I toured, Woody went hunting

Woody went Turkey hunting with his buddy, they heard many turkeys gobbling, and not one would come close enough to give them a glimpse. After lunch, Woody and Dave did some yard work and other chores.
Ellie (Dave’s sister) was kind enough to invite me out for an afternoon of sightseeing in Cumberland, she picked me up at 11:00 and off we went. The day was nice warm and sunny, perfect for being out and about. First Ellie drove me around so I would have an idea of what there was to see and then we picked some places to stop and investigate further. The city has a lot to offer with many beautiful old buildings, and of course is outstanding just the way it is tucked into the hills with many narrow hilly winding streets. Parts of the old city are in the process of restoration and other areas completely restored. The city definitely has colonial history and Victorian charm.

A little history of Cumberland

Cumberland, Maryland is named after the son of King George II, Prince William, the Duke of Cumberland. It is built on the site of the old Fort Cumberland, a launch pad for British General Edward Braddock's ill-fated attack on the French strong-hold of Fort Duquesne (located on the site of present-day Pittsburgh) during the French and Indian War.

Cumberland was also an outpost of Colonel George Washington during the French and Indian War and his first military headquarters was built here. Washington later returned to Cumberland as President in 1794 to review troops that had been assembled to thwart the Whiskey Rebellion.
Cumberland was a key road, railroad and canal junction during the 1800s and at one time the second largest city in Maryland (second to the port city of Baltimore--hence its nickname "The Queen City"). The surrounding hillsides provided coal, iron ore, and timber that helped supply the Industrial Revolution. In addition, the city was a major manufacturing center, with industries in glass, breweries, fabrics, and tinplate. However, following World War II, it began to lose much of its industrial importance and its population declined from 39,483 residents in the 1940 census to fewer than 22,000 today. Similar to other communities it resembles in the Monongahela Valley Industrial region of southwestern Pennsylvania, the city continues to struggle with the challenges of transitioning to a post-industrial economy.

The Headquarters of George Washington is all that is left of Fort Cumberland other than some of the wall that was built to protect the Fort.

We could not go inside (not open) but we did peek through the window; the inside is an exact replica with mannequins and all.

The building was moved from it's original place in Ft. Cumberland as you can read.

Some pics of Riverside Park.

We then wandered over to view the Wills Creek/Potomac River and canal.

Wills Creek is a tributary of the North Branch Potomac River in Pennsylvania and Maryland. Wills Creek drops off the Allegheny Mountains of southeastern Somerset County, Pennsylvania, and enters the North Branch Potomac River at Cumberland.

In the 1950's, the city of Cumberland, and the United States Army Corps of Engineers embarked upon an 18.5 million dollar flood control program along a stretch of Wills Creek bordering the city. The project was one of the most costly public works project in the city's history. Disastrous floods from Wills Creek have ravaged Cumberland over the years, particularly in 1924, 1936, and 1942, and the Army Corp of Engineers was called upon to design a system that would prevent property damage caused by high waters. It began just upstream from the Route 40 Bridge, where the corps paved the bottom of Will’s Creek, constructing concrete walls along its banks, and implementation of a sophisticated pumping system to prevent the watershed from flooding during heavy rain. The work took a decade to complete, being finished in 1959, and has successfully prevented flooding ever since.

We then visited the Scenic Western Maryland Railroad train station that is part of Canal Place. Canal Place is a 58.1 acre park operated by the National Park Service . The park includes the Western Maryland Railway Station, Station Plaza, a picnic area, a canal boat replica, a pedestrian bridge to Washington’s Headquarters, picnic area, and the Crescent Lawn Festival Grounds.

Woody and I are planning to take the scenic ride before we leave.

The Western Maryland Scenic Railroad is a heritage railroad based in Cumberland. It operates over ex-Western Maryland Railway trackage to Frostburg, Maryland and back using both steam and diesel locomotives.
The WMSR operates passenger excursion trains out of the former Western Maryland station in Cumberland, which also houses one of the six visitor centers of the Chesapeake and Ohio Canal National Historical Park as well as other attractions and offices. This station was built in 1913.
The line proceeds northwest through "the Narrows", a deep gorge formed by the passage of Wills Creek between Haystack Mountain and Wills Mountain The train then proceeds up the Allegheny Front through a water gap formed by Jennings Run, past Mt. Savage and terminates at the former Cumberland and Pennsylvania Railroad depot in Frostburg, which now houses a restaurant. The train lays over here to allow visiting the town, and the locomotive is turned on a turntable before the train returns to Cumberland.
Intermediate sights on the line include:

