Appalachian History

It was the city’s worst flood up to that time. The March 1924 deluge left most of Westernport MD, which sits in a valley at the confluence of the North Branch of the Potomac River and Wills Creek, under water.

Original caption: This was the scene March 29, 1924, just after the Westernport-Piedmont bridge washed out from high waters of the raging Potomac River. Heavy snows followed by a warm rain brought on the trouble.

A nor'easter had struck on March 10th and 11th, bringing between 10 to 15 inches of heavy snowfall to Maryland’s Allegany and Garrett Counties. High winds during those two nights blew down utility poles and crippled telephone, telegraph, and lighting systems.

Several weeks were required to restore wire service, and railroad and inter-urban electric schedules were interrupted until poles could be removed from tracks. The loss of poles and wires was estimated at nearly $1 million.

Original caption: This old auto didn’t quite have the horses to make it home and was trapped in the rising waters at 3rd and Lyons Street, Piedmon. The William Frederick residence is in the foreground with Trinity Methodist Church immediately behind.

Another nor'easter struck on the 21st, this time dumping 15 to 20 inches of snow locally. The month’s heavy snow left many roads blocked, and winds produced high drifts in some cases 15 to 20 feet high. There was 3 to 4 feet of snow covering the mountains. Then, on March 28, the temperature topped 70 degrees at Cumberland.

Heavy rains moved in overnight into the 29th, with over an inch and a half falling in 6 hours. By 8 am, the gauge on the Potomac in Cumberland had already risen almost 4 feet from the previous day. The Potomac rose at a rate of 1 foot per hour until 3 pm, then 1.5 feet per hour until 6 pm, when it peaked at a height of 19 feet and 2.5 inches. Westernport was 5 to 6 feet under water. A family of 5 were drowned at Kitzmiller.

The Luke mill halted operations for about three weeks due to damage from the high waters.

The entire Luke mill was flooded. A total of 289 motors and related pieces of equipment were underwater. No. 3 machine basement was filled with mud and sand up to the level of the windows. The mill’s water intake also received damage from the raging waters.

Mr. Allan Luke was Mill Manager at the time, with “Pop” Baker serving as Chief Engineer. Baker inspected the flood damage in the mill yard on horseback.

Ferry boats were kept busy after the flood taking passengers from one side of the river to the other. A month after the flood, the Western Maryland Railway Bridge had been repaired, but the highway bridge between Westernport and Piedmont was still out.

---'The Great Flood of 1924,' April May 1969 newsletter, Westvaco Fine Papers Division/Luke, MD

Westvaco (then called West Virginia Pulp and Paper Company) wasn’t the only key business in town decimated by the flood. The town’s other major employer, the American Cellulose and Chemical Manufacturing Company, also experienced production delays and financial problems because of it.

Damages resulting from the flood ran between $3 million and $4 million (around $36-48 million in 2009 dollars).

The 1924 flooding was the final nail in the coffin of the Chesapeake and Ohio Canal. The canal, which ran from Cumberland to Georgetown alongside the Potomac River, had been in operation since 1850. But the costly repairs that would have been required weren’t worth it for a business already deep in financial woes.

Original caption: Transportation takes many forms when necessary. This is the ferry boat that was put in operation after the bridge washed out.


sources: http://modern-us-history.suite101.com/article.cfm/western_maryland_floods_of_1924
http://www.erh.noaa.gov/lwx/Historic_Events/md-winter.html
April May 1969 newsletter, Westvaco Fine Papers Division/Luke, MD: http://usgwarchives.org/md/allegany/history/1924flood1.jpg



Westernport+MD Allegany+County+MD Potomac+River floods appalachia appalachian+history history+of+appalachia

"[After the end of the Spanish American War] Mt. Savage resumed its gay pleasures, which led to many courtships. There was nothing better to further this cause than a long bicycle ride.

"The Sunday afternoon ride up to Allegany, pushing up Moss Cottage Hill; stopping at Paul's Store to buy peppermints and licorice candy; resting in the shade of the big oak trees along the straight; sometimes watching the gypsies in their bright costumes camped there; sometimes having their fortunes told; speeding homeward before supper.

"The swift wind carrying a marriage proposal over his shoulder, but her keen ears caught it despite the noise.

"… But the nights belonged to youth. The day's events were only to warm up for the square dance at night. How we helped big sister pull the corset strings tighter and tighter. One would die if one's waist was over 18 inches. Mother helping to button up the blouse in the back and sister fluffing out the ruffled front and all the girl friends collecting at our house and admiring each others’ clothes.

"This evening of fun was only equaled by the Saturday night dance at Locust Grove. The fiddlers tuning up and the figure caller strutting around and announcing 'the first dance is free Ladies and Gentlemen.' How disgusted the young ladies and men were to see all those kids crowding on the floor taking advantage of the free dance.

"The daring young man who swings his girl completely off her feet and she didn't mind too much because she had on her new ruffled petticoat. The Saturday night fights over the best looking girl. The insects danced just as merrily around the torches stuck on polls and nailed to the locust trees. And the music! Has there ever been anything written to better dance to than Oh Dem Golden Slippers or Climbing Up De Golden Stairs?

From a speech written and presented to the Homemakers Club by Mary (Miller) Bowen, wife of William Anthony Bowen of Mt. Savage, Allegany County, Maryland. April 29, 1953

source: http://files.usgwarchives.org/md/allegany/history/local/mtsavage.txt

In 1994, square danc
ing was designated the Maryland State Folk Dance. This dance integrates the Morris and Maypole dances of
 England, ballroom dances of France, Church
 dances of Spain, and folk dances of Australia, Ire
land, Italy, Germany, Mexico, Poland, Russia. Square dancing has been a popular 
Maryland folk tradition since 1651.

Source: http://snipurl.com/2y0a7 [www_msa_md_gov]


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