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The Dumbhundred is one of Cumberland’s most distinctive historic neighborhoods—a densely built hillside community shaped by the city’s growth as a transportation and industrial center. Located in Cumberland’s North End, the neighborhood developed between the railroad corridor and the surrounding slopes. Its houses, streets, retaining walls, steps, and mountain views preserve an unusually complete record of how generations of Cumberland residents lived during the city’s industrial era.
"Dumbhundred” is an old traditional neighborhood name. It also appears in historic records alongside the names Stony Battery and North End. Although several explanations have circulated locally, the official Maryland Historical Trust documentation does not establish a definitive origin for the name. It is therefore best understood as a long-standing local place-name passed down through generations.
Growth of a Hillside Neighborhood
Cumberland’s rapid nineteenth-century growth was closely connected to the National Road, the Baltimore and Ohio Railroad, the Chesapeake and Ohio Canal, and the coal and manufacturing industries of Western Maryland. The B&O Railroad reached Cumberland in 1842, and the C&O Canal was completed to Cumberland in 1850. These transportation systems helped transform the community into an important commercial and industrial center. C&O Canal Trust history
As employment expanded, residential neighborhoods grew near industrial plants, rail facilities, shops, and transportation corridors. Dumbhundred developed within walking distance of many workplaces. Its steep terrain produced closely spaced houses, curving streets, exposed stone foundations, retaining walls, hillside steps, and dramatic views of the surrounding mountains.
The 1976 architectural survey described Dumbhundred as having some of the qualities of a European hill town, with dense housing arranged along steep slopes. It identified buildings dating from the early nineteenth century through approximately 1930 and noted the neighborhood’s mixture of brick and frame construction, architectural periods, and building types. Maryland Historical Trust Dumbhundred survey file
Workers, Craftspeople, and Immigrant Families
The Maryland Historical Trust survey identifies Dumbhundred as the home of many German glassworkers, brewers, craftspeople, and other residents associated with Cumberland’s nineteenth- and early twentieth-century economy. The neighborhood contains modest worker housing, middle-class residences, neighborhood commercial buildings, and several architect-designed houses.
One particularly interesting remnant of this history was recorded at 311 Valley Street. The 1976 survey identified it as the only known surviving nineteenth-century “common beer” brewery in Cumberland and reported that brewery tunnels and storage vaults remained beneath the building. The survey described the structure as an important architectural reminder of Cumberland’s German brewing tradition.
Pear Street also preserves evidence of the neighborhood’s working-class history. The attached brick houses at 211–217 Pear Street developed in stages during the nineteenth century. The end houses appeared on an 1858 city map, with the interior houses added by 1875. The survey called them a significant example of early worker housing in Cumberland’s then-sparsely populated North End.
Neighborhood life was also supported by small grocery stores and other businesses incorporated into residential buildings. Front porches, brick sidewalks, narrow alleys, gardens, iron fences, stone walls, and neighborhood stores gave the district a strong pedestrian character and created streetscapes that were both practical and visually distinctive.
Architecture of Everyday Cumberland
Dumbhundred’s importance comes not from one architectural style, but from the remarkable variety found within a relatively compact area. Its buildings include examples and interpretations of Federal, Greek Revival, Italianate, Queen Anne, American Foursquare, and early twentieth-century vernacular architecture.
Many houses were constructed by local builders using familiar plans adapted to narrow lots and steep terrain. Brick was commonly laid in local variations of common bond, while frame houses frequently incorporated decorative porches, brackets, patterned shingles, bay windows, and ornamental trim. Brick sidewalks, stone retaining walls, historic garages, and occasional surviving brick streets contribute to the neighborhood’s character.
Columbia Street was described in the 1976 survey as perhaps the finest street in the district. Its curving alignment, mature trees, brick sidewalks, stone walls, iron fences, and closely arranged houses create one of Cumberland’s most memorable residential streetscapes.
Wright Butler and Cumberland’s Architectural Heritage
The neighborhood has an especially important connection to architect Wright Butler, one of Cumberland’s leading architects of the late nineteenth and early twentieth centuries. Butler was born at 123 Columbia Street and later designed and occupied his own Queen Anne-style residence at 205 Columbia Street.
Completed in 1901, the Wright Butler House was carefully adapted to a narrow city lot. Its brick construction, shingles, projecting oriel, varied roof forms, dormers, decorative porch, and exterior chimney demonstrate Butler’s skill in combining materials and architectural details. Butler also designed other houses in and around the neighborhood, as well as prominent Cumberland landmarks elsewhere in the city. His former home is individually listed in the National Register of Historic Places. National Park Service record for the Wright Butler House
Local architect George Flack Sansbury and builders including George Bowman also contributed to Dumbhundred’s built environment. Their work demonstrates that the neighborhood contains not only anonymous vernacular construction but also buildings associated with some of Cumberland’s notable designers and builders.
Recognition and Preservation
Dumbhundred was documented as part of Cumberland’s 1976 Architectural and Historical Survey, prepared by Land and Community Associates. The Maryland Historical Trust determined the district eligible for listing in the National Register of Historic Places in 1981. Following updated documentation and a reassessment of its buildings and boundaries, the Trust again determined the district eligible in 2004.
The 2004 review found that the district continued to possess a high degree of historic integrity, with relatively few modern intrusions. The documentation also revised and clarified the district boundary and identified hundreds of contributing properties.
Cumberland’s Historic Preservation Plan, adopted by the Mayor and City Council on January 2, 2024, again recognized Dumbhundred as an important historic district. The plan notes its collection of worker housing and architect-designed residences, its relationship to Cumberland’s late nineteenth-century industrial economy, and its strong ties to the city’s German immigrants. Cumberland Historic Preservation Plan
Dumbhundred is historically important because it tells the story of everyday Cumberland. Its houses and streets represent workers, craftspeople, business owners, immigrant families, architects, builders, and generations of residents who helped sustain the city. Preserving and studying the neighborhood keeps that history visible and provides a foundation for thoughtful rehabilitation, community improvement, and future historic recognition.
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Columbia Street streetscape looking east, showing the neighborhood’s hillside setting, stone retaining walls, porches, mature trees, and brick sidewalk. Photograph by J. T. Keller, spring 1976. Source: Maryland Historical Trust, Dumbhundred Historic District Architectural Survey File, MIHP No. AL-IV-A-143.
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Historic herringbone-pattern brick sidewalk on Independence Street. Photograph by J. T. Keller, spring 1976. Source: Maryland Historical Trust, Dumbhundred Historic District Architectural Survey File, MIHP No. AL-IV-A-143.
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The Wright Butler House at 205 Columbia Street, south elevation. Photograph by J. T. Keller, spring 1976. Source: Maryland Historical Trust, Dumbhundred Historic District Architectural Survey File, MIHP No. AL-IV-A-143.
