Saving the 1902 Stevensville Station

“Maybe you heard a ghost train.”
- Robert N. Willis

Legend has it that a ghost train still roams downtown Stevensville. Given the railroad’s turbulent history and the restless early years of the Stevensville Station, perhaps there’s truth to the tale. The Stevensville Station is the only railroad building that survived the 1956 shutdown of Kent Island’s rail service. By 1987, after serving multiple purposes and standing for 85 years, the building’s future was uncertain.

Built in 1902 with the rail line’s extension to Kent Island, the station originally stood 400 feet northeast of the split between Love Point and Old Love Point Roads. According to waterman Melvin “Mel” Clark (1922–2008), the station was moved to the end of State Street—to your left—in the 1950s, where it was rented out as a home. Mary Ellen Hines lived there with her daughters, Diane and Stephanie, until the building was abandoned to decay.

In 1984, Clarence “Skip” Morgan bought the property, unaware that the station was hidden beneath a blanket of vines and neglect. Three years later, as Skip prepared to build Stevensville Auto Body, he stumbled upon the weathered structure. It stood directly in the path of his body shop—destined either for demolition or relocation.

On Kent Island, history often bows to “progress,” but Skip’s friend, local artist Barbara Koenig (1921–1997), recognized the station from an old postcard. She suggested they contact the Kent Island Heritage Society (KIHS) to save it. Skip reached out to society president Charles “Doc” Dunn (1918–2015), who owned Kent Island Pharmacy. With the ambition of prizefighters, the group set out to rescue and move the fragile heap of wooden bones.

With Skip’s construction deadlines looming, the project had to happen quickly but carefully. They rallied a crew, searching for anyone willing to help. One June morning in 1987, Doc arrived at the site to find more than a dozen Bay Bridge construction workers from Whiting-Turner, ready to pitch in. Retired businessman Mike Casey had made the arrangements, and with hope in the air, the team set to work.

After inspecting the framing, a massive crane hoisted the 32-by-12-foot station onto a modified flatbed truck. A bulldozer carved a path from the end of State Street to Old Love Point Road, and the convoy began its journey. Bobby Snyder Jr. assisted as the truck carefully crossed the split onto Love Point Road. They turned left onto the newly built Business Parkway, heading southwest to the dead end of Cockey Lane.

A broad drainage ditch blocked their path, so the crew improvised, constructing a makeshift bridge. They pressed on 1,300 feet down Cockey Lane to the station’s new home—a lot behind the Cray House, donated by Roger Eisinger. There, temporary piers awaited, laid by Orem Thompson using bricks salvaged from Stevensville’s old Methodist Church bulletin monument. The station rested there for about a year until Tom Sappington and his crew placed it on a permanent foundation. This laid the groundwork for a full restoration.

Gil Dunn, Mel Clark, and Norman “Dick” Park led the operation. By September 1989, the station had a new roof, windows, exterior boards, rafters, and posts. The restoration had cost nearly $10,000, but the exterior was complete, save for a coat of mustard yellow paint.

The interior came next, along with a new rail bed and platform to bring the project to life. Chuck Lansinger handled the electrical work while Mel built the decking and steps. Richard Dadds and Cliff Lowe Jr. retrieved ties from Massey, MD, donated by the Maryland and Delaware Railroad. Bill Moore supplied track and slag from Langenfelder Marine at Love Point, completing the exhibit.

In June 1992, five years after its rescue, the newly restored 1902 Stevensville Train Depot opened to the public. Mel Clark’s memories of the station’s heyday were essential to the project. Born in 1922, Mel was 16 when passenger service ended in 1938. He recalled picking up newspapers for his delivery route and shipping seafood with his father—until the Great Depression made it unprofitable.

Today, the Stevensville Depot stands as a museum just off Cockey Lane, behind the Amalfi Coast restaurant. In 2006, a 31-ton red Baltimore & Ohio Railroad caboose joined the station, now maintained by the Kent Island Heritage Society.

Though few islanders remain who remember the iron horses and steel rails, the station’s restoration provides a glimpse into the past—and may have awakened something else. Locals have reported hearing a locomotive whistle in Stevensville, and I’ve heard it myself.

