Democracy and Justice, We the People
Kieran Adams
A Second American Revolution? The Great ...

In July of 1877, a strike on the Baltimore and Ohio railroad threw the United States into a crisis that shook its very foundations. The outburst became the first nationwide general strike in US history, travelling across major and minor railroad lines and spreading into countless other industries. The strike was borne out of the heightening contradictions of the Gilded Age, a period following the Civil War marked by the massive growth of wealth and a dominant system of industrial wage-labor. Workers who rose up were met with military force and violence erupted across fourteen states. In the Appalachian Forest, battlegrounds erupted in Cumberland, Keyser, Sir John’s Run and in the mountains and woods along the B&O line. The uprising crossed divisions of race, gender, and status as the downtrodden rose up against an absolute power. For some observers this massive upheaval appeared to be a second American Revolution.


A Second American Revolution? The Great Railroad Strike of 1877
We the People
Kieran Adams
Tales from North River Mills

North River Mills was once a vibrant community. The main road west from Winchester, the Great Wagon Road, passed through a gap known as Parker's Gap, probably the earliest name for North River Mills. During the French and Indian War there were deadly encounters and abductions around North River Mills. Dr. James Craik, Washington's personal physician, purchased many acres in North River Mills.  Gustavus Croston, Revolutionary War veteran, lived in the village. The name, North River Mills, came into use in the 19th century. In the mid 19th century North River Mills was bypassed by the new east-west road, Route 50. North River Mills was destined to decline while communities along Route 50 would grow. During the Civil War, the presence of hostile Union and Confederate troops forced many residents to make hard choices. In addition to agriculture, over the years North River Mills had much industry. Now there are only two residents, but the town hosts an annual festival or homecoming the day before Mothers Day. 

Tales from North River Mills
We the People, Power of Place
Kieran Adams
New Germany State Park: Raising Maryland’s Alps

When Western Maryland was a mysterious and distant territory to most Americans, for German immigrants, it felt just like home. Among the villages they settled in, one in present-day Garrett County came to be known nostalgically as New Germany. Today, this village is the location of New Germany State Park. Over a century after its settlement, New Germany hosted the first ski resort south of the Mason-Dixon Line and earned the region the moniker of “Maryland’s Alps.” In between the first German settlers and the ski resort, the land was transformed and made anew. To return to its alpine reputation, New Germany has witnessed the rise and fall of timbering, the growth of scientific forestry, and the snowballing success of outdoor recreation.

New Germany State Park: Raising Maryland’s Alps
Democracy and Justice
Kieran Adams
Education and Community at Paw Paw's Black ...

After nearly 100 years since its construction, the former Paw Paw Black School continues to convey its historic association with the Town of Paw Paw's education and social history. For more than 25 years the building served to educate Black students, and as a place of social gathering for the small number of Black families in Paw Paw who lived in the vicinity of the school. The building remains largely unchanged since that time. The important role the school played in Black education and the Black community led to the building being listed on the National Register of Historic Places in 2024. 

Education and Community at Paw Paw's Black School
We the People
Benjamin Duvall-Irwin
Elizabeth Dye Walker’s World of Transportation: ...

When Elizabeth Dye Walker lived in the Old Stone House of Mineral County in the beginning of the twentieth century, getting around employed a diversity of methods. It could mean a horseback ride, a horse-drawn buggy, or taking the Twin Mountain & Potomac Railroad. Where the railroad once ran, across the Northwestern Turnpike from the Stone House, now lies a trucking facility. Elizabeth Dye Walker’s childhood in the Stone House was colored by these various modes for motion, the resilient horse-drawn buggy and sled, a fruitless fruit-filled train, and a peculiar horseless carriage.

Elizabeth Dye Walker’s World of Transportation: Getting Around Before the Automobile

Mineral County

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A Second American Revolution? The Great Railroad Strike of 1877

,
A Second American Revolution? The Great Railroad Strike of 1877

In July of 1877, a strike on the Baltimore and Ohio railroad threw the United States into a crisis that shook its very foundations. The outburst became the first nationwide general strike in US history, travelling across major and minor railroad lines and spreading into countless other industries. The strike was borne out of the heightening contradictions of the Gilded Age, a period following the Civil War marked by the massive growth of wealth and a dominant system of industrial wage-labor. Workers who rose up were met with military force and violence erupted across fourteen states. In the Appalachian Forest, battlegrounds erupted in Cumberland, Keyser, Sir John’s Run and in the mountains and woods along the B&O line. The uprising crossed divisions of race, gender, and status as the downtrodden rose up against an absolute power. For some observers this massive upheaval appeared to be a second American Revolution.


Elizabeth Dye Walker’s World of Transportation: Getting Around Before the Automobile

Elizabeth Dye Walker’s World of Transportation: Getting Around Before the Automobile

When Elizabeth Dye Walker lived in the Old Stone House of Mineral County in the beginning of the twentieth century, getting around employed a diversity of methods. It could mean a horseback ride, a horse-drawn buggy, or taking the Twin Mountain & Potomac Railroad. Where the railroad once ran, across the Northwestern Turnpike from the Stone House, now lies a trucking facility. Elizabeth Dye Walker’s childhood in the Stone House was colored by these various modes for motion, the resilient horse-drawn buggy and sled, a fruitless fruit-filled train, and a peculiar horseless carriage.

Traveller’s Rest: Travel in the Stagecoach Age

Traveller’s Rest: Travel in the Stagecoach Age

If you’re driving down Route 50 through Mineral County, blink and you might miss a curious stone structure on the side of the road. If you were a stagecoach passenger peering out from your horse-drawn carriage this L-shaped building would be a cause for celebration. In the age of horse-drawn wagons and carriages, travel was no small feat and the people who relied on Traveller’s Rest viewed the process of getting around fundamentally different from today. For them, the landscape of the Appalachian Forest could be wild and unpredictable and the journey itself was always far from mundane.

 

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