The shops are a unique example of innovative 19th century engineering and industrial architecture. The roundhouse is supported by an early cast-iron framing system devised by renowned railroad engineer and manager, Albert Fink. These shops were also the center of a social uprising known as the "Great Railway Strike of 1877," a pivotal episode in American labor history that marked a new beginning of industrial conflict and change.

Information provided by the National Register of Historic Places, a program of the National Park Service.