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The mid-nineteenth-century brick residence at 222 Columbia Street, northeast elevation. Photograph by J. T. Keller, spring 1976. Source: Maryland Historical Trust, Dumbhundred Historic District Architectural Survey File, MIHP No. AL-IV-A-143.
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Attached worker houses at 211–217 Pear Street, northwest elevation. Photograph by J. T. Keller, spring 1976. Source: Maryland Historical Trust, Dumbhundred Historic District Architectural Survey File, MIHP No. AL-IV-A-143.
History of the Dumbhundred
Columbia Street School:
From Neighborhood Classroom to a New Life
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Columbia Street School, 311 Columbia Street, March 25, 2004. Photograph by Tim Tamburrino. Courtesy of the Maryland Historical Trust, Dumbhundred Historic District (Stony Battery–North End/Keller Survey), MIHP No. AL-IV-A-143, p. 51.
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The former Columbia Street School as it appears today. Although the building now contains apartments, the original “Columbia School” name remains prominently displayed above its entrance.
Photograph by Dan Mullin, August 2026
At 311 Columbia Street in Cumberland stands a building that still announces its original purpose. High above the entrance, set into the red-brick façade, are the words “Columbia School.” Although children no longer arrive there for classes each morning, the former Columbia Street School remains one of the neighborhood’s most recognizable historic landmarks.
The building’s tall classroom windows, decorative cream-colored brickwork, central bay window and castle-like roofline speak of an era when public schools were designed as permanent civic buildings. For more than seven decades, generations of neighborhood children walked through its doors. Today, the same building serves as an apartment residence—an example of how an important community landmark can be adapted to a new use without losing its historic identity.
A neighborhood school opens The Western Maryland Historical Library dates the construction of Columbia Street School to 1912. Some later property records list 1914, but the historical library’s account—based on local newspaper and postcard materials—identifies 1912 as the school’s construction year. The new school was built during a period of substantial growth in Cumberland. The surrounding Dumbhundred neighborhood was closely associated with the city’s late-19th- and early-20th-century industrial economy. It contained worker housing as well as larger, architect-designed homes, and the neighborhood had especially strong connections to Cumberland’s German immigrant and German-American population. Additional background appears in the City’s Cumberland Historic Preservation Plan. Columbia Street School was therefore not created for one narrowly defined ethnic group. It was established as a public neighborhood school serving children who lived in the surrounding part of Cumberland. In its earliest years, however, Cumberland’s public schools were segregated by race. Columbia was originally attended by white children, including children from the working- and middle-class families living in and around the Dumbhundred neighborhood. What grades attended Columbia? Columbia operated primarily as an elementary or grade school. Available records establish that fifth- and sixth-grade classes were taught there during the 1950s, and former pupils have recalled attending Columbia for those grades. The complete grade arrangement may have changed at different times as Cumberland reorganized its schools and adjusted attendance boundaries. The surviving evidence supports describing Columbia as a neighborhood elementary school, but a definitive year-by-year account of every grade housed there has not yet been located. Historic photographs show large groups of children posed outside the school. Those images help us remember that the building was more than brick, windows and classrooms—it was a daily gathering place for neighborhood children, teachers and families. Columbia School and integration Columbia Street School also played a part in an important chapter of Allegany County history: the integration of its public schools. In May 1954, the United States Supreme Court ruled in Brown v. Board of Education that state-sponsored racial segregation in public education was unconstitutional. Allegany County began integrating its schools the following year. A front-page report in the Cumberland Evening Times, preserved by the Western Maryland Historical Library, described the first morning of integration on September 6, 1955: “History-making integration in the Allegany County public schools went off smoothly this morning.” The newspaper reported that approximately 150 Black students entered previously all-white Allegany County schools that day. It also noted that crowded conditions initially limited the placement of Black students in certain grades at several Cumberland schools, including the fifth and sixth grades at Columbia Street School. The change was gradual rather than instantaneous, but the 1955 school year marked a decisive turning point. Columbia Street School, originally part of Cumberland’s segregated system, became part of the county’s transition toward integrated public education. The complete contemporary report and its historical notes can be read through the Western Maryland Historical Library. School life and activities Like other neighborhood elementary schools of its period, Columbia would have offered classroom instruction, assemblies, recess, school programs and activities organized through its parent-teacher association. A 1965 newspaper notice, for example, announced a Columbia Street School PTA meeting that would include classroom visitation. Former pupils also remember school meals, playground activities and the experience of attending fifth and sixth grades in the building. No reliable record has yet been found showing that Columbia maintained formal interscholastic athletic teams, an official team name or a school mascot. Because it was principally an elementary school, organized varsity-style athletics would have been less likely than playground games, physical-education activities and informal competitions. Unless a yearbook, school program or former pupil provides additional evidence, it would be best not to assign Columbia a sports identity that cannot be documented. The closing of the school After serving the neighborhood for more than 70 years, Columbia Street School closed in 1985. The closing reflected broader changes taking place across Cumberland and Allegany County. Population shifts, declining enrollment, school consolidation and the changing requirements of modern education caused a number of older neighborhood schools to be retired. For many communities, the closing of an old school is followed by years of vacancy or demolition. Columbia Street School was fortunate to find a new purpose. According to the Western Maryland Historical Library, the building was purchased in 1987, renovated and reopened as the Columbia School Apartments. Its conversion took place only two years after the school closed, helping to preserve the structure before prolonged vacancy could cause extensive deterioration. A later property description identifies approximately 12 residential units in the building. The former principal’s office, original water fountains, school photographs displayed in the hallways and other remnants of its educational past were reportedly still visible inside. Although the building has changed owners and has also been advertised under the name Miller Apartments, its historic identity remains unmistakable. A building that still tells its story The former Columbia Street School is an excellent example of adaptive reuse—the preservation of an older building by giving it a practical new function. Its classrooms became apartments, but much of the building’s outward appearance survived. Its symmetrical brick façade, tall windows, prominent entrance and original school name continue to tell passersby what the building once meant to the neighborhood. The names of former pupils may not be carved into its walls, but their presence remains part of the building’s story. For more than seven decades, children learned lessons, made friends, attended assemblies and carried report cards home from this corner of Columbia Street. Columbia School’s history reflects several larger chapters in Cumberland’s development: the growth of its industrial neighborhoods, the expansion of public education, the long struggle to end segregated schooling, changing enrollment patterns and the preservation of historic buildings through imaginative reuse. The school has closed, but the building—and its story—remain. Historic photographs and credits Historic photograph of the Columbia Street School building The City of