Posters

Cumberland’s early historical development was closely linked to commerce and transportation -The National Road, Chesapeake and Ohio Canal and the Baltimore and Ohio Railroad. First established as a trading post by Christopher Gist in 1749, it was named after the Duke of Cumberland by General Braddock during the French and Indian War (1756-63). After the war many who had been stationed at Fort Cumberland returned to settle the area. The church spires in the foreground date back to the 1700’s. The Narrows in the background was a natural pass in the mountains for travelers westbound when the National Road opened in 1806. Cumberland became known as the Gateway to the West. In the mid 1800’s the C&O Canal established an important link between Cumberland and Washington, D.C. During the Civil War (1861-64), Cumberland developed as one of the largest rail centers as coal was the “gold” of the area. Today Cumberland has retained its rural beauty and is surrounded by a natural patchwork of mountains, forests and waterways.

As the oldest town in Allegany County, Oldtown, Maryland was once the village of Shawnee King Opessa. This site was frequented by the Five Nations, as the ford in the Potomac River was a natural crossing and part of the Warrior’s path. Oldtown was the hunting grounds for the Shawnees as early as 1707 and in 1711 the town was called King Opessa’s Shawnee Oldtown. In 1739, Thomas Cresap came to the village on the Potomac River in the wilderness of Western Maryland, and in 1741 set up a Fort, called Skipton, after his home in England. Colonel Thomas Cresap was a well-known pathfinder, patriot and frontiersman. He then formed the Ohio Company setting the trail to the new Frontier. In 1748, Cresap entertained the young surveyor apprentice George Washington and they became lifelong friends. The stone house, the centerpiece of the town, was built in 1764 by Captain Michael Cresap who was the first white male born in Allegany County and the son of Colonel Thomas Cresap. Michael was a bold continental militia volunteer who proved himself on the western frontier and when called upon after Lexington and Concord led one hundred and forty riflemen from Oldtown to Boston. Oldtown has seen many changes; such as the French and Indian War, the Civil War (the battle of Alum Hill, where the Confederates pushed the Union back), and the coming of the C&O Canal and the B&O Railroad.