Allegany County, Maryland

Allegany County, Maryland

Seal

Location in the state of Maryland

Maryland's location in the U.S.
Founded 1789
Named for the Allegheny Mountains, which run through the western part of the county
Seat Cumberland
Largest city Cumberland
Area
 - Total
 - Land
 - Water
429.82 sq mi (1,113 km²)
425.42 sq mi (1,102 km²)
4.40 sq mi (11 km²), 1.02%
Population
 - (2010)
 - Density
75,087
176/sq mi (68.1/km²)
Website gov.allconet.org

Allegany County is a county located in the northwestern part of the US state of Maryland. It is part of the Cumberland, MD-WV Metropolitan Statistical Area. As of 2010, the population was 75,087. Its county seat is Cumberland. The name Allegany may come from a local Lenape word, welhik hane[1][2] or oolikhanna, which means 'best flowing river of the hills' or 'beautiful stream'.[3] A number of counties in the Appalachian region of the US are named Allegany, Allegheny, or Alleghany.

Contents

History

The western part of Maryland (including the present Allegany County) was originally part of Prince George's County when Maryland was formed in 1696.[4] This county included six current counties, and by repeated splitting, new ones were generated: Frederick from Prince George's in 1748;[5] and Montgomery and Washington from Frederick in 1776.[6]

Allegany County was formed in 1789 by the splitting of Washington County.[7] At the time it was the westernmost county in Maryland, but a split in 1872 produced Garrett County, the current westernmost county.[5]

The county has a number of properties on the National Register of Historic Places.[8]

It is the birthplace of Emmy Award winning actress Suzanne Rogers who has credits in both TV and film. She is perhaps best known for her long running role as Maggie Simmons Horton on NBC's Days of our Lives. Miss Rogers originated the role in 1973 and still appears daily on the series as of 2011. She is one of the few actresses to play the same character on a TV series for over 35 years.

Law and government

Allegany County was granted a home rule form of government in 1974.

Transportation

Geography

According to the 2000 census, the county has a total area of 429.82 square miles (1,113.2 km2), of which 425.42 square miles (1,101.8 km2) (or 98.98%) is land and 4.40 square miles (11.4 km2) (or 1.02%) is water.[9]

Adjacent counties

See also: List of counties bordering eight counties

National protected areas

Significant Topographic Features

Major highways

Demographics

Historical populations
Census Pop. %±
1790 4,809
—
1800 6,303 31.1%
1810 6,909 9.6%
1820 8,654 25.3%
1830 10,609 22.6%
1840 15,690 47.9%
1850 22,769 45.1%
1860 28,348 24.5%
1870 38,536 35.9%
1880 38,012 −1.4%
1890 41,571 9.4%
1900 53,694 29.2%
1910 62,411 16.2%
1920 69,938 12.1%
1930 79,098 13.1%
1940 86,973 10.0%
1950 89,556 3.0%
1960 84,169 −6.0%
1970 84,044 −0.1%
1980 80,548 −4.2%
1990 74,946 −7.0%
2000 74,930 0%
2010 75,087 0.2%
[10][11][12]

2010

Whereas according to the 2010 U.S. Census Bureau:

2000

As of the census[13] of 2000, there were 74,930 people, 29,322 households, and 18,883 families residing in the county. The population density was 176 people per square mile (68/km²). There were 32,984 housing units at an average density of 78 per square mile (30/km²). The racial makeup of the county was 93.02% White, 5.35% Black or African American, 0.15% Native American, 0.52% Asian, 0.03% Pacific Islander, 0.19% from other races, and 0.75% from two or more races. 0.76% of the population were Hispanic or Latino of any race. 29.0% were of German, 16.7% US or American, 12.8% Irish, 10.7% English and 5.3% Italian ancestry according to Census 2000.[14]

There were 29,322 households out of which 26.50% had children under the age of 18 living with them, 50.60% were married couples living together, 10.30% had a female householder with no husband present, and 35.60% were non-families. 30.10% of all households were made up of individuals and 15.20% had someone living alone who was 65 years of age or older. The average household size was 2.35 and the average family size was 2.90.

In the county the population was spread out with 20.60% under the age of 18, 11.20% from 18 to 24, 26.80% from 25 to 44, 23.50% from 45 to 64, and 17.90% who were 65 years of age or older. The median age was 39 years. For every 100 females there were 99.20 males. For every 100 females age 18 and over, there were 96.90 males.