When I was 12, I played soccer for the Kent Island Select team. We practiced under the lights at Old Love Point Park, on a field bordering the present-day Cross Island Trail. One night, a roaring howl like that of a train whistle tore through the wooded canopy along the old rail bed—now the trail. It was so loud and sudden that we all froze. Even our coach was stunned. He tried to dismiss it as a tractor-trailer on the highway, but Route 50 is half a mile away, and trucks like that don’t come into town. We’d practiced there plenty of times, but none of us had experienced anything like it before. Nervous laughter spread as our parents arrived to take us home.

That night, I told my dad about the strange noise. He smiled knowingly and said, “Maybe it was a ghost train.” I was floored. My dad, a practical man, was suggesting the supernatural. I wasn’t sure if he was messing with me, but I told a few teammates anyway. Life moved on, and the mystery faded into the background—until years later.

One summer night, I sat with my friend JR Ross in Cloverfields, within earshot of Old Love Point Park. As we sipped beer and talked about the old railroad, I told him the story of that night. JR’s eyes widened with every word. Suddenly, he jumped off the truck’s tailgate, flicked his cigarette to the ground, and said he’d heard the train whistle too.

JR explained that in the summer, he left his bedroom window open, facing the park. On more than one occasion, he’d listened to the distant call of a steam whistle. It was odd, but with no explanation, he had never told anyone—until our conversation that night.

His story confirmed what I had experienced and deepened the mystery. Over the years, others have mentioned the ghost train, unprompted. Here’s a small sampling of what I’ve found online:

“Does anybody know if there is a running train on the island[?] I have heard a train at night several times but can’t find one.”

“… I heard it when I moved here. Folk Lore is that the train whistle still goes, even though there is no train here anymore. Maybe it is the GHOST train from Stevensville.”

“I can’t believe you spoke of a train… There’s (sic) been so many people I’ve spoken to through the years who have said the same thing… That’s great, another story about the train. Must have some validity to it. You are among many who’ve told the same tale.”

Did the restoration of the Stevensville Station stir spirits from the past? Possibly. Or perhaps some echoes refuse to be silenced.

Volunteers in the Saving of Stevensville Station:

Roland Bruscup (Built model buildings, tracks, and boats)
Elizabeth “Liz” Bukowsky (Painted mural)
Tom Burton
Michael Casey
Melvin “Mel” Clark (Oversaw restoration)
Dick Deads
Bill Denny
Charles “Gil” Dunn (Initiated the project and and various restoration projects)
Florence Dunn
Bill Eckstorm
Roger Eisinger
”Peb” Foster
Friel Foundation
Kent Island Garden Club
Garrett German
Tom Harmon Collier
Barbara Koenig
Chuck Lansinger
Brad & Maggie Lewis (Donated the potbelly stove)
Bill Loudermilk
Cliff Lowe Sr.
Cliff Lowe Jr.
George Luther
Duane McCauley (Designed and painted platform)
Jackie Moore
Bill Moore
Nathan Morris
Norman “Dick” Park (Reconstructed framing of the building and added the roof)
Anne Reifsneider
Brian Richter
Tom Sappington (Built foundation and chimney)
Robert Sellers
Shore Sign
Bobby Snyder Jr. (Transported to new location)
Willard Thomas
Edith Turner
Robert Walters
Mary White
Dean Wickline
Jim Wills (Donated model train)
Burton Wilson
Walter “Woody” Woodford

Resources:

11/29/1973 - KI Bay Times - Thanks For the Memory

3/25/1987 - KI Bay Times - Society Acquires Station

6/17/1987 - KI Bay Times -Recovering the Past

10/20/1988 - KI Bay Times - Heritage Society Seeks Bricklayers

12/8/1988 - KI Bay Times - Station Receives A Foundation

5/17/1989 - QA Record Observer - Heritage Society Restoring Station

9/1/1989 - KI Heritage Society Newsletter - How's the Train Depot Restoration Coming Along?

9/28/1989 - KI Bay Times - Train Station Receives A Facelift

4/16/1997 - The Capital - County Will Build Cross Island Trail

KI Heritage Society Newsletter - Recollections of Stevensville Railroad Station By J. William Eckstorm Jr.

Various Articles Written By Gil Dunn

Pictures Courtesy of:
The Kent Island Heritage Society
The Queen Anne's Railroad Society
Historic Kent Island Private Collection