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Catherine Meyer, the "Mother of Red Lion"

Catherine Meyer is known as the “Mother of Red Lion”.  Her deeds and influence played a major role in the beginning of the town’s development.

In 1853, John and Catherine Meyer moved to a 55-acre farm located just north of what is now the center of Red Lion.  The property included a two-story log house and outbuildings.  This was the property on which the Meyers lived.  The 1860 map shows “J.D. Meyers” at the same spot as Catherine built her home in 1866 after their first home burned.  It was razed in 1934 to make room for Red Lion’s post office at the corner of West High Street and North Main Street.

John and Catherine Meyer continued to purchase land in and around Red Lion.  John died in 1865.  Catherine lived until 1919 and became a well-respected business woman and developer of Red Lion.  She added another 35 acres to her land and then began to sell and donate it to her community.

In 1875, Mrs. Meyer built a combination general store, saloon, post office and railroad station located where the railroad station is today.  She also had erected Meyer Hall, which later became the Red Lion Hotel and Baublitz House.  This building is located at 77-83 North Main Street.

The Red Lion Cemetery and Fairmount Park are located on land previously owned by Mrs. Meyer.

She was deeply interested in the incorporation of Red Lion into a borough, and played a large part in this movement.  She was part of nearly every movement directed toward the betterment of her beloved town.

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The Maryland and Pennsylvania Railroad’s
Red Lion Train Station #68

 

Photograph courtesy of MDRails

 

This authentic and historic Red Lion passenger and freight depot train station is located at 73 N. Main Street in Red Lion, PA 17356 (PA Route #24, one half block North of center square).  Telephone number- (717) 244-1912.

The Red Lion Area Historical Society owns this station and is in the process of renovating and preserving the station as a museum for future generations.  It contains a passenger waiting room, the original ticket window, an office area with telegraph station, a railroad express freight room, and a freight warehouse. An O-Gauge model railroad layout and railroad artifacts are located in the express freight room operated by the Red Lion Train Station Model Railroaders.

It is also the starting point of the ”Red Lion Mile”, a biking / walking path (under construction), that follows the old Maryland & Pennsylvania Railroad’s right-of-way North from the station.

DIRECTIONS TO THE STATION:
From the intersection of Routes 30 and 83 in York, PA: Proceed 3 miles East on Route 30 to the Mt. Zion Road / Route 24 interchange, exit and turn right at the traffic light onto Mt Zion Road / Route 24 South. Proceed 6 ½ miles on Route 24 S to Red Lion and the train station located on your left.

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The Red Lion Train Station History
Maryland & Pennsylvania Railroad Station Number 68

The Red Lion Area Historical Society purchased the Red Lion Passenger and Freight Depot Train Station on October 19, 2000. This existing brick one story station still stands as built with its preserved interior. The Maryland and Pennsylvania Railroad built and occupied the waiting room and office portion of this station in December 1925, and added and occupied the freight depot portion in September 1926, both to provide a more representative depot demanded by the community. This site also contained a livestock pen, a coal trestle, two milk platforms, a section tool house, and a carload delivery yard.

The original 1874 station on this site was privately built by Mrs. Catherine Meyer and served as a general store, bar, post office and railroad station for the Peach Bottom Railway Company (one of the many predecessors of the Maryland & Pennsylvania RR). When the original station was destroyed by fire in 1895, a second station was rebuilt to the original plans.  For 106 years this site had served as an active train station, finally closing on November 1, 1980.  It was the only all brick station ever built by this railroad.

The Maryland and Pennsylvania Railroad (affectionately known as the Ma & Pa RR) was formed in 1901 by the merger of the York Southern Railroad in PA and the Baltimore and Lehigh Railway in MD. It connected York and Baltimore, via Delta, over a very circuitous and picturesque 77.2 mile route, handling both passenger and freight service. In justice and fairness to this railroad, it must be said that its service to Red Lion had been a tremendous factor in the growth and progress of this community.

Red Lion was the highest point on the railroad at 911 feet above sea level, and was assigned station number 68 to signify its 68.3 miles distance from the Baltimore Station. It was one of 27 stations and 31 flag stops along the Ma & Pa RR line. It also contained one of 10 telegraph stations, which were used to control the movement of the trains.  This station typically had 6 or 7 employees; an Agent, a Chief Clerk, a Billing Clerk / Telegrapher, a Cashier, a Warehouse Foreman, and a Warehouseman.

A typical example of freight shipments forwarded by 40 local firms from the Red Lion Station on the Ma & Pa RR during the month of October 1929 included approximately 15,000,000 cigars, 1633 cases of tobacco, 10,321 radio cabinets, 5033 crates of furniture, 11 carloads of canned goods, 2 cars of wheat flour, 3 cars of tobacco stems, 2 cars of hay, and 50,000 pounds of miscellaneous freight. Inbound freight received at the Red Lion Station during the same time period was 12,617,315 pounds. 
Rev 6/12/07-BRS

 

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The Maryland and Pennsylvania Railroad History
(Affectionately known as the “Ma & Pa RR”)
February 12, 1901 to December 1, 1999

The Maryland and Pennsylvania Railroad was formed on February 12, 1901 by the merger of the Baltimore and Lehigh Railway Company in MD and the York Southern Railroad in PA, both with a long drawn out evolution of plans, constructions, consolidations, receiverships, foreclosures, bankruptcies, and abandonments.

• The York Southern Railroad began as the Peach Bottom Railway, a narrow gauge railroad (3’ between rails), chartered in PA in 1868, and connected York to Delta and Peach Bottom by 1876.  The railroad was converted to standard gauge (4’-8 ½” between rails) in 1895.
• The Baltimore and Lehigh Railway began as the Baltimore and Susquehanna Company, a planned narrow gauge railroad chartered in MD in1836 to connect Baltimore to Peach Bottom that was never built.  It’s later successor, the Maryland Central Railroad, chartered in 1867, connected Baltimore to Delta by 1884, and was converted to standard gauge in 1900.

The Ma & Pa RR’s circuitous and picturesque main line connecting Baltimore and York, through Delta, was 77.2 miles long, although these cities were only 47 miles apart. There were 12 summits, 476 curves (almost one half of the total mileage), 111 trestles and bridges, and 27 stations, and 31 flag stops in the early 1950’s. It required over four hours to complete the York to Baltimore run at an average speed of 18-½ mph. Today, that trip by automobile on Interstate 83 takes about 50 minutes. A round-trip passenger ticket cost $1.50 in the 1930’s & 40’s.

At its peak in the early 1900’s, the Ma & Pa RR owned 16 steam locomotives, 160 railcars, and had 573 employees, most in Baltimore, and 100 of which were for track maintenance alone. At that time, more than half the company’s revenue came from passenger, mail, and express freight services, followed by milk, coal, and slate.

 

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