The median income for a household in the county was $30,821, and the median income for a family was $39,886. Males had a median income of $31,316 versus $21,334 for females. The per capita income for the county was $16,780. About 9.70% of families and 14.80% of the population were below the poverty line, including 17.70% of those under age 18 and 9.50% of those age 65 or over.

As of 2010, Allegany County had a racial and ethnic population composition of 88.16% Non-Hispanic whites, 8.03% Blacks, 0.14% Native Americans, 0.76% Asians, 0.04% Pacific Islanders, 0.08% Non-Hispanics who reported some other race, 1.47% Non-Hispanics who reported two or more races and 1.44% Hispanics.

Cities and towns

This county contains the following seven incorporated municipalities:

Occupying a middle ground between incorporated and unincorporated areas are Special Tax Districts, quasi-municipal unincorporated areas created by legislation passed by the Maryland General Assembly.[1] They lack home rule authority and must petition the General Assembly for changes affecting the authority of the district. There are eight Special Tax Districts in the county:

  1. Bel Air (1965)
  2. Bowling Green and Robert's Place (1972)
  3. Cresaptown (1949)
  4. Ellerslie (1963)
  5. La Vale Sanitary District (1947)
  6. McCoole (1965)
  7. Mount Savage (1950)
  8. Potomac Park Addition (1947)

Unincorporated areas are also considered as towns by many people and listed in many collections of towns, but they lack local government. Various organizations, such as the United States Census Bureau, the United States Postal Service, and local chambers of commerce, define the communities they wish to recognize differently, and since they are not incorporated, their boundaries have no official status outside the organizations in question. The Census Bureau recognizes the following census-designated places in the county:

  1. Cresaptown-Bel Air (a combination of the communities of Cresaptown and Bel Air recognized as a unit by the Census Bureau)
  2. La Vale

Other unincorporated areas include:

  1. Amcelle
  2. Barrelville
  3. Bier
  4. Borden Shaft
  5. Carlos
  6. Clarysville
  7. Corriganville
  8. Danville
  9. Dawson
  10. Detmold
  11. Dickens
  12. Eckhart Mines
  13. Evitts Creek
  14. Flintstone
  15. George's Creek
  16. Gilmore
  17. Klondike
  18. Little Orleans
  19. Loartown
  20. Midlothian
  21. McKenzie
  22. Moscow
  23. Mount Savage
  24. Narrows Park
  25. Nikep
  26. Oldtown
  27. Pekin
  28. Pinto
  29. Rawlings
  30. Shaft
  31. Spring Gap
  32. Town Creek
  33. Vale Summit
  34. Woodland
  35. Zihlman

Government and infrastructure

The North Branch Correctional Institution, operated by the Maryland Department of Public Safety and Correctional Services, is located in unincorporated Allegany County, near Cumberland.[15] The prison began housing male death row inmates, who were moved from the Maryland Correctional Adjustment Center, in June 2010.[16]

Colleges and universities

Notable residents

Mountains

The following Mountains are in Allegany County:

Mineral Resources

The primary mineral resources extracted for use in Allegany County are coal, iron, sandstone, and limestone. Coal bearing formations are concentrated in the Georges Creek Basin in the western part of the county.

