[6] The mill provided cross-ties to the Baltimore and Ohio Railroad as it pushed its rails westward through the Piedmont area of what is now West Virginia.

[7] When the railroad suspended building in the 1880s, the Davis brothers disbanded and sold their property to William Luke, who founded the Piedmont Pulp and Paper Company there with his sons in 1888.

[7] Over the next several decades, Luke prospered with the operation of the paper mill, the influx of other "heavy" industrial concerns, and the establishment of the usual supporting mom-and-pop businesses.

Nearby, along the Savage River, there was a gun factory that provided muskets with bayonets for the United States Army at Harpers Ferry.

[citation needed] Luke was also home of an automobile manufacturing plant where the Maryland Steamer was produced,[9] as well as a post card factory.

[10] Located along the Potomac River basin at the foot of Backbone Mountain, Luke was home to a paper mill that was the largest private employer in Allegany County.

[12] For burning "black liquor", a mix of chemicals and wood waste from the paper-making process, the plant received renewable energy subsidies totalling about $4 million through 2015, thanks to amendments the paper mill owner convinced Maryland lawmakers to adopt in 2004.

[17] Mayor Clemons, also a local Methodist pastor, organized a nondenominational prayer meeting in mid-May for those affected by the closure, attended by more than 100.

[20] The Tri-Towns community – consisting of Piedmont in West Virginia, with Luke and Westernport in Maryland – was projected to become devastated by the closure, also to affect suppliers of coal, chemicals, and timber.

[21] Verso agreed to continue providing water for Luke until a line was extended from Westernport, for which the Maryland Board of Public Works approved more than half a million dollars in August 2020.

[22] In 2019, water analysis by the Upper Potomac Riverkeeper group found toxic substances consistent with black liquor, including arsenic, boron and methyl mercury, originating from the mill; as of October 2019, Maryland environmental officials said they were investigating the leak and taking steps to post advisories nearby.

The Attorney General of Maryland filed a lawsuit in Allegany County in December 2019 claiming multiple environmental law violations.

[25] Verso settled these lawsuits in April 2021, agreeing to identify the sources and extent of the contamination and create a comprehensive plan to clean it, as well as pay $650,000 to the state of Maryland.

[26] In August 2023, Port River West LLC and JR Vinagro Corporation began to clear up to 55 acres at the former site of the paper mill.