Cumberland, Maryland is named after the son of King George II, Prince William, the Duke of Cumberland. It is built on the site of the old Fort Cumberland, a launch pad for British General Edward Braddock's ill-fated attack on the stronghold of Fort Duquesne, located on the site of present-day Pittsburgh during the French and Indian War.
Cumberland was also an outpost of Colonel George Washington during the French and Indian War and his first military headquarters was built here. Washington later returned to Cumberland as President in 1794 to review troops that had been assembled to thwart the Whiskey Rebellion.
Cumberland was a key road, railroad and canal junction during the 19th century and at one time the second largest city in Maryland (second to the port city of Baltimore—hence its nickname "The Queen City"). The surrounding hillsides provided coal, iron ore, and timber that helped supply the Industrial Revolution. In addition, the city was a major manufacturing center, with industries in glass, breweries, fabrics, and tinplate. However, following World War II, it began to lose much of its industrial importance and its population declined from 39,483 residents in the 1940 census to fewer than 22,000 today.National Park Service. "All Abroad for Cumberland: Cumberland History." National Register of Travel Itineraries. Accessed 2010-09-19.
The city of Cumberland has found itself a center of activity throughout its history. During its more than 200 years of existence, Cumberland has been a military fort, the origin point of America's first highway, the termination point of a monumental federal construction project, a western gateway to the Ohio River Valley, the processing center for rich coal fields, and a primary link on one of America's most successful railroads. Nestled dramatically at the base of converging mountain ridges and at the confluence of Wills Creek and the Potomac River, Cumberland conforms in its layout to the rugged topography within which it is situated. From its beginnings as a British fort to its place today as western Maryland's second largest city, Cumberland has always lived up to its nickname as "The Queen City."Parts of this article are copied from the Cumberland History, a U.S. National Park Service website whose contents are in the public domain.
Pre-Colonial era
Artifacts pointing to civilizations in existence before the 1st century have been found in the Cumberland area. Prior to 1730, before the arrival of the first European settlers, a clan of Native Americans lived at the confluence of Wills Creek and the Potomac River on the site of modern-day Cumberland. The existence of this Indian village is noted on the maps of early European Surveyors from this period. The Indian town was called Caiuctucuc and consisted of a series of huts called wigwams that were built chiefly along the Potomac riverfront, now Greene Street. The natives referred to the present day Potomac River as the Cohongaronto River, and the present day Wills Creek as Caiuctucuc Creek.
Colonial era
The name of Caiuctucuc was later changed by the first European settlers, in about 1750, to Wills Creek, and the settlement's name to Wills Town, in honor of the Indian chief called "Will", who lived on the mountain to the north of the village at that time. With the coming of the European settlers, most of the Indians abandoned this region and trailed across the mountains to the Ohio River Valley, but Indian Will was not hostile to the outside settlers, and with a few of his followers continued to live on the mountain where he had his wigwam. It is believed that he died there, some time after the close of the Revolutionary War. An old Indian grave on Will's Knob is supposed to be his. Chief Will claimed all the land along the creek and sold it to the European settlers for mere trifles.
When European settlers first began moving into western Maryland in the 1730s and 1740s, they encountered Native Americans residing between the Potomac and Susquehanna rivers. Conflicts ensued, and in 1744, the Maryland legislature purchased the land from the area's Native Americans, observing that they would settle "for nothing less than Blood or Money." This contract opened the area to official settlement. Germans, Swiss-Germans, and Scotch-Irish from Pennsylvania quickly colonized the area. Although the Maryland legislature had "purchased" the area, Virginia and Pennsylvania claimed the land as well. More troubling to the British Empire were French traders intent on securing their rights to the land.
In 1750, Virginia planters and English merchants established a trading house and small storehouse on land which is now the heart of Cumberland. The new trading post (later called Fort Cumberland) attracted the French, who moved south and west from their Lake Ontario forts, drove out the English traders and claimed the Ohio River Valley for France. In 1753, with tensions running high between the French and English, the Governor of Virginia sent a small company led by a young Virginian named George Washington to inform the French to leave English territory and return north. The French ignored Washington's warnings, and he returned to Virginia. In the spring of 1754, Colonel Washington returned to Fort Cumberland, this time with more men. Pushing north from Cumberland towards the forks of the Ohio River where Pittsburgh is now located, Washington's force (about 230 men) encountered 600 French and 100 Indian soldiers. An inexperienced 22-year-old, Washington did not withdraw, but instructed his men to build a fort, which he grimly named "Fort Necessity." On July 3, 1754, the French and Indian War officially began when both groups attacked the fort. Washington, completely surrounded and with one-third of his men killed, surrendered. Washington and his remaining troops were allowed to retreat (without their weapons) and returned to Fort Cumberland. With the loss of the Ohio River Valley, Fort Cumberland became the primary staging and supply point for the British on the colonial frontier.