See also

References

  1. ^ "welhik". Lenape Talking Dictionary. http://www.talk-lenape.org/detail.php?id=10687. Retrieved 2011-12-14. 
  2. ^ "Heckewelder here does not give the strict meaning of hanne. The word in common use among Algonkin [i.e., Algonquian] tribes for river is sipu, and this includes the idea of 'a stream of flowing water'. But in the mountainous parts of Pennsylvania, Maryland, and Virginia sipu did not sufficiently convey the idea of a rapid stream, roaring down mountain gorges, and hanne takes its place to designate not a mere sipu, or flowing river, but a rapid mountain stream." Russell, Erret (1885). "Indian Geographical Names". The Magazine of Western History 2 (1): 53–59. http://books.google.com/books?id=p2oKAQAAMAAJ. Retrieved 2011-12-14. 
  3. ^ Alleghany, or as some prefer to write it, Allegheny,—the Algonkin name of the Ohio River, but now restricted to one of its branches,—is probably (Delaware) welhik-hanné or [oo]lik-hanné, 'the best (or, the fairest) river.' Welhik (as Zeisberger wrote it) is the inanimate form of the adjectival, meaning 'best,' 'most beautiful.' In his Vocabulary, Zeisberger gave this synthesis, with slight change of orthography, as "Wulach'neü" [or [oo]lakhanne[oo], as Eliot would have written it,] with the free translation, "a fine River, without Falls." The name was indeed more likely to belong to rivers 'without falls' or other obstruction to the passage of canoes, but its literal meaning is, as its composition shows, "best rapid-stream," or "finest rapid-stream;" "La Belle Riviere" of the French, and the Oue-yo´ or O hee´ yo Gä-hun´-dä, "good river" or "the beautiful river," of the Senecas. For this translation of the name we have very respectable authority,—that of Christian Frederick Post, a Moravian of Pennsylvania, who lived seventeen years with the Muhhekan Indians and was twice married among them, and whose knowledge of the Indian languages enabled him to render important services to the colony, as a negotiator with the Delawares and Shawanese of the Ohio, in the French war. In his "Journal from Philadelphia to the Ohio" in 1758, after mention of the 'Alleghenny' river, he says: "The Ohio, as it is called by the Sennecas. Alleghenny is the name of the same river in the Delaware language. Both words signify the fine or fair river." La Metairie, the notary of La Salle's expedition, "calls the Ohio, the Olighinsipou, or Aleghin; evidently an Algonkin name,"—as Dr. Shea remarks. Heckewelder says that the Delawares "still call the Allegany (Ohio) river, Alligéwi Sipu,"—"the river of the Alligewi" as he chooses to translate it. In one form, we have wulik-hannésipu, 'best rapid-stream long-river;' in the other, wuliké-sipu, 'best long-river.' Heckewelder's derivation of the name, on the authority of a Delaware legend, from the mythic 'Alligewi' or 'Talligewi,'—"a race of Indians said to have once inhabited that country," who, after great battles fought in pre-historic times, were driven from it by the all-conquering Delawares,—is of no value, unless supported by other testimony. Trumbull, J. Hammond (1870). The Composition of Indian Geographical Names. Hartford, Conn.. pp. 13–14. http://www.gutenberg.org/files/18279/18279-h/18279-h.htm. Retrieved 2011-12-14. 
  4. ^ Thomas, James W. and Williams, Thomas J.C. History of Allegany County, Maryland. Baltimore, Md.: Regional Publishing Co., 1969, p. 289.
  5. ^ a b Bentley, Elizabeth Petty. County Courthouse Book. Baltimore, Md.: Genealogical Publishing Co., 2009, p. 128.
  6. ^ Bentley, Elizabeth Petty. County Courthouse Book. Baltimore, Md.: Genealogical Publishing Co., 2009, p. 129.
  7. ^ Bentley, Elizabeth Petty. County Courthouse Book. Baltimore, Md.: Genealogical Publishing Co., 2009, p. 126.
  8. ^ "National Register Information System". National Register of Historic Places. National Park Service. 2008-04-15. http://nrhp.focus.nps.gov/natreg/docs/All_Data.html. 
  9. ^ "Census 2000 U.S. Gazetteer Files: Counties". United States Census. http://www.census.gov/tiger/tms/gazetteer/county2k.txt. Retrieved 2011-02-13. 
  10. ^ http://www.census.gov/population/www/censusdata/cencounts/files/md190090.txt
  11. ^ http://factfinder2.census.gov
  12. ^ http://mapserver.lib.virginia.edu/
  13. ^ "American FactFinder". United States Census Bureau. http://factfinder.census.gov. Retrieved 2008-01-31. 
  14. ^ The last five National Origin figures are taken from the Long Form, which was given to less than 20% of respondents but then extrapolated to the whole. Besides this problem in making a comparison, the long form also limits people to only two stated ancestries, but unlike racial counts, if someone states two ancestries they are counted in both, while in racial counts they are grouped as "some other race."
  15. ^ "North Branch Correctional Institution." North Branch Correctional Institution. Retrieved on September 22, 2010.
  16. ^ Calvert, Scott and Kate Smith. "Death row inmates transferred to W. Maryland." The Baltimore Sun. June 25, 2010. Retrieved on September 22, 2010.
  17. ^ a b Who Was Who in America, Historical Volume, 1607–1896. Chicago: Marquis Who's Who. 1963. 

External links

Somerset County, Pennsylvania Bedford County, Pennsylvania Fulton County, Pennsylvania
Garrett County Washington County
   Allegany County, Maryland    
Mineral County, West Virginia Hampshire County, West Virginia Morgan County, West Virginia
Municipalities and communities of Allegany County, Maryland, USA
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