Georges Creek Valley

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Lonaconing, Maryland, one of the towns in the valley 2016-06-18 15 25 01 View north along Maryland State Route 36 (Main Street) at Douglas Avenue in Lonaconing, Allegany County, Maryland.jpg
Lonaconing, Maryland, one of the towns in the valley

Georges Creek Valley is located in Allegany County, Maryland along the Georges Creek. The valley is rich in wide veins of coal, known historically as "The Big Vein." Coal was once extracted by deep mines but is only mined today through surface mining. The Georges Creek Valley was once a major center for the US coal industry.

Contents

History

Map of the Georges Creek region, 1907 Map scan082.jpg
Map of the Georges Creek region, 1907

A series of small mining towns were founded along the Georges Creek Valley in the nineteenth century when coal was discovered in the region. This led mining companies in the valley to develop railroads for transporting the coal. Some of these railroads were merged into the Cumberland and Pennsylvania Railroad System between 1853 and 1870. A competing railroad, the George's Creek and Cumberland Railroad, operated in the valley between 1876 and 1917, followed by the Western Maryland Railway.

Most of the original settlers to the Valley came in response to the abundance of jobs available in the coal mines. Many were Irish, but German, Scottish, and Welsh names also are found in the early records of the town.

Table of Cumberland Coal Trade Production Levels 1842-1865 Cumberland coal trade.jpg
Table of Cumberland Coal Trade Production Levels 1842-1865

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 Scottish 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.

Since regional coal mines were constructed with horizontal shafts, they were far less dangerous than the vertical shaft mines of Pennsylvania and West Virginia. Still, the regional 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 over time, would lead to an early death.

After World War I, coal production started to decline, and today only some strip mining remains as the last vestige of this once all-important industry. Coal trains once went through the valley every day, but now do so only once or twice a month.

Allegany coal basin.jpg

Towns in the Valley

Notable residents

Local dialect

Georges Creek is pronounced Georges crick by locals, though they pronounce other streams as creek.

Heavy Scottish heritage in the area give locals a dialect unique in the area. Many outsiders confuse the local dialect with that of Ontario, Canada, which it closely resembles.[ citation needed ]

See also

Related Research Articles

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Allegany County, Maryland</span> County in Maryland, United States

Allegany County is a county 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".

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Barton, Maryland</span> Town in Maryland, United States

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.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Frostburg, Maryland</span> City in Maryland

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.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Lonaconing, Maryland</span> Town in Maryland, United States

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.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Midland, Maryland</span> Town in Maryland, United States

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.

Georges Creek is a 17.6-mile-long (28.3 km) tributary stream of the North Branch Potomac River in western Maryland. The creek has its headwaters on Savage Mountain near Frostburg and empties into the North Branch Potomac River at Westernport, all in western Allegany County. Along the Georges Creek Valley, there exists a series of small towns founded in the nineteenth century for miners' homes. The Georges Creek Valley is rich in wide veins of coal, once extracted by deep mines but still mined today through surface mining.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Maryland Route 36</span> State highway in Allegany County, Maryland, US

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).

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Cumberland and Pennsylvania Railroad</span> Defunct American railroad which operated in Western Maryland

The Cumberland and Pennsylvania Railroad (C&P) was an American railroad which operated in Western Maryland. Primarily a coal hauler, it was owned by the Consolidation Coal Company, and was purchased by the Western Maryland Railway (WM) in 1944.

Allegany County Transit (ACT) is a publicly funded, general-public bus system serving Allegany County, Maryland, providing Public Transportation. Allegany County has two types of services, a Fixed Route and a Demand Response Service. Allegany County Transit is a division of Allegany County Government.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Cumberland micropolitan area</span> Micropolitan Statistical Area in the United States

Cumberland, MD-WV MSA, or Cumberland Metro for short, is the Metropolitan Statistical Area of Cumberland, Maryland, and the surrounding economic region of Allegany County, Maryland, and Mineral County, West Virginia, in the United States.

Eckhart Mines is an unincorporated community and census-designated place (CDP) in Allegany County, Maryland, United States. As of the 2010 census it had a population of 932.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Maryland Mining Company</span> Company that operated in Allegany County, Maryland, US

The Maryland Mining Company is a historic coal mining, iron producer and railroad company that operated in Allegany County, Maryland, United States.

The Georges Creek Railroad was a railroad operated by the Georges Creek Coal and Iron Company in Western Maryland. The railroad operated from 1853 to 1863, when it was acquired by the Cumberland and Pennsylvania Railroad (C&P).

The Georges Creek Coal and Iron Company is a defunct coal mining, iron producer and railroad company that operated in Maryland from 1835 to 1863.

Mountain Ridge High School is a high school in Frostburg, Maryland, United States, that houses over 1000 students from the Georges Creek Valley, the Greater Frostburg vicinity, and the Westernport region. Mountain Ridge is part of Allegany County Public Schools. The school mascot is a miner and the school colors are red, black, white and gold.

The Georges Creek and Cumberland Railroad (GC&C) was a railroad that operated in Maryland from 1876 until 1917, when it was merged with the Western Maryland Railway (WM). The main line ran from Cumberland to Lonaconing.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">History of Cumberland, Maryland</span>

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 during the French and Indian War.

Allegany County Public Schools is a public school district serving Allegany County, Maryland, United States.

Detmold is an unincorporated community and census-designated place (CDP) in Allegany County, Maryland, United States. As of the 2010 census it had a population of 71.

Georges Creek may refer to:

References

39°34′18″N78°58′38″W / 39.57167°N 78.97722°W / 39.57167; -78.97722