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Cumberland, Maryland

Cumberland, Maryland
City
City of Cumberland
Downtown Cumberland in July 2001
Downtown Cumberland in July 2001
Official seal of Cumberland, Maryland
Seal
Nickname(s): "Queen City", "C-Land"
Motto: "Come for a Visit, Stay for Life!"
Location in Allegany County and in Maryland
Location in Allegany County and in Maryland
Cumberland is located in Maryland
Cumberland
Cumberland
Cumberland is located in the US
Cumberland
Cumberland
Location within the state of Maryland
Coordinates: 39°38′52″N 78°45′46″W / 39.64778°N 78.76278°W / 39.64778; -78.76278Coordinates: 39°38′52″N 78°45′46″W / 39.64778°N 78.76278°W / 39.64778; -78.76278
Country United States of America
State Maryland
County Allegany
Founded 1787
Incorporated 1815
Government
 • Type Council-CEO
 • Mayor Brian Grim
 • City administrator Jeff Rhodes as of December 20, 2011
Area
 • City 10.15 sq mi (26.29 km2)
 • Land 10.08 sq mi (26.11 km2)
 • Water 0.07 sq mi (0.18 km2)
Elevation 627 ft (191 m)
Population (2010)
 • City 20,859
 • Estimate (2015) 20,130
 • Density 2,069.3/sq mi (799.0/km2)
 • Metro 103,299
 • Demonym Cumberlander
Time zone Eastern (EST) (UTC-5)
 • Summer (DST) EDT (UTC-4)
ZIP codes 21501-21505
Area code(s) 301, 240
FIPS code 24-21325
GNIS feature ID 0590057
Website www.ci.cumberland.md.us

Cumberland, officially the City of Cumberland, is a western gateway city and seat of Allegany County, Maryland, and the primary city of the Cumberland, MD-WV Metropolitan Statistical Area. At the 2010 census, the city had a population of 20,859, and the metropolitan area had a population of 103,299. Cumberland is a regional business and commercial center for Western Maryland and the Potomac Highlands of West Virginia.

Historically Cumberland was known as the "Queen City," as it was once the second largest in the state. Because of its strategic location on what became known as the Cumberland Road through the Appalachians, after the American Revolution it served as a historical outfitting and staging point for westward emigrant trail migrations throughout the first half of the 1800s. In this role, it supported the settlement of the Ohio Country and the lands in that latitude of the Louisiana Purchase. It also became an industrial center, served by major roads, a canal connecting to Washington, DC, and railroads.

Industry declined after World War II. Much of the later urban, business and technological development in the state has been concentrated in eastern coastal cities. Today the Cumberland, MD-WV Metropolitan Statistical Area is one of the poorest in the United States, ranking 305th out of 318 metropolitan areas in per capita income.

Cumberland was named by English colonists after the son of King George II, Prince William, the Duke of Cumberland. It is built on the site of the mid-18th century Fort Cumberland, the starting point for British General Edward Braddock's ill-fated attack on the French stronghold of Fort Duquesne (present-day Pittsburgh) during the French and Indian War, the North American front of the Seven Years' War between the French and the British. (See Braddock expedition.) This area had long been settled for thousands of years by indigenous peoples. The fort was developed along the Great Indian Warpath which tribes used to travel the backcountry.


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