Exhibit Explains B&O RR Link To W.Va. Statehood
BALTIMORE (AP) -- An exhibit at the Baltimore & Ohio Railroad Museum in Baltimore explains how the railroad played a role in the establishment of West Virginia statehood during the Civil War.
The exhibit opens Thursday and will be on display throughout the month of April.
The Baltimore-based railroad reached what was then Wheeling, Va., in 1853.
The West Virginia Humanities Council says there were many Union sympathizers along the B&O route.
The Commonwealth of Virginia seceded from the Union in 1861. But Maj. Gen. George B. McClellan fought to keep Union troops and supplies moving on the B&O.
Leaders from the northwestern region of the state served by the B&O began the political process that led to the creation of the new state of West Virginia on June 20, 1863.
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