The fort, and later the city, derived its name from the Duke of Cumberland, son of King George II of Great Britain. After British General Edward Braddock led another disastrous foray into the Ohio River Valley, George Washington served as commander of the Virginia troops during the French and Indian War, and spent a considerable amount of time in the Cumberland area. The cabin that served as his headquarters is the only building to survive from the Fort, and has been moved to Riverside Park. Washington's service in the area was important, because he became convinced that expansion west into the interior of North America and the Ohio River Valley came through Cumberland's valley. Washington later started a company (which failed) to make the Potomac River navigable between the Atlantic Ocean and Cumberland.
In the years between the end of the French and Indian War and the beginning of the American Revolution, Cumberland grew as a town, was designated the seat of the newly created Allegany County, and was poised to become a major artery on the edge of the American frontier.
Post-Colonial
Following the American Revolution, land hungry settlers began to push purposefully past the land west of the Appalachian Mountains. Cumberland grew slowly, until the much-anticipated Chesapeake and Ohio Canal (C&O) and Baltimore and Ohio Railroad (B&O) arrived in the mid-19th century. These improved transportation routes, along with the increase development and trade opportunities they fostered, transformed this small town into the second largest city in Maryland.
Civil War
During the Civil War Cumberland was a union stronghold and troops were garrisoned there to protect the B&O Railroad. Confederate raiders routinely raided the city and in one daring raid by McNeill's Rangers kidnapped two Union generals, including General George Crook.
In 1864, Confederate General John McCausland advanced along the Baltimore Pike towards Cumberland, Maryland, to disrupt the B&O Railroad. Union Brig. Gen. Benjamin F. Kelley organized a small force of soldiers and ambushed the Rebel cavalrymen near Cumberland at Folck’s Mill forcing the Confederates to withdraw. (See Battle of Cumberland)
Subsequently, race relations were unsettled. In 1907, a mixed-race man named William Burns, accused of the murder of a white policeman named August Baker, was lynched on the steps of the Cumberland jail.
Industrial Revolution
Through much of its history, Cumberland's economic prosperity derived from its position as an early transportation hub linking the East Coast with the Midwest. Because of its strategic location at a gap in the mountains, Cumberland was in 1806 the starting point for the nation's first highway, the National Road (later known as U.S. Route 40). The road reached Wheeling, Virginia on the Ohio border in 1818. Of even greater significance to Cumberland's economic development in the 19th century were the B&O Railroad, which reached Cumberland from Baltimore in 1842, and the Chesapeake and Ohio Canal from Georgetown, Washington, D.C. to Cumberland, which opened in 1850. By the 1890s, five railroads served Cumberland and employed over 2,000 local people.
The C&O Canal was also an important commercial link between East and West, providing bulk transport of items such as coal, flour, iron, and limestone products. Facilitated by Cumberland's importance as a transportation hub, manufacturing emerged as a major force in the local economy in the 19th century. By the mid-19th century Cumberland was the second largest manufacturing center in the State of Maryland, a ranking not surpassed until approximately 1915 by Hagerstown, Maryland. Important industries included glass manufacturing, brewing, textiles, and iron and steel works. The B&O Railroad's rolling mill, located off Williams Street and Maryland Avenue, was a major employer in Cumberland from 1870 into the 20th century.
Coal mining quickly became the most important industry in the Cumberland area. Some of the richest beds of soft, bituminous coal in the country lay within the hills and mountains of this region. After the Civil War, coal became one of Maryland's chief products and exports. Coal from the Cumberland area fueled the state's mills and plants, steamships in Baltimore's harbor as well as the US Navy fleet, and was traded to buyers from London, Brazil, Egypt, and beyond. Primarily Scotch and Welsh immigrants provided the labor force for these mines, immigrating with their families for the opportunities America offered. In the Cumberland region, miners escaped the indebtedness to the mining company that plagued miners in surrounding states. The company store system, in which miners were forced to purchase all their supplies and household needs from the mining company, was outlawed in Maryland in 1868. A comparatively high proportion of miners were also homeowners, as local mining firms found it more profitable to sell houses to their miners, than establish company housing. Cumberland's coal mines were constructed with horizontal shafts, far less dangerous that the vertical mines of Pennsylvania and West Virginia. Still, Cumberland's miners blackened from head to foot when they emerged from a mine at the end of a day knew that the carbon-filled air, which corroded the lungs overtime, would lead to an early death.
Various manufacturing plants were established in Cumberland, because of its proximity to sources of fuel and raw materials and its position on major transportation routes. Cumberland blossomed as a result, the downtown commercial area thrived, and impressive residences built around the city reflected individual prosperity. The city became the economic center of the region. Rural farmers, industrial workers and miners traveled downtown along with successful industrialists, businessmen and county officials.
Consolidation Coal Company and the Big Vein