1898 Map of Frostburg

About this map

Cumberland serves as the industrial and transportation hub for this tri-state border region, where the C & O Canal meets an intricate network of coal-hauling railroads. The landscape is dominated by the steep ridges of Wills Mountain and Dans Mountain, framing a valley deeply defined by extraction and transit. Extensive mining operations are concentrated around Frostburg, evidenced by features like the Borden Shaft and Eckhart Mines. These operations supported a string of company towns and rail junctions, including Carlos Junction, Ocean, and Vale Summit, many of which were built specifically to serve the Georges Creek coal basin. The map reveals the early complexity of the rail economy, showing the Baltimore and Ohio RR and the Cumberland and Pennsylvania RR competing for passage through the narrow gaps and ridges that define the Maryland-West Virginia borderlands.