Cumberland maintains a historic exterior photograph of Columbia Street School in its online school photograph collection. Suggested caption: Columbia Street School, Cumberland, Maryland. Constructed in 1912, the neighborhood elementary school served generations of Cumberland children before closing in 1985. It was renovated and reopened as apartments following its purchase in 1987. Credit line: Courtesy of the City of Cumberland Historic Photograph Collection. View the historic Columbia Street School photograph City photograph order number: 1578 Historic photograph of Columbia Street School students The City’s collection also contains a group photograph identified as “Columbia Street School Students.” Suggested caption: Students of Columbia Street School. The school served children from the surrounding Cumberland neighborhood for more than seven decades. Credit line: Courtesy of the City of Cumberland Historic Photograph Collection. Open the City’s Historic School Photograph Gallery City photograph order number: 1428 Historic postcard of Columbia Street School The Western Maryland Historical Library displays a vintage postcard of Columbia Street School with its historical account of Allegany County school integration. Suggested caption: Vintage postcard view of Columbia Street School. The school was constructed in 1912 and later participated in Allegany County’s transition from segregated to integrated public education. Credit line: Postcard from the collection of Albert and Angela Feldstein; image presented by the Western Maryland Historical Library. View the postcard and historical article Permission should be requested from the Western Maryland Historical Library or the identified collection holders before republishing the postcard. WHILBR may be contacted at 301-739-3250 or whilbr@wmrl.info. Ordering a historic photograph The City of Cumberland’s gallery specifically provides order numbers for its photographs: •Columbia Street School building — Order No. 1578 •Columbia Street School students — Order No. 1428 To ask about ordering a print or obtaining a reproduction suitable for publication, contact the City of Cumberland at 301-722-2000 and provide the photograph’s title and order number. The City’s Historic Preservation staff may also be contacted at 301-759-6431. The City’s full collection can be browsed through its Historic School Photograph Gallery. The City’s image viewer states that its photographs are copyright-protected. HDAC should therefore obtain permission before downloading and republishing a City image on Facebook or the HDAC website. Ordering a print and receiving permission to reproduce an image are not necessarily the same thing, so it would be wise to request both at the same time. Sources and further reading •Western Maryland Historical Library — “Public School Integration Makes Start” •City of Cumberland Historic School Photograph Gallery •City of Cumberland — Historic Photos and the Herman and Stacia Miller Collection •Cumberland Historic Preservation Plan, adopted January 2, 2024 •Allegany County Library System — Genealogy and Local-History Resources •Allegany County Historical Society •William H. Lowdermilk, History of Cumberland, Maryland — read online •James W. Thomas and T.J.C. Williams, History of Allegany County, Maryland •Albert L. Feldstein, Feldstein’s Historic Postcard Album of Allegany County •Albert L. Feldstein, Allegany County, Images of America series.
The Beck Brewery: When Beer Was Brewed in Dumbhundred
Today, Cumberland’s Dumbhundred neighborhood is known for its steep hills, herringbone brick streets, historic houses, and the familiar tower of the Town Clock Church. Yet hidden within the neighborhood’s past is another intriguing story: for more than half a century, beer was brewed here.
Beginning in 1858, members of the Beck family operated a small brewery in the Valley Street area, near Knox, Columbia, and Chestnut streets. Unlike Cumberland’s later industrial breweries, this was a modest neighborhood enterprise—one closely connected to the city’s German-American community.
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Approximatly 309 Valley Street
Valley Street at Chestnut Street
A Family Brewery Begins
Historical brewery records identify Frederick Beck as the founder of the business in 1858. The brewery was initially associated with what was then described as 309 Valley Street near Chestnut Street.
After Frederick’s death, his widow, Mary Sophia Beck, continued the business. Historical directories identify her as the proprietor of the “Sophia Beck Common Beer Brewery” from approximately 1861 until 1885.
That makes Sophia Beck an especially noteworthy figure in Dumbhundred history. At a time when relatively few women were publicly identified as business proprietors, she operated or owned a Cumberland brewery for more than two decades.
An 1873 Cumberland city directory lists “Sophia Beck, Brewer” at 2 Knox Street near Columbia Street. Other brewery records place the Beck operation at 309 Valley Street near Chestnut Street. Because street names, property boundaries, and house numbers changed over time, these descriptions may refer to different portions of the same property or to nearby locations used by the business.
The available records provide this general succession of proprietors:
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Frederick Beck, 1858–1861
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Mary Sophia Beck, 1861–1885
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John F. Beck, 1885–1886
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Julian Sibley, 1886–1888
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George F. Beck, briefly in 1888
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John D. Beck, approximately 1888–1911
Later records associate John D. Beck’s brewery with 57–61 Valley Street. It has not yet been determined whether the brewery moved, expanded, or was affected by a renumbering of Valley Street.
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Knox Street at Columbia Street
What Kind of Beer Did the Becks Make?
The business was described as a “common beer brewery.”
Common beer was a traditional, locally produced beer intended to be sold and consumed relatively quickly. Unlike lager, it ordinarily did not require an extended period of cold storage. That made it particularly suitable for a small neighborhood brewery serving nearby homes, taverns, hotels, and restaurants.
No dependable evidence has yet been located showing that the Beck brewery used formal brand names. Its product may simply have been known locally as Beck’s beer, common beer, or beer from the Beck brewery.
The Beck brewery should not be confused with Cumberland’s much larger Cumberland Brewing Company or Queen City Brewing Company. Familiar names such as Old German, Old Export, and Gamecock Ale belonged to those later industrial breweries—not to the Beck family’s neighborhood operation.
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This horse-drawn beer wagon on a Milwaukee street, photographed around 1900, is typical of the brewery delivery wagons used during the late 1800s and early 1900s. It is shown for historical illustration and is not associated with a Cumberland brewery.
Photo credit: J. Robert Taylor, Wisconsin Historical Society; via Wikimedia Commons. Public domain.
The Beck Family and the Town Clock Church
The Beck brewery was part of a much larger German-American presence in nineteenth-century Cumberland. German immigrants brought their customs, trades, churches, social organizations, foods, and brewing traditions to the city. Mary Sophia Beck was closely associated with St. Luke’s German Evangelical Lutheran congregation and its Bedford Street sanctuary—the historic building now known as the Town Clock Church. Her 1895 obituary described her as a leader in the church’s charitable activities and a charter member of its Altar Society. An open prayer book reportedly rested beside her when she died at her Valley Street home. The German-speaking congregation began constructing the Town Clock Church in 1848. Local tradition holds that Cumberland offered a town clock to whichever of two congregations—the German Lutherans or the German Catholics—completed its church tower first. According to the familiar story, Lutheran women held lanterns and torches at night so that the men could continue working. The Lutherans completed their tower first, and the city’s clock was installed in it. The St. Luke’s congregation remained at the Town Clock Church until relocating in 1927. The historic structure still stands on Bedford Street and is listed in the National Register of Historic Places. It is fitting that the church associated with the Beck family and other early German residents also became the architectural inspiration for the HDAC logo. It continues to represent both the neighborhood’s history and its modern preservation efforts.