Helmstetter’s Curve in Cash Valley
Brush Tunnel
Woodcock Hollow, site of a hairpin curve

Normal power for the train is ex-Lake Superior and Ishpeming #734, a 1916 Baldwin-built 2-8-0 painted in WM "fireball" livery. The locomotive came to the line from the Illinois Railroad Museum, which sold it to the WMSR in 1991. After an extensive rebuild the WMSR crew put it into service in 1992; it has received several modifications over the years to give it more of a WM appearance. In addition the WMSR has two ex-Conrail GP30s (501 being former PRR, 502 being former Reading) which are used as helpers for the steam locomotive and as power for short excursions run for special events.
In addition to coach and first class service, it is possible to reserve caboose and cab rides. The railroad also runs murder mystery excursions and special seasonal trips.

After visiting the Railway station, we took a stroll up Washington Street the hub of Cumberland society in the early days.

This building is the Public Library.

I took some pics of some houses along the street. We only walked up a portion of Washington Street, the homes where the very rich elite society lived were further up the street, we only drove by!

These homes belonged to the moderately rich elite society!

Many of the homes have interesting turrets.

Others used interesting inlays.

The city also has many beautiful old churches.

This being the most intersting with all the history attached to it. I included just a little of the history.

Emmanuel Episcopal Church in Cumberland, Maryland sits on a high bluff, commonly referred to as "Fort Hill," overlooking the area where Wills Creek enters the Potomac River. Fort Hill is the site of old Fort Cumberland, which became a crown fort in April 1755. Fort Cumberland provided safety for the settlers on the western boundaries of Maryland and Virginia during the French and Indian Wars. Confrontations between the French and the British began in 1754 when the British settlers began to expand into the Ohio Valley, which was already occupied by the French trading with Native Americans. These confrontations escalated until May 18, 1756 when a formal declaration of war was made by the British. This war was called the Seven Years War in Europe and the French and Indian Wars in the Colonies.

A closer view.

Emmanuel Church, standing at the eastern end of the Washington Street Historic District, is one of Maryland's most outstanding examples of early Gothic Revival architecture. The church is situated on the former site of Fort Cumberland, and earthwork tunnels remaining from the fort run under the church. The church was constructed around 1850 and designed by well-known Philadelphia architect John Notman. It is modeled after St. Paul's Church in Brighton, England. The design is typical ecclesiastical architecture of the second quarter of the 19th century, especially that of the Episcopal Church. The pictures of this church I copied from a Website.

I should have used the wide angle lense for this picture but didn't bring it along! The tower is longer than it appears to be in the pics.

The Cumberland Narrows is a compact notched valley that Wills Creek has carved into Wills Mountain. The National Highway (Route 40) and numerous railroad lines pass through this steep, narrow, and rocky river valley on the edge of Cumberland, On the northeast side of Wills Mountain, sits a rocky outcropping known as Lover's Leap. The name comes from a Native American Romeo and Juliet legend. The tale tells how a jilted lover met his end by jumping off this ledge. Today, the rocks high above the water provide one of the most breathtaking views in the Allegheny Mountains. Postcard pictures of this valley have frequently romanticized lover’s leap. The most famous post cards were taken by George Steward in 1950 and published in the 1953 book, U.S. 40.
Lover's leap is 1,652 feet above sea level and made up of oddly squared trajectories of rock, from its top, all the way down to the National Highway (U.S. Rte. 40) below. The City of Cumberland and the surrounding states of Pennsylvania and West Virginia may be seen from this point. Further, it is known that the air currents whipping up and around are so strong, that a climber cannot be heard from the top once over the lip, nor can be easily seen due to the projected rock angles.

This pic and the one of the Narrows was taken from Constitution Park, which is the main area for the swimming pool, ball park, etc.

Upon our return from sightseeing Ellie, Dave, Woody and I sat in the shade (under Dave's carport) and visited for awhile. Randi was working. Ellie left, Randi arrived home just before a wild thunder storm rolled through, lots of water came down, a torrential downpour, over 2 inches of rain in 1/2 hour in some places. When the rain let up we hurried to our little home, made some dinner, visited friends in our favourite chatroom, and shared the happenings of our day. Another extraordinary day!