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Opening March 18, 2011
Mondays: Closed
Tuesday - Saturday: 10am - 4pm
Sunday: 1pm - 4 pm |
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| The museum currently has a collection of over 50,000 items. It is expected that an expanded museum will bring a substantial increase in donations of artifacts. Among the more important in the current collection are: |
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KING JAMES BIBLE
The Noblest Monument of English Prose. A commemorative event celebrating the English language's most influential document. Featuring a display of history's most fascinating texts that helped shape the English language and thought: Tyndalee, Geneva and King James Bibles.
Limited Time: May 10th through June 9th, 2011 |
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KELLY SPRINGFIELD TIRE CORPORATION
The Kelly-Springfield Tire Company was a major industry in Cumberland from 1920 to 1987. Employing between 2000 and 3000 people, the company was a major presence in the community throughout its history. It was a major producer of tires for the national and international markets. The Cumberland plant was the only production facility for the company until the 1960s, when other plants were built in the south. The Cumberland plant closed in 1987, but the company headquarters remained in Allegany County until 1999.The Kelly Museum is a major collection of artifacts illustrating the history of the company.
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BREWERY
A substantial brewing industry flourished in Cumberland between 1890 and 1974. There were two major companies: the Cumberland Brewing Company and the Queen City Brewing Company. Producing for regional markets, the companies flourished until the late 1960’s when competition from national brands finally brought them down.
After World War II, both companies produced beers on a contract basis for other companies and the number of brands increased even more.The display features bottles, cans and advertising items from both companies in all eras. It also includes an exhibit with a local whiskey still and describes George Washington’s role in the Whiskey Rebellion. |
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GLASSWARE
A substantial glassware industry flourished in Allegany County between 1880 and 1930. It peaked in the early 1920s, when it employed over 1000 workers and was one of the largest industries in the county. The Great Depression of the 1930s brought it to an end, with the exception of one small company that survived until 1961.When the glass industry was at its peak there were major factories at four different sites in Allegany County. Companies came and went, factories burned and were rebuilt, but plants continued to operate at the same sites.The display features examples of the glassware produced by the different companies and provides an overview of the industry in the county.
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YODER
Claude Yoder spent most of his adult life as a factory worker in the Cumberland area. In most respects he lived a normal life, but he had a passionfor carving. Throughout his life, he carved. His favorite subjects were birds, animals, and people and his favorite material was wood. He seldom sold pieces, but carved for the joy of creating. His work has a freshness and originality that makes it unique. Later in life his work received local and national recognition.His family donated most of his life’s work to the museum. The display features samples of his work. |
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TRANSPORTATION
The room includes models related to aspects of the area’s transportation history.
One model depicts Shantytown which was the waterfront district along the basin of the C&O Canal during the period when the canal flourished, between 1850 and 1924. |
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| It was a poor neighborhood filled with inexpensive wooden structures, and was a retail and entertainment center for canal workers. It had a reputation as a “rough” neighborhood with numerous saloons, gambling, prostitution and a high crime rate.
Another model is of the Queen City Hotelwhich was built in 1872 and was the flagship of a group of hotels built by the B&O Railroad after the Civil War. It featured 174 rooms, a 400 seat dining room that doubled as a ballroom, a restaurant, a billiards room, tennis courts and formal gardens. The building also served as the railroad station. An interesting feature was elaborate ironwork that supported the porch on the front and sides of the building. It was demolished in 1972. |
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TRAIN MODELS
Cumberland was, and still is, a railroad center. The primary railroad between 1852 and the period after World War II, was the Baltimore and Ohio. The other major line was the Western Maryland. Two short coal railroads connected Cumberland with the George’s Creek Valley, and there were connections with the Pennsylvania Railroad. An electric streetcar connected Cumberland with the towns of the Georges Creek Valley in the early 20th century. By the 1940s, the peak of the rail era, passengers and freight could connect with any point in the nation. Cumberland was the site of major repair yards for the B&O, and repair yards for the short roads. Railroading was a major employer. |
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CANAL BOAT MODELS
Over the years, local craftsmen have made models of things that were, or used to be, around them. Canal boats were a popular item, and the museum has assembled a small collection. A few of the boats in the museum collection are on display. |
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SLEEPING BEAUTY
Gary Baer, a Myersdale, PA toy store owner, has been buying old window displays for many years, rescuing them from the landfill, refurbishing them, and offering them for display. He currently has a collection of about 40 different window displays illustrating about 30 different stories.
Sleeping Beauty, only part of which is presented at the Museum, is part of his collection. It was originally displayed in the windows of Saks Fifth Avenue in New York City.
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CUMBERLAND FIRE PROTECTION
Major fires were always a disaster waiting to happen in America’s early cities, and Cumberland was no exception. Volunteer fire companies were the means adopted to fight fires. By the time of the Civil War, Cumberland had four; by 1900, there were six.
Cumberland installed its first municipal water system, including fire plugs and water mains, in 1872. Water was pumped from the Potomac River. A new system was installed in 1910 by damming Evitt’s Creek, in the nearby mountains of Pennsylvania, and piping water to the city. The system remains to this day. |
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In 1906, the volunteer system was replaced by a professional, paid fire department. Several pieces of the latest horse-drawn equipment were purchased. Motorized equipment was quickly adopted, and has been continuously updated and replaced over the years.
The display features firefighting equipment, photographs, and a narrative of the story of fire fighting in Cumberland. |
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LOUNGE EXHIBIT
The map exhibit depicts the evolution of Allegany County since Maryland’s founding in 1634. The maps show how the counties were split over the centuries as Maryland’s population grew. Although Allegany County was sparsely settled until it was created in 1789, the Allegany County area was once part of St. Mary’s County,Prince George’s County, Frederick County, andWashington County.Photographsof Allegany County’s representatives to the Maryland State House and Senate, the Allegany County Commissioners, and Casper R. Taylor flank the map exhibit. |
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FIRST RESIDENTS
The first people began to enter Allegany County over 12,000 years ago, near the end of the last Ice Age. These first residents were semi-nomadic hunters and gatherers in a land very different from that of today. Nearby glaciers created a climate much like that of today’s northern Alaska. In time, the glaciers retreated, the climate warmed, and the landscape changed. So did the way people lived. By the mid-1600s, when the first European influences were felt, the native people were living in large villages and had developed a society based on farming and hunting.
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The First Residents display tells the story of life in Allegany County as lived by Native Americans in the three major pre-historic periods; Paleolithic, Archaic, and Woodland. The county is rich in evidence of these early occupants. For most of their early history, people lived by hunting and gathering. The tools and implements of daily life that have survived are those made of stone. All the stone tools and weapons in the display were found in Allegany County or nearby.
The exhibit also features the Barton Village Site located 8 miles south of Cumberland along the Potomac River. The 30 acre archeological preserve has been the home of multiple occupations of Native Americans for more than 12,000 years, from the early Paleo-Indians to the historic Shawnee. Since 1993, the site has been professionally explored under the direction of Dr. Robert Wall, a professional archeologist, with the help of archeological students from Towson State University and The Western Maryland Chapter of the Archeological Society of Maryland. |
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PHOTO DISPLAYS
The photo display is an illustrated history of Cumberland, prepared for the 1987 celebration of the 200th anniversary of Cumberland’s birth. Using illustrations taken primarily from Cumberland’s Herman and Stacia Miller Collection, the exhibit presents an overview of the community’s history. |
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GRAND COURTROOM
The Courtroom was originally used as a courtroom for federal cases.
The room can be rented for special occasions. There is a caterer’s kitchen for food preparation.
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