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Town Clock Church in 1917 overlooking
the Dumbhundred Neighborhood
Town Clock Church in 2026 overlooking
the Dumbhundred Neighborhood
Henry Ward Beecher (1813-1887), the famous abolitionist, clergyman, reformer, orator, and brother of Harriet Beecher Stowe who wrote, Uncle Tom's Cabin, preached at this church in 1866.
The German-speaking Evangelical Lutheran Congregation began construction on the "Town Clock" Church located on Bedford at High Street in 1848. It was dedicated in March 1850. Tradition states that the name "Town Clock" stems from an offer by the city to supply a town clock to the church tower completed first by either the German Lutherans or the German Catholics at St. Peter and Paul's. The Lutheran women held torches and lanterns for their men to work by night in order to complete the steeple and win the competition. The clock, which cost the city of Cumberland fifty dollars, was placed in the tower in June 1857. In 1927, the original congregation, the St. Luke Congregation, relocated, and in 1931 the edifice became the First Christian Church.
Postcard and text from the collection of Albert and Angela Feldstein
2026 photo by Dan Mullin
What Happended to the Brewery?
Historical brewery records place the closing of the John D. Beck brewery at approximately 1911.
Its disappearance coincided with a major transformation in American brewing. Larger companies could produce lager in greater quantities, operate mechanical refrigeration systems, bottle their products, advertise recognizable brands, and distribute beer over increasingly large territories.
Small neighborhood breweries found it difficult to compete with these expanding companies. The ultimate fate of the original Beck brewery building has not been firmly established. The Valley Street property later became associated with the Valley Tavern and, in more recent community memory, Pete’s. Further examination of deeds, property-tax records, Sanborn fire-insurance maps, city directories, and historic photographs may determine whether any part of the old brewery survives within or beneath a later building.
A Hidden Piece Of Dumbhundred History
The Beck brewery was modest in comparison with Cumberland’s better-known twentieth-century breweries, but that is precisely what makes its story so interesting. It was a neighborhood business operated by one family for several generations. Its history encompasses local enterprise, traditional brewing, the work of a pioneering woman proprietor, Cumberland’s German-American community, and the Town Clock Church that still watches over the neighborhood. For more than 50 years, beer was not merely delivered to Dumbhundred. It was made here. Sources and Further Reading •John D. Beck of Cumberland, Maryland — Tavern Trove Provides a chronology of the Beck family brewery, its proprietors, and its recorded Valley Street addresses. •Cumberland Through the Eyes of Herman and Stacia Miller: Industry in Cumberland — Western Maryland’s Historical Library Includes information taken from the 1873 Cumberland city directory, which lists “Sophia Beck, Brewer” at 2 Knox Street near Columbia Street. •John D. Beck Brewery — Old Breweries Lists the brewery’s generally accepted years of operation. •Discover Historic Cumberland This Preservation Month — Preservation Maryland An overview of Cumberland’s nineteenth- and twentieth-century brewing history. •Town Clock Church — Western Maryland’s Historical Library Provides the history of the German-speaking Lutheran congregation and the Town Clock Church. •History of St. Luke’s Lutheran Church Traces the congregation from the Town Clock Church to its later Cumberland locations. •Town Clock Church National Register Documentation — Maryland Historical Trust Official historical and architectural documentation for the Town Clock Church. •Bayview Brewery With Horse-Drawn Wagon, circa 1900 — Wikimedia Commons Public-domain period illustration showing brewery workers, a horse-drawn wagon, and beer kegs. •An 1888 Horse-Drawn Brewery Wagon — Wikimedia Commons A public-domain illustration of the type of wagon used to transport beer during the Beck brewery era. •Western Maryland’s Historical Library A regional collection of historic photographs, newspapers, directories, manuscripts, and other primary sources. Historical Research Note Surviving records do not agree in every detail concerning the Beck brewery’s addresses, succession of proprietors, or exact closing date. The article identifies these uncertainties instead of presenting unverified details as settled fact. Additional information may be found in Cumberland property records, census schedules, historic newspapers, city directories, and Sanborn fire-insurance maps.
From the Town Clock Church to The Columbia Building
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The Columbia Building stands in the foreground while the tower of the Town Clock Church rises behind it—a striking view that visually connects the building with the church congregation responsible for its beginnings. Photograph by Dan Mullin, August 27, 2026.
At the intersection of Columbia and Polk streets in Cumberland stands an impressive Gothic-style stone structure known today as The Columbia Building. Its appearance reveals its original purpose: it was constructed as a church.
The building at 11 Columbia Street is also directly connected to one of Cumberland’s best-known landmarks—the historic Town Clock Church on Bedford Street. Both buildings once served the same Lutheran congregation.
The German Lutheran Congregation
During the early nineteenth century, Cumberland attracted a growing population of German immigrants. German-speaking Lutherans initially worshipped with the city’s English-speaking Lutheran congregation, but they wanted regular services and sermons in their native language.
They eventually formed a separate congregation that became St. Luke’s Evangelical Lutheran Church. St. Luke’s was formally incorporated in 1848, and its members constructed their own church at what is now 312 Bedford Street.
That building became known as the Town Clock Church.
According to a popular Cumberland tradition, the city offered to provide a clock to whichever of two German congregations—the German Lutherans or the German Catholics—completed its church tower first. The Lutherans reportedly won the friendly competition because women of the congregation held lanterns and torches at night, allowing the men to continue working after dark.
The city placed a clock in the Lutheran church tower, giving the building its familiar name. The Town Clock Church became an important landmark and a visible reminder of the German immigrants who helped shape Cumberland during the nineteenth century.
St. Luke’s worshipped in the Town Clock Church for approximately three-quarters of a century.
