Georges Creek Valley facts for kids

The Georges Creek Valley is a cool place in Allegany County, Maryland, right next to the Georges Creek. It's famous for having lots of coal, especially a huge amount called "The Big Vein". Long ago, people dug deep underground to get this coal. Now, they mostly dig it up from the surface. This valley used to be a super important spot for coal mining in the United States!

History of Coal Mining

Map of the Georges Creek area from 1907

In the 1800s, people found a lot of coal in the Georges Creek Valley. Because of this, many small towns popped up, and mining companies built railroads to carry the coal away. Some of these railroads later joined together to form the Cumberland and Pennsylvania Railroad System. Another railroad, the George's Creek and Cumberland Railroad, also helped move coal.

Many people moved to the valley to find jobs in the coal mines. A lot of them were from Ireland, but also from Germany, Scotland, and Wales. They came with their families, hoping for new chances in America.

Coal mining quickly became the most important business in the Cumberland area. The hills and mountains here had some of the best soft coal in the country. After the American Civil War, coal from Maryland was sent all over the world! It powered factories and steamships in Baltimore, and even the U.S. Navy fleet. It was also sold to buyers in places like London, Brazil, and Egypt.

Miners in this area were often better off than those in other states. For example, in Maryland, it became against the law in 1868 for mining companies to force miners to buy everything from a special "company store". Also, many miners here could buy their own homes, which was different from other places where companies owned all the houses.

The mines in this region were built with horizontal tunnels, which meant they were generally safer than the deep, straight-down mines found in Pennsylvania and West Virginia. However, working in the mines was still very hard. Miners would come out covered in black dust, and they knew that breathing in the carbon-filled air over many years could make them sick and lead to an early death.

After World War I, people started needing less coal. Today, most of the mining is done by digging from the surface, called strip mining. Big coal trains used to go through the valley every day, but now you might only see them once or twice a month.

Towns in the Valley

• Westernport: This town is where Georges Creek flows into the Potomac River. Its name comes from being the westernmost place on the river where boats could easily travel. Long ago, coal and timber were loaded onto flatboats here and floated down the river. The town of Piedmont, West Virginia, is right across the Potomac River from Westernport.
• Barton: A minister named William Shaw settled here in 1794. Later, his son, William Shaw, Jr., planned out the town in 1853 and named it after his father's hometown, Barton-upon-Humber, in England.
• Lonaconing:
  

  Lonaconing, Maryland, one of the towns in the valley

The first non-Native American settlers came here in the late 1700s. They were explorers, hunters, and farmers. Some of the first families had names like Dye, Duckworth, Green, and VanBuskirk. A stone house built in 1797 in Knapps Meadow, just north of Lonaconing, is still standing today!

• Midland
• Frostburg: This town is home to Frostburg State University, which is part of the University System of Maryland.

Local Dialect

People who live in the Georges Creek area say "Georges crick" instead of "Georges creek". But for other streams, they usually say "creek."

Because many people from Scotland settled here, locals have a special way of speaking that sounds a bit like people from Ontario, Canada.

Images for kids

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  Table showing how much coal was produced from 1842 to 1865

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  Map of the Allegany coal basin