1911 Encyclopædia Britannica/Cumberland (Maryland)

CUMBERLAND, a city and the county-seat of Allegany county, Maryland, U.S.A., on the Potomac river, about 178 m. W. by N. of Baltimore and about 153 m. S. by E. of Pittsburg. Pop. (1890) 12,729; (1900) 17,128, of whom 1113 were foreign-born and 1100 were of negro descent; (1910) 21,839. Cumberland is served by the Baltimore & Ohio, the Western Maryland, the Pennsylvania, the Cumberland & Pennsylvania (from Cumberland to Piedmont, Virginia), and the George’s Creek & Cumberland railways, the last a short line extending to Lonaconing (19 m.); by an electric line extending to Western Port, Maryland; and by the Chesapeake & Ohio Canal, of which it is a terminus. The city is about 635 ft. above sea-level, and from a distance appears to be completely shut in by lofty ranges of hills, which are cut through to the westward by a deep gorge called “The Narrows,” making a natural gateway of great beauty. Cumberland has a large trade in coal, which is mined in the vicinity. As a manufacturing centre it ranked in 1905 second in the state, the chief products being iron, steel, bricks, flour, cement, silk and leather; there is also a large dyeing and cleaning establishment. The value of the city’s factory products increased from $2,900,267 in 1900 to $4,595,023 in 1905, or 58.4%. Cumberland is an important jobbing centre also. The municipality owns and operates its water-works and electric lighting plant. The first settlement of the place was made in 1750; in 1754 Fort Cumberland was erected within what are now the city limits, and in the year following this fort was occupied by General Edward Braddock. Cumberland was laid out in 1763, but there was little growth until 1787, and it was not incorporated as a town until 1815; it was chartered as a city in 1850.