A New Church on Columbia Street By the early twentieth century, St. Luke’s needed a larger and more modern building. The congregation purchased property for a new church in 1914, but construction was delayed, in part because of the First World War. A large Gothic-style stone church was finally constructed during the 1920s at 11 Columbia Street, at the intersection of Columbia and Polk streets. Designed to serve as both a sanctuary and an education building, it provided St. Luke’s with considerably more room for worship, Sunday school classes and other congregational activities. St. Luke’s officially moved from the Town Clock Church into its new Columbia Street home on June 5, 1927. The Columbia Street building therefore became the second home of the congregation that had built the Town Clock Church. St. Luke’s Moves Again St. Luke’s remained in the Columbia Street church for approximately 33 years. As its congregation and programs continued to develop, the property did not provide sufficient room for further expansion. In 1957, the congregation voted to relocate. A new St. Luke’s Lutheran Church was constructed at 1601 Frederick Street and dedicated on May 1, 1960. That remains the congregation’s home today. The three locations represent successive chapters in the history of the same congregation: Town Clock Church on Bedford Street → St. Luke’s Church at 11 Columbia Street → present St. Luke’s Lutheran Church on Frederick Street After St. Luke’s departed, the Town Clock Church remained standing and became the home of First Christian Church, Disciples of Christ. It was listed on the National Register of Historic Places in 1979. From Lutheran Church to Jewish Synagogue The Columbia Street building began another important chapter in 1960 when it was purchased by Beth Jacob Anseh Hebrew Congregation. Beth Jacob had been organized in Cumberland in 1913 as an Orthodox Jewish congregation. Its members initially worshipped in private homes and rented halls before establishing a synagogue on North Centre Street. The congregation became Conservative in 1949. During the 1950s, Beth Jacob outgrew its Centre Street building. When St. Luke’s moved to Frederick Street, Beth Jacob purchased the former Lutheran church at 11 Columbia Street and converted it into a synagogue. Relatively few structural alterations were required. Jewish symbols were incorporated into some of the stained-glass windows, and a Torah ark was installed in the sanctuary. The spacious interior included a balcony surrounding the upper sanctuary, religious-school rooms, a small chapel, a large kitchen and a vestry with a stage. Another lower level reportedly contained a small basketball court. For more than two decades, the building served as a center of Jewish worship, education and community life. Newspaper notices from the period record religious services, meetings, social events and rummage sales held at Beth Jacob Synagogue. The Columbia Building As Cumberland’s Jewish population declined, the large building became increasingly difficult for the smaller Beth Jacob congregation to maintain. During the late 1980s, it was sold and renovated for new purposes. In November 1987, the Cumberland Area Health Education Center—later known as AHEC West—moved its offices and student residences into the renovated building. Over the following years, the property accommodated offices, educational programs, residences, a preschool and other community uses. Beth Jacob retained the small chapel for regular services for a period after the larger building was converted. Some ceremonial objects and historical materials were transferred to the Jewish Historical Society of Maryland, while the congregation’s Torah ark was donated to Beth Shalom Congregation in Columbia, Maryland. Two stained-glass panels from the Columbia Street building were later donated to Cumberland’s B’er Chayim Temple. Beth Jacob and B’er Chayim completed their merger in 1998, and the combined congregation emerged at B’er Chayim in January 1999.
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The Columbia Building at the intersection of Columbia and Polk streets. The street signs establish its exact location. The building was the second home of the St. Luke’s congregation, which had previously worshipped at Cumberland’s Town Clock Church. Photograph by Dan Mullin, August 2026.
One Building, Several Chapters of Cumberland History
The Columbia Building is significant for more than its distinctive stone architecture. It represents several important chapters in Cumberland’s religious and cultural history.
It was built by the German Lutheran congregation responsible for the Town Clock Church. It later became the home of Beth Jacob Synagogue and served Cumberland’s Jewish community. Its preservation and conversion during the late twentieth century allowed the building to continue serving the community in new ways.
Today, the words “The Columbia Building” appear above the former church entrance. The sanctuary windows, steep roof, stone walls and other architectural details still reveal the building’s original religious purpose.
Together, the Town Clock Church and the Columbia Building tell a continuing story. The congregation that built the Town Clock Church later built the Columbia Street church, and two different religious communities used the Columbia Building as a place of worship.
The building at Columbia and Polk streets is therefore not merely a former church. It is a surviving connection among Cumberland’s German Lutheran heritage, its Jewish history and the continuing preservation of the city’s historic neighborhoods.
Sources and Further Reading
● St. Luke’s Lutheran Church—History of the Congregation
● Maryland Historical Trust—Town Clock Church
● Western Maryland’s Historical Library—Town Clock Church
● German Marylanders—St. Luke’s Lutheran Church, Cumberland
● B’er Chayim Congregation—History of Beth Jacob Synagogue
● AHEC West 1994 Annual Report—History of the Columbia Building
● AHEC West 1988 Annual Report—Renovation and Move to the Columbia Building
The People Who Built Dumbhundred:
Work and Daily Life in an Industrial Age
During the late 1800s and early 1900s, Cumberland was one of Maryland’s busiest industrial and transportation centers. Railroads, glass factories, ironworks, breweries, tanneries, mills, shops, and the Chesapeake and Ohio Canal provided work for thousands of people.
Many of those workers—and the merchants, craftsmen, teachers, and professionals who served them—made their homes in Dumbhundred.
Historic preservation research describes Dumbhundred as containing a significant collection of worker housing connected to Cumberland’s growing industrial economy of the late 19th century. The neighborhood also included larger, architect-designed residences and had especially strong ties to Cumberland’s German immigrant community.
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Lee and Valley Streets
Photogragh by Dan Mullin, 2026
There was a tannery at Lee and Valley streets, representing one of the industries once located just outside the Dumbhundred neighborhood.
Credit:
Herman J. Miller Historic Photograph Collection, City of Cumberland, Maryland.
Source: City of Cumberland Historic Photograph Collection
A Neighborhood of Many Occupations
The Cumberland city directories of the period give us a glimpse into the working lives of local residents.
In 1873, common occupations in Cumberland included laborers, carpenters, blacksmiths, boatmen, boatbuilders, canal shippers, shoemakers, barbers, butchers, grocers, plasterers, and paper hangers. Other residents worked as glassmakers, railroad engineers and firemen, teachers, photographers, painters, clerks, bakers, and tinsmiths.
By 1895, the list had grown even more varied. Cumberland’s glass industry employed blowers, gatherers, molders, etchers, selectors, packers, and shippers. The railroads needed engineers, brakemen, conductors, baggage masters, car inspectors, telegraphers, laborers, and repairmen. Other residents worked as tanners, iron founders, coopers, wagonmakers, cigar makers, dressmakers, milliners, laundresses, boardinghouse operators, and shopkeepers.
Real People on Familiar Streets
The 1895–96 Cumberland directory records several working people living on streets within Dumbhundred.
At 85 Columbia Street lived John G. Heier, an engineer, and John C. Heier, a printer. Jacob Hausman, identified as a laborer, lived at 122 Columbia Street. On Bedford Street lived John S. Hedding, a book canvasser, while a cigar maker was recorded on Valley Street.
These few entries illustrate the neighborhood’s variety. A person walking along Columbia Street in the 1890s might have passed the home of a factory or railroad worker, a printer, a tradesman, a merchant, or a professional person—all within a short distance of one another.
Not every form of work appeared fully in the directories. Women’s work inside the home was rarely counted as an occupation, although some women were listed as dressmakers, milliners, laundresses, teachers, florists, grocers, and boardinghouse operators. Widows and unmarried women sometimes appeared under their own names.
Tanneries, Breweries, and Nearby Industry
Dumbhundred was not simply a residential neighborhood. Tanneries and breweries operated in or near the community, and the City of Cumberland’s historic photograph collection includes views of a tannery at Lee and Valley streets and another on Valley Street.
Beyond the neighborhood, Cumberland’s glass factories, railroad facilities, iron and steel works, mills, and canal basin offered additional employment. By the middle of the 19th century, Cumberland had become Maryland’s second-largest manufacturing center. Glassmaking, brewing, textiles, iron and steel production, and railroad work remained important well into the 20th century.
