Lonaconing, Maryland
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Lonaconing is a town in Allegany County, Maryland, United States located along the Georges Creek Valley. It is part of the 'Cumberland, MD-WV Metropolitan Statistical Area'. The population was 1,205 at the 2000 census.
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[edit] History
The first non-Native American settlers in the late 18th century were explorers, hunters and farmers. Names of some of the first settlers were Dye, Duckworth, Green, Fazenbaker, Grove, VanBuskirk, Knapp and Miller. The first stone house built in 1797 in Knapps Meadow just north of Lonaconing was owned by Samuel VanBuskirk. The house still stands as of 2005.
Lonaconing is the birthplace of Baseball Hall of Fame pitcher Lefty Grove.
[edit] Lonaconing Glassware Manufacturers
- 1914-1915: Dugan Glass
- 1914-1918: Lonaconing Glass
- 1919-1929: Utility Glass
- 1930-1934: Lonaconing Cut Glass
[edit] Early Mining Railroads
Iron and coal companies in Lonaconing built roads in the 1840s, in anticipation of connecting with the B&O railroad and the C&O Canal. Some of these mining companies owned and operated their own equipment. All of the lines were absorbed into the Cumberland and Pennsylvania Railroad by 1870.
[edit] The Lonaconing Furnace (1826-1855)
The Georges Creek Coal and Iron Company was formed in 1835, and chartered in the State of Maryland on March 29, 1836. Between 1837 and 1839, the company built an iron furnace at Lonaconing. The furnace, fueled by coke, went into blast in 1839. There was plenty of iron ore, limestone, water, and coal locally, but the major problem the company faced was transporting finished products to market. Production reached 75 tons per week, and local iron needs were quickly satisfied. Some products were shipped out by wagon, including such items as dowels for the C&O Canal walls. The adjacent casting house made farming implements, mine car wheels and track, and household utensils. The furnace output was mostly in the form of pig iron, which was sold to be recast, or worked.
One key ingredient of a blast furnace is the blast. The company bought the necessary machinery from the West Point Foundry in New York City. The machinery went by ship from New York to Georgetown, then by canal to Williamsport. Here, the parts were loaded on wagons for the final leg of the journey. The canal charged $3.50 per ton to transport the twenty tons of machinery parts. Only the boilers made it to Lonaconing before the canal froze in the winter of 1837. Ten additional wagon loads from Williamsport arrived at the site in November.
The blast machinery featured a 60-horsepower steam engine fed by five boilers. The steam cylinders were 18" in diameter, and 8 feet long. The system operated at 50 psi. The steam cylinder drove a blast cylinder 5 feet in diameter, and 8 feet long. This forced about 3500 cubic feet per minute of air at 2.5 psi through the system. A very large iron regulator smoothed the air flow from the reciprocating cylinder. The air flowed through a series of pipes in the boiler furnaces and was heated to 700 degrees F. The heated air then entered the blast furnace through two big water cooled nozzles calledtuyeres. When the water supply failed, the furnace had to be operated with a less efficient cold blast. The first run of good iron came from the furnace on May 17, 1839. By May 23, the furnace was producing six tons per day. Seven tons of coal were required to produce one ton of the cast metal.
With production going well, iron piled up in Lonaconing. In 1842, sales of pig iron to foundries in Cumberland were begun, with delivery by wagon. An adjacent sawmill and lumberyard, also owned by the company, recorded sales to the Mount Savage Iron Works, then involved in building their own furnaces. In the fall of 1842, pig iron was offered to the B&O railroad at a price of $29. per ton. Delivery was still a problem. After experimenting with a horse powered tram road, the company realized that a rail line, built down the Georges Creek Valley for 9.2 miles toward the Potomac River at Westernport, would be the answer to the transportation issue. The rail line was finished from Lonaconing to Piedmont in 1853, where it connected with the recently completed B&O Railroad. It was, unfortunately, too late to provide the needed market access for the Lonaconing Iron Furnace. The furnace in Lonaconing was abandoned in 1855, and the canal was never extended past Cumberland. Coal, not iron, became the most important commodity shipped out of the region.
A major figure in the Lonaconing Iron Furnace was Christian Edward Detmold, (1810-1887). A civil engineer, born in Hannover, Germany, Detmold had entered the U.S. at age 16, en route to Brazil to join the Army, but stayed here instead. He did surveys for a railroad in Charleston, SC, won a $500. prize for a horse treadmill car from the Charleston & Hamburg Railroad & Canal Co., and worked for the U.S. War Department on the construction of Fort Sumpter. From 1845 to 1852 Detmold was involved in iron production at Lonaconing. He was responsible for the construction of the tram road in 1847 from Lonaconing to Clarysville, Maryland. This line connected with the Eckhart Branch Railroad, constructed by the Maryland Mining Company. Detmold leased the furnace, overhauled the boilers, and rebuilt the engine house. The furnace went back into blast in May 1846, and Detmold had a flourishing business by 1847. He was producing 2500 tons of pig iron annually. The company, perhaps jealous of his success, declined to renew his lease. He moved on to direct construction of the Exhibit of Industry, at the Crystal Palace in New York which opened in July of 1853. C. E. Detmold is remembered by having both a town, and a C&P engine named after him.
After taking back the furnace facility from Detmold, Georges Creek C&I operated it sporadically. The furnace produced 1,860 tons of pig iron in its last active year, 1855. It was then shut down, and abandoned. The furnace facility was too technologically advanced for its time. However, it provided an impetus for the mining industry and for the construction of the railroad, and served as a model for a similar iron working facility built at Mount Savage.
