Timothy Beach Blackstone (March 28, 1829 – May 26, 1900) was an American railroad executive, businessman, philanthropist, and politician.

[3] Health issues caused Blackstone to drop out of school in 1847, and he began working for Roswell B. Mason, surveying the New York and New Haven Railroad (NY&NH).

He only worked on the NY&NH for a year before becoming an assistant engineer on the Stockbridge and Pittsfield Railroad.

[3] Blackstone became president of the Joliet and Chicago Railroad in 1861,[3] and he kept the line solvent while other divisions were filing for bankruptcy.

When the system was reorganized, he was named president of the board of directors for the company, serving with John Drake.

[8] In addition to his employment and activities with the railroads, Blackstone was the first president of the company that controlled the Union Stock Yards.

In 1899, a competing group of investors headed by E. H. Harriman wanted to purchase the Alton Railroad but Blackstone disapproved of the sale.

[10] In 1868, Blackstone married Isabella Farnsworth Norton, the daughter of a successful businessman from Norwich, Connecticut.

[12] Blackstone donated a library of 5,000 books and a building to the city of Branford, Connecticut with the only stipulation that it be named in honor of his father.

The two-story ground level gallery was added next to the east wall of the original building for display of architectural and sculptural casts.