1951 Map of Patterson Creek

About this map

The Potomac River carves a deep valley through the Allegany County ridges, creating a corridor where Maryland and West Virginia transportation history converges. This landscape is defined by the parallel routes of the Baltimore and Ohio Railroad and the Western Maryland Railway, which snake along the riverbanks alongside the Chesapeake and Ohio Canal (Abandoned). The transition from water-borne commerce to heavy rail is physically etched into the terrain at Pattersons Creek and North Branch, where the infrastructure of the coal and freight era dominates the narrow flats between Irons Mountain and Warrior Mountain.