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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.