More Than a Collection of Old Houses
The houses and streets of Dumbhundred are surviving evidence of the people who helped Cumberland prosper during its industrial age. Some residents performed difficult manual labor. Others practiced skilled trades, operated neighborhood businesses, taught school, printed newspapers, or designed and managed the growing city.
Together, they made Dumbhundred a place where people lived close to their work, raised families, worshipped, attended school, shopped, and built a community whose history can still be read in its streets and buildings today.
Sources and References
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City of Cumberland and Allegany County Directory, 1895–96 — A searchable historical directory listing Cumberland residents, occupations, addresses, businesses, churches, and organizations. It was digitized by Allegany College of Maryland and made available through Digital Maryland and Western Maryland’s Historical Library.
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Page 103 of the 1895–96 Cumberland Directory — This page provides direct evidence of Dumbhundred residents and their occupations. It lists Jacob Hausman, a laborer at 122 Columbia Street; John C. Heier, a printer, and John G. Heier, an engineer, at 85 Columbia Street; John S. Hedding, a book canvasser at 69 Bedford Street; and John Helfrey, a cigar maker at 7 Valley Street.
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Cumberland City Directory, 1873 — Records the names, occupations, residences, businesses, churches, schools, and organizations of Cumberland during the city’s industrial growth.
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Cumberland Historic Preservation Plan, adopted January 2, 2024 — The City of Cumberland’s official preservation plan discusses Dumbhundred’s historic character, including its worker housing, larger architect-designed residences, industrial connections, and ties to Cumberland’s German immigrant community.
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City of Cumberland Historic Photograph Collection — Provides access to the Herman J. Miller Collection and historical photographs documenting Cumberland’s industries, transportation, businesses, streets, and neighborhoods.
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Cumberland Comprehensive Plan—Economic Development History — Explains Cumberland’s development as a major railroad, canal, manufacturing, glassmaking, brewing, textile, iron, and steel center. It reports that Cumberland became Maryland’s second-largest manufacturing center during the mid-19th century.
Further Reading
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Occupations in the 1895–96 Allegany County Directory — Browse the directory for such historical occupations as glass blowers and gatherers, railroad brakemen, car inspectors, telegraphers, coopers, tanners, dressmakers, milliners, laundresses, and boardinghouse operators.
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Cumberland Through the Eyes of Herman J. Miller — Photographs and recollections concerning Cumberland’s industries, transportation, businesses, neighborhoods, taverns, organizations, and everyday life. The City of Cumberland describes Miller’s work as a valuable collection of recollections, research, scrapbooks, and photographs.
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The Canal Arrives in Cumberland—National Park Service — Describes Cumberland’s canal basins, boatyards, warehouses, watermen, industries, and the activity surrounding the western terminus of the Chesapeake and Ohio Canal.
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Allegany College of Maryland Oral History Project — A searchable collection of recorded interviews and transcripts preserving firsthand recollections of work and daily life in Cumberland and Allegany County. The subjects include factories, railroads, local businesses, trades, public service, and community life.
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Maryland Glass Company Historic Inventory — A Maryland Historical Trust architectural survey documenting one of Cumberland’s important glassmaking sites and the growth of the local glass industry during the late 19th and early 20th centuries.
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Western Maryland’s Historical Library — A large digital collection containing historical directories, photographs, newspapers, maps, rare books, oral histories, and other records concerning Cumberland and Western Maryland.
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122 Columbia Street
Photogragh by Dan Mullin, 2026
The 1895–96 Cumberland city directory records several Dumbhundred residents and their occupations. Jacob Hausman, a laborer, lived at 122 Columbia Street. John C. Heier, a printer, and John G. Heier, an engineer, lived at 85 Columbia Street. The page also lists John S. Hedding, a book canvasser, at 69 Bedford Street, and John Helfrey, a cigar maker, at 7 Valley Street.
Credit
City of Cumberland and Allegany County Directory, 1895–96, page 103. Courtesy of Allegany College of Maryland and Western Maryland’s Historical Library, through Digital Maryland.
Rights information
No Copyright—United States (NoC-US 1.0).
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Musical Tradition in Dumbhundred
From Parlor Piano to Radio
Music and Entertainment in Cumberland's Dumbhundred Neighborhood, 1850-1939
Before music came from a machine, it came from a person: a child at the piano, a church choir, a singing society, or a brass band moving down the street.
The neighborhood's changing soundtrack
A Dumbhundred resident in 1850 could not buy a record, tune a radio, or press a button to summon an orchestra. Music was something people made. Families sang hymns and popular ballads; children learned pieces from printed scores; churches trained choirs; and social groups organized choruses and bands. By the 1930s, a resident could still sing around a piano, but could also wind a phonograph or turn a radio dial. The history is not a straight march from old to new. Pianos, organs, records, live bands, church music, theater, and radio overlapped for decades.
The surviving evidence is unusually rich at the city level. Cumberland directories document music lessons, instrument sellers, halls, German singing societies, and a band. The 1930 census measures radio ownership for Cumberland and Allegany County. What it does not provide is a complete Dumbhundred household-by-household playlist. Accordingly, the songs below are representative pieces that residents could plausibly have encountered, while every specifically local claim is tied to a directory, census table, newspaper, or institutional history.
Evidence rule: Local directories tell us who taught, sold, organized, and met. National collections tell us what music circulated widely. The article joins those records without claiming that every named song was performed in every Dumbhundred home.
Music before machines: home, church, and school
The 1873 Cumberland City Directory already shows formal music education. St. Edward's Academy listed Sister Mary Gertrude as its music teacher. At SS. Peter and Paul's School, conducted by the Ursuline Sisters, the advertised course included music alongside German and English instruction. For German-Catholic families living near the church and school, music was therefore part of education as well as worship.
In the parlor, the most likely instruments were a piano or, often more affordably, a reed or cabinet organ. Sheet music supplied the melody and words, and the player supplied everything else. A revealing 1895-96 advertisement by Cumberland's Morrell & Shafenberg offered pianos and organs on easy monthly payments and claimed that 2,000 organs had been sold in Allegany County during the preceding five years. J. P. Wiesel likewise sold pianos, organs, sheet music, and musical instruments, while several residents advertised as music teachers or musicians. Those listings turn the parlor instrument from a vague possibility into a well-supported feature of Cumberland life.
Figure 1. 'Silver Threads Among the Gold' (1873): cover at left, first music-and-lyrics page at right. Lester S. Levy Sheet Music Collection, Johns Hopkins University.
