Point of Rocks
History;
It is named for the striking rock formation on the adjacent Catoctin Mountain, which were formed by the Potomac River cutting through the ridge in a water gap, a typical formation in the Ridge-and-valley Appalachians.
The formation is not visible from the town and can only be seen from boats on the river, or from the southern bank of the river in Virginia.
In 1828, the narrow passage between the rocks at this site provoked a violent legal battle between the Chesapeake and Ohio (C&O) Canal Company and the B&O Railroad over who could have control of the narrow pass. After years of disputes, both companies finally compromised and allowed both canal and railroad to build on the right-of-way through the passage, with a wall between the two to avoid trains scaring the mules that pulled the canal boats.
During the American Civil War, the town was often raided by Confederate partisans, such as John Mosby, Elijah V. White and John Mobberly, operating in Loudoun County, Virginia.
The presence of the B&O railroad and C&O canal along with many exiled Unionists from Loudoun made the town such an attractive target.
B&O Point of Rocks Station and Depot
The town is best known for one of the Baltimore & Ohio Railroad’s celebrated locations (even today), the Point of Rocks railroad station which splits two former Baltimore & Ohio Railroad lines (the Old Main Line and current main line or Metropolitan).
When constructing the depot, The designer, Baldwin somewhat incorporated its design into the small area where the two lines converged.
Overall, the building was about two-and-a-half stories in height and featured a beautiful steeple along the front façade. The depot was designed in the Gothic Revival style, a Victorian-era architecture with Medieval undertones that dates back to the mid-16th century.
As such, the building employs steep, angled roof lines dormers, and partially arched, narrow windows. With the steeple the building is a full four-stories in height. Baldwin constructed Point of Rocks using red-brick and local sandstone for trim as well as the foundation.
The small cache you seek is located in a pull off that overlooks the Point of Rocks station. This round bottle preform style container marked with a geocaching label. Please use Caution, Stash Note and log sheets inside. No writing utensil so Please BYOP. No room for SWAG but a micro coin or Travel bug may fit inside
Congratulations to Shenanagan for the FTF on her Birthday! and CacheNCarry45 for backup