Allegany County is located in the northwestern part of the U.S. state of Maryland. As of the 2020 census, the population was 68,106. Its county seat is Cumberland. The name Allegany may come from a local Lenape word, welhik hane or oolikhanna, which means 'best flowing river of the hills' or 'beautiful stream'. A number of counties and a river in the Appalachian region of the U.S. are named Allegany, Allegheny, or Alleghany. Allegany County is part of the Cumberland metropolitan area. It is a part of the Western Maryland "panhandle".
Interstate 68 (I-68) is a 112.9-mile (181.7 km) Interstate Highway in the US states of West Virginia and Maryland, connecting I-79 in Morgantown, West Virginia, east to I-70 in Hancock, Maryland. I-68 is also Corridor E of the Appalachian Development Highway System. From 1965 until the freeway's construction was completed in 1991, it was designated as U.S. Route 48 (US 48). In Maryland, the highway is known as the National Freeway, an homage to the historic National Road, which I-68 parallels between Keysers Ridge and Hancock. The freeway mainly spans rural areas and crosses numerous mountain ridges along its route. A road cut at Sideling Hill exposed geological features of the mountain and has become a tourist attraction.
Mineral County is a county in the U.S. state of West Virginia. It is part of the Cumberland metropolitan area, together with Cumberland, Maryland. As of the 2020 census, the population was 26,938. Its county seat is Keyser. The county was founded in 1866.
Barton is a town in Allegany County, Maryland, United States, located along the Georges Creek Valley. It is part of the Cumberland, MD-WV Metropolitan Statistical Area. The population was 457 at the 2010 census.
Cumberland is a city in and the county seat of Allegany County, Maryland, United States. At the 2020 census, the city had a population of 19,076. Located on the Potomac River, Cumberland is a regional business and commercial center for Western Maryland and the Potomac Highlands of West Virginia. It is the primary city of the Cumberland metropolitan area, which had 95,044 residents in 2020.
Frostburg is a city in Allegany County, Maryland. It is located at the head of the Georges Creek Valley, 8 miles (13 km) west of Cumberland. The town is one of the first cities on the "National Road", US 40, and the western terminus of the Western Maryland Scenic Railroad. It is part of the Cumberland metropolitan area.
LaVale is a census-designated place (CDP) in Allegany County, Maryland, United States. It is part of the Cumberland, MD-WV Metropolitan Statistical Area. The population was 3,551 at the 2010 census.
Lonaconing is a town in Allegany County, Maryland, United States, located along the Georges Creek Valley. It is part of the Cumberland, MD-WV Metropolitan Statistical Area. The population was 1,214 at the 2010 census.
Midland is a town in Allegany County, Maryland, United States, along the Georges Creek Valley. It is part of the Cumberland, MD-WV Metropolitan Statistical Area. The population was 446 at the 2010 census. Midland was founded in 1850 as a coal-mining community, though today only some strip mining remains.
Westernport is a town in Allegany County, Maryland, United States, along the Georges Creek Valley. It is part of the Cumberland, MD-WV Metropolitan Statistical Area. The population was 1,888 at the 2010 census.
Keyser is a city in and the county seat of Mineral County, West Virginia. It is part of the Cumberland, MD-WV Metropolitan Statistical Area. The population was 4,853 at the 2020 census.
Bel Air is a census-designated place (CDP) located in Allegany County, Maryland, United States. As of the 2010 census it had a population of 1,258. It is surrounded by the Cresaptown CDP and prior to 2010 was listed by the Census Bureau as part of the Cresaptown-Bel Air CDP. Bel Air is part of the Cumberland, MD-WV Metropolitan Statistical Area.
Maryland Route 36 is a 29.43-mile (47.36 km) state highway located in Allegany County, Maryland, United States. MD 36's southern terminus is at the West Virginia Route 46 (WV 46) bridge in Westernport and its northern terminus at U.S. Route 40 Alternate near Cumberland. Between Westernport and Frostburg, it is known as Georges Creek Road, and from Frostburg to Cumberland it is known as Mount Savage Road. Like the majority of Maryland state highways, MD 36 is maintained by the Maryland State Highway Administration (MDSHA).
Cumberland, Maryland, has several media outlets, most carrying some form of satellite programming. WCBC-AM and the Cumberland Times-News actively collect their local news content, while WFRB-FM has some local news content, but do not actively collect it.
Maryland Route 53 is a state highway in the U.S. state of Maryland. Known as Winchester Road, the state highway runs 3.33 miles (5.36 km) from U.S. Route 220 in Cresaptown north to US 40 Alternate in La Vale. MD 53 is the northernmost part of the Winchester Road, a colonial era road between Cumberland and Winchester, Virginia. The modern MD 53 was constructed in the mid-1920s and updated in the 1950s.
U.S. Route 220 is a part of the U.S. Highway System that runs from Rockingham, North Carolina, to South Waverly, Pennsylvania. In Maryland, the federal highway runs 27.30 miles (43.94 km) from the West Virginia state line at the North Branch Potomac River in McCoole north to the Pennsylvania state line in Dickens. Known as McMullen Highway for much of its length in Maryland, US 220 is the primary north–south route in central Allegany County, connecting Cumberland with its southern suburbs and Keyser, West Virginia, to the south and Bedford, Pennsylvania, to the north. The federal highway is part of the National Highway System between the West Virginia state line and Maryland Route 53 in Cresaptown and between Interstate 68 (I-68), with which it is concurrent through Cumberland, and the Pennsylvania state line.
U.S. Route 40 Alternate is the U.S. Highway designation for a former segment of U.S. Route 40 (US 40) through Garrett and Allegany counties in Maryland. The highway begins at US 40 near exit 14 on Interstate 68 (I-68) and runs 31.80 miles (51.18 km) eastward to Cumberland, where it ends at exit 44 on I-68. Alt US 40 is maintained by the Maryland State Highway Administration (MDSHA).
The Georges Creek Railway is a shortline railroad in Western Maryland that performed contract switching and owns a 14-mile line between Westernport and Carlos. The railroad was headquartered at 119 Pratt Street in Luke in the former Luke Post Office. Gerald Altizer and Pat Stakem are the primary partners in the company.
The Hagerstown–Martinsburg Metropolitan Area, officially designated by the United States Office of Management and Budget (OMB) as Hagerstown–Martinsburg, Maryland–West Virginia Metropolitan Statistical Area (MSA), constitutes the primary cities of Hagerstown, Maryland; Martinsburg, West Virginia; and surrounding areas in three counties: Washington County, Maryland; Berkeley County, West Virginia; and Morgan County, West Virginia. The metro area lies mainly within the rich, fertile Cumberland and Shenandoah valleys, and is approximately a 60–90 minute drive from Washington, D.C.; Baltimore, Maryland; and Harrisburg, Pennsylvania; Hagerstown is approximately 75 miles (121 km) driving distance from all three cities. The population of the metropolitan area as of 2008 is 263,753.
