Georges Creek Valley

A series of small mining towns were founded along the Georges Creek Valley in the nineteenth century when coal was discovered in the region.

Some of the richest beds of soft, bituminous coal in the country lay within the hills and mountains of this region.

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.

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.