The furnace complex was visited by the Superintendent of Construction for the B&O, a Mr. Casper Wever, Esq., in June of 1839. Shortly afterwards, the shareholders of the C&O Canal visited. With the furnace up and operating, the facility expansion plans included a forge and rolling mill. However, these were never built. The company began to concentrate on the railroad to meet with the canal or the railroad at Westernport. In 1850, surveys were complete. The B&O reached Piedmont, across the Potomac River from Westernport, in July of 1851. In September of that year, the railroad construction began up the Georges Creek. The railroad was opened on May 9, 1853. In June, a total of 1,061 tons of coal were shipped. In all of 1855, 225,000 tons of coal were shipped, sometimes in 102 car trains. Iron, ore or cast, did not figure into the shipments. In 1856, the line was extended from Lonaconing northward to connect with the C&P from Frostburg, Maryland. The Georges Creek Coal & Iron Company's 9.2 mile railroad was acquired by the C&P on October 23, 1863. The shops and engine house at Lonaconing were used until 1867. Interestingly, this section of line still sees use in 1994 for on-demand coal service. In 1991, the Georges Creek subdivision of CSX hauled 195,197 tons of coal over this line, as compared with 225,000 tons in 1855.
[edit] Health Care Services
[edit] Egle Nursing and Rehab Center
Egle Nursing Home, Inc. was founded in 1977 by Jerome and Vera Egle. It was previously owned by Virgina Kyle and was known as Kyle Nursing Home. Egle Nursing Home was originally a 24 bed bed intermediate care nursing home that had approximately 35 employees. In 1992 a major expansion and renovation was undertaken in which 42 beds were added and the entire facility was renovated. In 1997, the facility added skilled Medicare Services and a comprehensive rehabilitation program.
The facility was purchased in 2000 by G.C. Healthcare Management, Inc., a locally owned and operated healthcare company. The facility currently maintains 66 skilled nursing beds and has a staff of approximately 95 employees. State of the art nursing services are offered with physician services, professional nursing services, dietary management, activity programs, transportation, and full rehabilitation services. The facility is located at 57 Jackson Street, Lonaconing, MD 21539. The telephone number is 301-463-5451. The website can be found at[1]
[edit] Schools
[edit] Westmar High School
Westmar High School was founded in 1990 with the consolidations of Valley High School and Bruce High School. The school is home to approximately 400 students. The mascot is a wildcat and the school colors are red and silver. It is located on Rt. 36 in Lonaconing and the telephone number is 301-463-5751.
[edit] Georges Creek Elementary
Georges Creek Elementary was opened in 1975 with the closing of old Central School. It combined populations with Barton Elementary in 2001. The school has approximately 380 students. The school colors are orange and black and a tiger is the mascot. The school is located at 15600 Lower Georges Creek Road, Lonaconing, MD. The telephone number is 301-463-6202.
[edit] Nearby Places
1. Cumberland, Maryland
2. Midland, Maryland
3. Barton, Maryland
4. Westernport, Maryland
5. Frostburg, Maryland
6. Piedmont, West Virginia
7. Luke, Maryland
8. Keyser, West Virginia
9. Cresaptown-Bel Air, Maryland
Dan's Mountain State Park is located in Lonaconing.
[edit] Geography
Lonaconing is located at (39.564884, -78.979312)GR1.
According to the United States Census Bureau, the town has a total area of 1.1 km² (0.4 mi²), all land.
[edit] Demographics
As of the censusGR2 of 2000, there were 1,205 people, 482 households, and 290 families residing in the town. The population density was 1,107.7/km² (2,875.8/mi²). There were 559 housing units at an average density of 513.9/km² (1,334.1/mi²). The racial makeup of the town was 98.67% White, 0.66% African American, 0.08% Pacific Islander, 0.08% from other races, and 0.50% from two or more races. Hispanic or Latino of any race were 0.50% of the population. At 16.1 percent Scottish, Lonaconing is the most Scottish town in the United States.
There were 482 households out of which 28.0% had children under the age of 18 living with them, 46.9% were married couples living together, 10.0% had a female householder with no husband present, and 39.8% were non-families. 36.1% of all households were made up of individuals and 21.8% had someone living alone who was 65 years of age or older. The average household size was 2.37 and the average family size was 3.15.
In the town the population was spread out with 23.9% under the age of 18, 8.1% from 18 to 24, 25.9% from 25 to 44, 19.5% from 45 to 64, and 22.6% who were 65 years of age or older. The median age was 38 years. For every 100 females there were 83.7 males. For every 100 females age 18 and over, there were 75.0 males.
The median income for a household in the town was $27,434, and the median income for a family was $37,083. Males had a median income of $27,315 versus $19,423 for females. The per capita income for the town was $13,890. About 12.8% of families and 19.6% of the population were below the poverty line, including 30.3% of those under age 18 and 17.7% of those age 65 or over.
[edit] External links
- Maps and aerial photos
- Street map from Google Maps, or Yahoo! Maps, or Windows Live Local
- Satellite image from Google Maps, Windows Live Local, WikiMapia
- Topographic map from TopoZone
- Aerial image or topographic map from TerraServer-USA
- George's Creek Mine payroll, 1906 from Western Maryland Public Libraries
- Tri County Website with Information On Lonaconing
