Allegany County, Maryland facts for kids

Quick facts for kids Allegany County
County
Allegany County Courthouse
Flag Seal
Location within the U.S. state of Maryland
Maryland's location within the U.S.
Country	United States
State	Maryland
Founded	December 25, 1789
Named for	Allegheny Mountains
Seat	Cumberland
Largest city	Cumberland
Area
• Total	430 sq mi (1,100 km2)
• Land	424 sq mi (1,100 km2)
• Water	5.8 sq mi (15 km2)  1.3%
Population  (2020)
• Total	68,106
• Density	158.4/sq mi (61.2/km2)
Time zone	UTC−5 (Eastern)
• Summer (DST)	UTC−4 (EDT)
Congressional district	6th

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".

History

The western part of Maryland (including the present Allegany County) was originally part of Prince George's County when Maryland was formed in 1696. This county included six current counties, and by repeated splitting, new ones were generated: Frederick from Prince George's in 1748; and Montgomery and Washington from Frederick in 1776.

Allegany County was formed in 1789 by the splitting of Washington County. At the time it was the westernmost county in Maryland, but a split in 1872 produced Garrett County, the current westernmost county.

A 10-dollar note from the Allegany County Bank from 1860.

Prior to 1789, the Virginia Commonwealth claimed the area of present-day Garrett and Allegany Counties, of Maryland. A 1771–1780 map of Virginias counties, shows Hampshire County, but the Virginia State boundary has Hampshire outside that boundary line. When conducting genealogical research, it is possible to find tax records for Hampshire County, Virginia included in Maryland records, and Maryland records in Hampshire County... Hampshire County was formed in 1758 by the Virginia Commonwealth and at its founding, included the present day counties of Garrett and Allegany Counties in Maryland, and Hardy, Grant, Mineral, and part of Morgan Counties in what is now West Virginia.

Geography

According to the U.S. Census Bureau, the county has a total area of 430 square miles (1,100 km²), of which 424 square miles (1,100 km²) is land and 5.8 square miles (15 km²) (1.3%) is water.

Allegany County lies primarily in the Ridge-and-Valley Country of the Appalachian Mountains. It is bordered to the north by the Mason–Dixon line with Pennsylvania, to the south by the Potomac River and West Virginia, to the east by Sideling Hill Creek and Washington County, Maryland, and to the west by a land border with Garrett County, Maryland. The western part of the county contains a portion of the steep Allegheny Front, which marks the transition to the higher-elevation Appalachian Plateau and Allegheny Mountain region. The town of Frostburg is located west of the Front at an elevation of nearly 2,100 feet above sea level, while the county seat of Cumberland, only eight miles away, has an elevation of only 627 feet.

Mountains

Adjacent counties

National protected areas

• Chesapeake and Ohio Canal National Historical Park (part)

Demographics

2020 census

Note: the US Census treats Hispanic/Latino as an ethnic category. This table excludes Latinos from the racial categories and assigns them to a separate category. Hispanics/Latinos can be of any race.

2010 census

As of the 2010 United States census, there were 75,087 people, 29,177 households, and 17,959 families residing in the county. The population density was 177.0 inhabitants per square mile (68.3/km²). There were 33,311 housing units at an average density of 78.5 per square mile (30.3/km²). The racial makeup of the county was 89.2% white, 8.0% black or African American, 0.8% Asian, 0.1% American Indian, 0.2% from other races, and 1.6% from two or more races. Those of Hispanic or Latino origin made up 1.4% of the population. In terms of ancestry, 31.8% were German, 14.6% were Irish, 11.9% were English, 11.8% were American, and 5.6% were Italian.

Of the 29,177 households, 26.0% had children under the age of 18 living with them, 46.0% were married couples living together, 11.0% had a female householder with no husband present, 38.4% were non-families, and 31.6% of all households were made up of individuals. The average household size was 2.30 and the average family size was 2.86. The median age was 40.9 years.

The median income for a household in the county was $37,747 and the median income for a family was $52,680. Males had a median income of $42,322 versus $29,594 for females. The per capita income for the county was $20,764. About 9.6% of families and 14.5% of the population were below the poverty line, including 18.3% of those under age 18 and 8.8% of those age 65 or over.

Economy

According to the county's comprehensive annual financial reports, the top employers by number of employees in the county are the following. ("NR" indicates the employer was not ranked among the top ten employers that year.)

