The La Plata Train Station Museum will close to the public in November, after its last stop on the town’s Trick or Treat Trail, Town Manager Chuck Stevens told the Town Council on Oct. 13.
The restored depot at 101 Kent Ave. and the caboose beside it hold photographs, model layouts and memorabilia from the town’s railroad history. Volunteers coordinated through the town’s Historic Preservation Commission open it about six times a year.
Stevens said he is suspending public openings for four reasons:
- There is no formal license or operating agreement between the town and the volunteers, who hold keys and have unsupervised access.
- Attendance is modest, typically fewer than 10 visitors per opening.
- The site recently had a vandalism incident.
- Physical changes made by the owner of an adjacent parcel in 2025 blocked vehicle access to the town’s parking area. Visitors now park on the street, where there is no sidewalk.
The town is pursuing the access dispute “through appropriate channels,” Stevens said, and expects that to take some time. The museum will reopen once the access issue is resolved and a “qualified operating partner” signs a written agreement with the town. He said the decision was his to make as town manager, and he brought it to the council for information only. There is no fiscal impact, he said, because the museum generates no revenue.
‘Not here to assign blame’
Rich Gilpin, who has chaired the commission since 2022, told the council during public comment that he supports the temporary closing but that the town’s report “gives an incomplete impression” that the museum operated without oversight.
The commission has worked with mayors, councils and town staff on the exhibits since 2018, he said, a council member sits on the commission as a voting member, and a town staff liaison attends its meetings. The town is responsible for the building and grounds and the commission for the exhibits, he said, and the commission asked for building repairs for more than a year without a response. He said the parking was blocked in late summer 2025, not early 2026 as the report stated.
The volunteers also run a historical marker program and proposed a town museum in the original firehouse, all on an annual budget of about $5,000 for materials, he said. He asked the council to fix the building and the parking, sign a written agreement with the commission, and set a path to reopen.
“I am not here to assign blame,” he said. “I am asking that we acknowledge the full history and shared responsibilities.”
Santa and the caboose
Mayor Jeannine James said Santa has appeared at the train station on Shop Small Saturday every year since 2017 and that the town has been advertising the event. Stevens said the short answer under his plan is that it would be suspended, but he would look at whether Santa could use the outside area.
Councilman Paul Guttenberg said the town is applying the same test it used for the Dorchester Community Center and the antique firehouse: whether a community partner can run the space. He suggested volunteers could form an LLC to serve as that partner, because the town cannot contract with a set of individuals.
Guttenberg said the closing covers only the inside of the museum. The lawn will still be mowed, and the benches, trees and caboose remain for picnics, he said, recalling lunches there with his own children. “It is beloved,” he said. “I think it is still beloved.”
Stevens was asked to keep the council updated on the parking dispute and any proposals from potential operating partners.
The station dates to 1873, when the Baltimore & Potomac Railroad opened it for freight and travelers, and was moved to its current site in 1999, according to the historical marker the commission placed there in 2019.