A musical city by 1895
The strongest snapshot is the 1895-96 Cumberland and Allegany County Directory. It lists three singing societies: the Arion Gesangverein, meeting at Arion Hall nightly; the Germania Maennechor, meeting at Maennerchor Hall on Bedford Street; and St. Joseph's Singing Society, meeting at St. Joseph's Hall nightly. The same directory lists German Evangelical Lutheran, Zion German Reformed, and SS. Peter and Paul churches, as well as German beneficial societies. Music, mutual aid, faith, and ethnic identity were plainly connected parts of community life.
These were not merely private parlors. Cumberland had the Academy of Music in the City Building, Arion Hall, Maennerchor Hall, St. Joseph's Hall, Grand Army of the Republic Hall, and numerous other lodge and society rooms. The directory also names the Florence Dramatic Club and a 'Western Maryland Band' located on Frederick Street near Linden. The latter was identified as a Black organization in the segregated terminology of the directory, an important reminder that Cumberland's musical life was never exclusively white or German.
Taverns and saloons were numerous in and around the North End, and dances or informal music may well have occurred in some of them. Yet the clearest documentary evidence of organized live music points to the singing halls, church-linked halls, theaters, and band organizations. Without an advertisement or program naming a specific tavern performance, it is safer to describe beer-hall music as plausible context rather than a proven Dumbhundred booking.
Figure 2. 'After the Ball' (1892), one of the great sheet-music successes of its era. Cover at left; first music-and-lyrics page at right. Lester S. Levy Sheet Music Collection, Johns Hopkins University.
German voices, American popular music
German-heritage residents did not live inside a sealed musical world. Their repertoire could mix German hymns, part-songs, waltzes, polkas, marches, and sentimental songs with the English-language music circulating throughout Cumberland. Songs such as 'Du, du liegst mir im Herzen,' 'Die Lorelei,' 'Muss i denn,' and 'O Tannenbaum' are useful examples of the broader German-American song tradition. The local singing societies prove that organized German choral culture existed; they do not, by themselves, preserve the societies' exact nightly set lists.
American publishers also marketed comic or sentimental 'German' songs. 'Under the Anheuser Bush' (1903) is a good illustration: a Tin Pan Alley beer novelty built around a German-American commercial image, not an old German folk song. It belongs in the story because it shows how German identity could be repackaged for a national audience. During the First World War, anti-German sentiment pressured many societies and bands to change names or suppress German repertoire; the nearby Frostburg Arion Band's history records that shift in the region.
Figure 3. 'Under the Anheuser Bush' (1903): a commercial American beer novelty, not a traditional German folk song. Cover at left; first music-and-lyrics page at right. Lester S. Levy Sheet Music Collection, Johns Hopkins University.
Bands, schools, veterans, and the stage
The evidence for school music begins earlier than the evidence for a school marching band. Music was part of local instruction by 1873, but no firm pre-1930 founding date for a Dumbhundred or Cumberland school marching band emerged from the available directories. That distinction matters. It is reasonable to picture pupils singing or learning keyboard music; it is not yet possible to name a neighborhood school band and year with confidence.
Community and military bands are better documented. The Frostburg Arion Band was organized by German immigrants in 1877 and became the Fourth Battalion Band of the Maryland State Militia in 1889. It performed in the Frostburg-Cumberland area. Sousa marches such as 'The Washington Post' (1889) and 'The Stars and Stripes Forever' (1896) became national band standards and fit the sound world of community, militia, parade, and veterans' events. No evidence has been found that Sousa himself performed in Dumbhundred, so the safe claim concerns his music, not his presence.
The Academy of Music, opened in 1876, brought touring theater and local performances to downtown Cumberland until fire destroyed it in 1910. The Maryland Theater opened on North Mechanic Street in 1907 and offered another route to musical theater, vaudeville, silent-film accompaniment, and later motion pictures. Surviving accounts also remind us that Cumberland's theaters were segregated, with Black patrons restricted to designated seating.
A later newspaper reference provides a tantalizing neighborhood trace: in 1955 the Cumberland Times described a Dumbhundred Band as North End amateur musicians. Because the report is later than the period covered here, it cannot prove that a Dumbhundred band existed in the nineteenth century. It does show that the neighborhood name eventually became attached to an amateur ensemble.
From wind-up phonograph to radio
The first household phonographs did not need electricity. A listener wound a spring motor, placed a cylinder or disc on the machine, and heard the sound through a horn. Cylinders and early discs entered American homes in the 1890s and 1900s, while pianos and organs remained active. Electric pickups, amplifiers, and electrically recorded discs became important in the 1920s. Thus electricity changed recorded sound, but it did not create the home phonograph.
Cumberland was being wired gradually rather than all at once. One documented benchmark is the wiring of a major hotel by the Cumberland Electric Light Company in 1898; that does not mean every Dumbhundred home had service that year. Radio likewise arrived unevenly. National broadcasting expanded rapidly after 1920, and Cumberland gained a local station when WTBO began operation in December 1928. A 1929 station guide lists WTBO at 1420 kilocycles, 50 watts, from the Cumberland Electric Company at 138 Virginia Avenue.
Figure 4. 'In the Good Old Summer Time' (1902): sheet music at left and its first music-and-lyrics page at right. Lester S. Levy Sheet Music Collection, Johns Hopkins University.
Figure 5. 'Let Me Call You Sweetheart' (1910): cover at left, first music-and-lyrics page at right. Lester S. Levy Sheet Music Collection, Johns Hopkins University.
What the 1930 census says about radio
The federal censuses of 1900, 1910, and 1920 did not ask whether a household had a radio. The 1930 census was the first to do so. Its published table used 'families' as the unit and reported city and county totals, not a separate Dumbhundred figure.
Source: U.S. Census, 1930, Families, Table 11 (Maryland), p. 589; national estimate from the National Archives' 1930 census overview.
Cumberland's 43.3 percent was slightly above Maryland's rate and notably above Allegany County's; nationally, the National Archives estimates that about 40 percent of households had radios. In practical terms, more than half of Cumberland families still lacked a radio in April 1930. Radio was important, but it had not yet erased the piano, organ, phonograph, church choir, bandstand, or theater. An exact Dumbhundred percentage would require identifying the neighborhood's enumeration districts and manually counting household schedules.
A decade-by-decade listening timeline
Before standardized national record charts, no single defensible 'number one song' exists for every decade. The selections below are representative, widely circulated pieces and productions that help evoke the changing soundscape.
Listen to the era
The Library of Congress National Jukebox provides playable historical recordings. These links work especially well in an online version of the article.
Silver Threads Among the Gold (1912 recording) - A later recording of the 1873 parlor favorite.
After the Ball in a 1922 old-time-song medley - The medley also includes 'Sweet Rosie O'Grady' and other favorites.
In the Good Old Summer Time (1902 recording) - A recording from the year of publication.
Under the Anheuser Bush (1904 recording) - A period performance of the beer-themed novelty.
Let Me Call You Sweetheart (1911 recording) - A close-to-publication performance.
Du, du liegst mir im Herzen (1915 recording) - A familiar German song in an early commercial recording.
