Railway Museum in Maryland. She shares with us the incredible dream behind a vacation paradise destination, getting buried alive to make a living during the Great Depression, and about a railway trying to stay relevant in a changing world.
“In the late 1800s, a group of Colorado railroad men shared a dream to build a world-class seaside destination on the shores of the Chesapeake and a railroad to connect it to Washington, D.C. The official opening ceremony for the railway took place on June 9, 1900, and the last train departed on April 15, 1935. The amusements continued until the 1970s, evolving with the times. During its heyday, the Chesapeake Beach Resort attracted tens of thousands of people. However, changing tastes, wars, damaging storms, the great depression—experiences that are familiar to us today – all conspired to bring this enterprise to a close. The town created by this grand endeavor lives on, and the traces of its beginnings are evident everywhere. The Chesapeake Beach Railway Museum (CBRM) tells the story of these men, the dream they built, and the town that continues to redefine the story.”

-Chesapeake Beach Railway Museum
Episode Links:

• Chesapeake Beach Railway Museum webpage: https://chesapeakebeachrailwaymuseum.com/

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