History:

Plans for a railroad from Baltimore into Southern Maryland began to develop after the Civil War. In 1872, the Baltimore and Potomac Railroad (later integrated into the Pennsylvania Railroad System) opened the Bowie Station.

Developer Ben M. Plumb seized that opportunity and developed “Huntington City” around that railroad station. Shops, hotels, and comfortable Victorian houses filled the tree-lined streets of Huntington City, renamed “Bowie” in 1880 to honor Governor Oden Bowie, who was instrumental in bring the railroad here. The station remained a busy stop until 1989, when it closed to make way for a new station at Bowie State University. The City of Bowie, in recognition of the station’s important role in its history, restored the buildings in the early 1990’s.