The Washington Post March - A modern U.S. Marine Band performance with historical notes and downloadable materials.
Du, Du Liegst Mir im Herzen - Pitt Men's Glee Club - A convenient YouTube example of the German song tradition.
Conclusion
The sound of Dumbhundred changed from decade to decade, but community remained the constant. The medium might be a hymnbook, a parlor organ, a men's chorus, a theater orchestra, a hand-wound record, a school lesson, a militia band, or a radio loudspeaker. Each placed music inside a social setting. The most revealing local evidence is therefore not a single famous song; it is the dense network of schools, churches, halls, teachers, sellers, singers, bands, and listeners that made music part of daily neighborhood life.
Sources and Further Reading
Local primary sources
Cumberland City Directory, 1873 - WHILBR collection. Includes schools, teachers, booksellers, and music dealers.
SS. Peter and Paul's School listing, 1873. Directory page describing German and English instruction and music.
Cumberland and Allegany County Directory, 1895-96. Digital Maryland's complete directory collection.
Singing societies and halls, 1895-96 directory, page 007. Arion Gesangverein, Germania Maennechor, St. Joseph's Singing Society, and named halls.
Morrell & Shafenberg advertisement, 1895-96 directory, page 149. Pianos, organs, instruments, payment terms, and the claim of 2,000 organs sold.
Western Maryland Band listing, 1895-96 directory, page 213. A Black band identified in the period directory's terminology.
J. P. Wiesel music business, 1895-96 directory, page 215. Pianos, organs, sheet music, instruments, and music instruction.
Windsor Hotel wired for electricity in 1898 - WHILBR. A documented local benchmark for the gradual spread of electric service.
Cumberland Times, July 3, 1955, page 31. Later reference to a Dumbhundred Band of North End amateur musicians.
Census and radio
1930 Census, Volume 6: Families. Census Bureau publication page.
1930 Families, Chapter 5 PDF. Table 11 for Maryland appears on printed page 589.
National Archives: The 1930 Census in Perspective. Explains the radio question and national context.
Lefax Radio Log, 1928. Lists WTBO, Cumberland Electric Company, Cumberland, at 1420 kilocycles.
Radio Listener's Guide, Spring 1929. Lists WTBO's address, frequency, and 50-watt power.
FCC: History of Commercial Radio. A concise official national broadcasting timeline.
Music, technology, and listening
Library of Congress: National Jukebox. Playable historical recordings and collection background.
Library of Congress: Parlor and Concert Stage. Context for parlor songs and concert music.
Library of Congress: History of Ragtime. Background on a major turn-of-the-century style.
Library of Congress: Recording Technology Timeline. Cylinders, discs, electrical recording, and later formats.
Lester S. Levy Sheet Music Collection. More than 29,000 pieces of American popular sheet music, including every figure reproduced here.
Silver Threads Among the Gold. Digitized 1873 sheet music.
After the Ball. Digitized 1892 sheet music.
In the Good Old Summer Time. Digitized 1902 sheet music.
Under the Anheuser Bush. Digitized 1903 sheet music.
Let Me Call You Sweetheart. Digitized 1910 sheet music.
Regional institutions and interpretation
Frostburg Arion Band history. German immigrant origins, militia connection, band hall, and wartime name changes.
History of Music in Mountain Maryland. Regional overview of immigrant, African American, band, theater, and later traditions.
Maryland Other Cumberland Theaters - WHILBR. Local theater history, including segregation and Black audiences.
German Marylanders: Singing Societies. Wider context for German-American choral organizations in Maryland.
University of Wisconsin: Du, du liegst mir im Herzen sheet music. A 1917 bilingual edition with German and English lyrics.
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An imagined Dumbhundred family gathered around the parlor piano, circa 1900. Illustrative reconstruction—not an authenticated historical image.
An imagined Dumbhundred family listening to the radio, circa 1930. Illustrative reconstruction—not an authenticated historical image.
The Entertainer” (1902), composed by Scott Joplin. Public-domain piano recording performed by IE. Courtesy of Wikimedia Commons
An imagined Dumbhundred family gathered around the parlor piano, circa 1900. Illustrative reconstruction—not an authenticated historical image.
An imagined Dumbhundred family listening to the radio, circa 1930. Illustrative reconstruction—not an authenticated historical image.
The Entertainer” (1902), composed by Scott Joplin. Public-domain piano recording performed by IE. Courtesy of Wikimedia Commons
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This illustration depicts what an evening may have been like
in 1906, as a family gathered in the parlor of a Dumbhundred home to listen to a phonograph record. Playing here is “In the Good Old Summertime,” composed by George Evans with lyrics by Ren Shields, performed by the Haydn Quartet with orchestra and recorded on May 10, 1906. Public-domain recording courtesy of the Library of Congress.
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The Story Behind “Allegany” and “Allegheny”
The name Allegany—or Allegheny—has Native American roots and was first associated with the great river system west of the Appalachian Mountains. The Maryland State Archives traces the name to oolikhanna, interpreted as “beautiful stream.” Other scholars connect it to related Lenape, or Delaware, expressions meaning “the fairest river,” “a fine-flowing stream,” or possibly “the stream of the Allegewi.” Because Indigenous words were recorded by European mapmakers according to how they heard them, and because early written versions varied considerably, the name’s exact original form and meaning cannot be stated with complete certainty. When the Maryland General Assembly created our county from western Washington County in 1789, the establishing law specifically called it “Allegany County”—without the letters H-E. That spelling therefore became the county’s official legal name. Meanwhile, “Allegheny,” including the H-E, became the customary spelling for the Allegheny River, the Allegheny Mountains and numerous places in Pennsylvania. The two forms do not represent two entirely different names; they are regional English spellings of the same Indigenous-derived name, preserved by different governments, mapmakers and local traditions. That gives Cumberland schoolchildren—and the rest of us—a handy way to remember the distinction: Allegany County has no H-E, while the Allegheny Mountains do. Think of H-E as “high elevation.” The mnemonic may be modern, but the spelling difference is more than two centuries old—and both versions preserve a linguistic connection to the Native peoples who knew this region and its waterways long before Allegany County appeared on a Maryland map. References and Further Reading: Maryland State Archives — Allegany County: https://msa.maryland.gov/msa/mdmanual/36loc/al/html/al.html Archives of Maryland — The 1789 law establishing Allegany County: https://msa.maryland.gov/megafile/msa/speccol/sc2900/sc2908/000001/000204/html/am204–411.html Allegany County Government — Quick Government Facts: https://www.alleganygov.org/385/Quick-Government-Facts New York State Museum — Beyond Manhattan: Delaware Indian Place Names: https://nysm.nysed.gov/sites/default/files/nysmrecord-vol5-1.pdf U.S. Geological Survey — The Origin of Certain Place Names in the United States: https://pubs.usgs.gov/bul/0258/report.pdf
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