Communities

Cities

• Cumberland
• Frostburg

Towns

• Barton
• Lonaconing
• Luke
• Midland
• Westernport

Census-designated places

Occupying a middle ground between incorporated and unincorporated areas are Special Tax Districts, quasi-municipal unincorporated areas created by legislation passed by the Maryland General Assembly. They lack home rule authority and must petition the General Assembly for changes affecting the authority of the district. There are eight Special Tax Districts in the county:

• Bel Air
• Bowling Green
• Cresaptown
• Ellerslie
• La Vale
• McCoole
• Mount Savage
• Potomac Park

Other census-designated places in the county include:

Unincorporated communities

Transportation

I-68 and US 40 in Allegany County

Allegany County has been, since colonial times, an important node on the nation's transportation network as a key transition point in the movement of goods and people to and from the ports of the Mid-Atlantic and the agricultural and industrial production centers of the Ohio Valley and Midwest. The Cumberland Narrows, a naturally-occurring watergap separating Wills and Haystack Mountains, serves as one of the few passages through what is otherwise one of the steepest rushes of the Ridge and Valley province. Because of this, Cumberland has been the site of both planned and completed transportation projects focused on connecting east and west.

On his fateful march from Alexandria to Fort Duquesne in modern-day Pittsburgh during the French and Indian War, British General Edward Braddock and his men, including then-Lieutenant Colonel and Braddock's aide-de-camp George Washington, carved a road, closely following the Native American Nemacolin's Path, from the British encampment at Fort Cumberland, through the Allegheny Mountains all the way to Fort Duquesne. This road, known in early America as Braddock's Road, became the guidelines for the earliest sections of the Cumberland Road, or what later became known as the National Road. Specifically, the section on Braddock's Road from Cumberland to Uniontown, Pennsylvania was followed nearly exactly in the early construction of the National Road. A monument to the start of the National Road now stands on Greene Street in Cumberland, very near the spot Braddock and his men began their expedition.

In modern times, Allegany County is an important regional crossroads. It is crossed from east to west by Interstate 68 and US Route 40, and from north to south by US Route 220, which from Cumberland to the Mason–Dixon line is part of the Appalachian Development Highway System's Corridor O.

Major highways

Rail

• Amtrak
• Western Maryland Scenic Railroad

Public transportation

• Allegany County Transit

Education

Public K–12 education in the county is handled by Allegany County Public Schools (ACPS). ACPS is governed by an elected, five-member Board of Education, plus an appointed superintendent. ACPS manages three high schools (grades 9–12), three middle schools (grades 6–8), 13 elementary schools (grades K–5), and one K–8 school, plus the Center for Career and Technical Education in Cresaptown, and the Eckhart Alternative School in Eckhart Mines.

Allegany County is also home to three Christian parochial schools: Bishop Walsh School (Catholic) in Cumberland, Lighthouse Christian Academy (non-denominational) in Cumberland, and Calvary Christian Academy (non-denominational) in Cresaptown.

Allegany County is home to Frostburg State University, one of the eleven member universities of the University System of Maryland, and the only public, four-year university in Maryland west of the Washington–Baltimore combined statistical area. The university, founded in 1898 as the Frostburg State Normal School, FSU, as the university is known to students and alumni, now offers more than 40 undergraduate majors and has a yearly enrollment consistently over 5,000 students.

A junior college experience is available in Allegany County with the Allegany College of Maryland, located in Cumberland. Allegany College provides more than 50 associate degree programs and more than 20 certificate programs, and has more than 3,500 enrollees and more than 16,000 registrants in its Continuing Education programs. ACM also operates a satellite campus in Everett, Pennsylvania, about 30 miles north of Cumberland in Bedford County.

Natural resources

The primary mineral resources extracted for use in Allegany County are coal, iron, sandstone, and limestone. Coal-bearing formations are concentrated in the Georges Creek Basin in the western part of the county.

Notable residents

• Thomas Cresap (c. 1702 – c. 1790), frontiersman and militia leader, who founded Oldtown and widened Nemacolin's Trail, which led west from Cumberland.
• Michael Cresap (1742–1775), born in Allegany County, American Revolutionary War officer.
• Patrick Hamill (1817–1895), born in Allegany County, United States Congressman from Maryland.
• Lloyd Lowndes Jr. (1845–1905), former Governor of Maryland.
• Lefty Grove (1900–1975), born and raised in Lonaconing; Hall of Fame baseball pitcher with the Philadelphia Athletics and Boston Red Sox.
• William H. Macy (born 1950), American actor.
• Sam Perlozzo, former manager of the Baltimore Orioles (2005–2007).
• Leo Mazzone, former pitching coach of the Baltimore Orioles and the Atlanta Braves.
• Casper R. Taylor Jr., former Speaker of the House in the Maryland House of Delegates.
• Eddie Deezen, (born 1957), American actor.
• Ty Johnson (born 1997), running back - Detroit Lions.
• Drew Hankinson, AKA "Luke Gallows" (born 1983), American professional wrestler
• Bob Robertson (Born 1946) - Played in Major League Baseball as a first baseman between 1967 and 1979, most notably as a member of the Pittsburgh Pirates. Robertson was born in Frostburg, Maryland in 1946 where he graduated from Mount Savage High School in Maryland. Robertson lives in LaVale, Maryland with his wife, Carolyn.

See also

In Spanish: Condado de Allegany (Maryland) para niños