What can anyone tell me about Garrett Co? (Frederick, Rockville: sales, house)

[westsideboy]

Terrapin, People in Allegany and Garrett county consider Sideling Hill the dividing line between Western Maryland and downstate. There are quite a few reasons for this.

1. Proximity - Cumberland is a full 70 miles from Hagerstown, by contrast Hagerstown is only about 75 miles from the city limits of D.C. and Baltimore. If you live in Hagerstown or Frederick it is pretty easy to go 40 or 50 miles to work or shop in Montgomery or D.C. Once you get to Cumberland, you are pretty much resigned to working, shopping, worshipping there, etc.

2. Geography - Washington and Frederick counties are dominating by broad, flat agriculturally developed valleys, Great Valley, Potomac Valley, Monancy Valley, Middletown Valley, etc. There are some forested mountains in these counties, but most of the people live in the valleys. West of Sideling Hill the valleys become extremelly narrow and over 75% of all of the land is forested mountain slopes.

3. Ecomony - The per capita income and unemployment rates of Washington and Frederick Counties are very high and virtually indisguisable from the rest of D.C./Baltimore metro areas. Both counties have high commuter populations due to their promiximity to D.C and Baltimore. This is true in even in the rural parts of Frederick and Washington county. Places like Thurmont, Boonsboro, etc. are still small towns, but even the locals in these places know that commuting into bigger areas will earn them more $$.

Allegany and Garrett have higher unemployment, low per capita income, and due to geographic isolation must work where they live.

4. Pride!! Folks in Allegany and Garrett county are very, very proud of their small towns and very parochial in their outlook on the world. What happens in the rest of the world is of very little consequence to people out there. The Washington Post has virtually zero circulation and the Cumberland Times-News rules supreme. The Washington Post once mentioned in a Vanity Fair article that their circulation dropped precipitously at Sideling Hill.

It makes me a little amused when someone refers to Frederick or Hagerstown as "Western Maryland." Regionalism is largely a matter of self-identity and if a native of Hancock or Brunswick claims to be a Western Marylander, I have no reason to argue with them. That being said, it is crucial that people understand that Allegany and Garrett Counties, whatever you choose to call them, are a breed apart from the rest of the state.

I got very angry when Lt. Gov. Brown came out to Cumberland and mentioned that he was supporting the local Western Maryland colleges by giving money to Frederick Community College! What good does that do us in Cumberland? FCC is 90 miles from Cumberland and probably only about 50 miles from the Governor's mansion! The largest hurdle we have in statewide politics out there is just to inform the elected officials where we are on the map!

[westsideboy]

Oh one last thing. Sideling Hill is in and of itself a very important barrier. It runs unbroken the whole length of the state west of Hancock. Back in the 1950s when I-70 was built, the builders chose to divert the road 20 miles north into Pennsylvania to find a natural gap in the mountain. Many people consider this the turning point in the economy of Western Maryland. As the country transitioned from rail to road, Maryland west of Sideling Hill became economically isolated and went into decline. It wasn't until the 1980s and 1990s that they finally blasted the cut in Sideling Hill and opened up Western Maryland to the rest of the state.

[Tom Lennox 70]

It's sad that there's so much unemployment in Western Maryland. It's a very beautiful part of the state. Politicians in the state do tend to ignore everything outside of the Baltimore and DC areas, Frederick, and Hagerstown. The Eastern Shore doesn't get a lot of attention either.

And about the lake itself, I've read that it was created when the Youghiogheny River was dammed, but the maps show the river running to the west isntead of emptying into Deep Creek Lake. Was the river diverted or something after the lake was made and is the reservoir still used to generate power?

[smash731]

thank you for that fantastic lesson westside

[lscalder]

Politicain tend to ignore where there are no money until developments,jobs,governement head quarters more to these rural areas no one will pay them any attention. The people who live in these very rural counties love it the way it. majority of th efolks who live in a rural counties tend to be less educated then the folks in the city. They think differently. majority of the people are not thinking about goin gto school and getting a better paying jod they are usually content with where they are in live but in the city you are moving at a very fast pace and you have to be quick on your feet. plus 99% of jobs are city anyways. Maybe what they need to do is move to the city business owners,government are not going to move there company to the rural areas.

[Coolman]

I've only just returned to this site after my original post so I've missed some of the questions. Quickly, here are a few answers (or supporting information). First, regarding snowfall, the snow totals in Garrett County versus the rest of the state, or places like Pittsburgh, aren't even close. For a period in the late seventies and early eighties, the AVERAGE yearly snowfall for Garrett County was 105 inches, and I believe that the overall average still runs somewhere near 85 inches per year (though I can't confirm this). Comparatively speaking, even Frostburg/Cumberland, just a few miles away, get less than half of what Garrett County gets, in general! And Pittsburgh gets even less than that.

As for where the "border" of Western Maryland might be--Frederick and Washington counties are generally considered part of Western Maryland, but true Western Marylanders draw that line at the mountain (Sideling Hill), perhaps including Hancock. Beyond that, it's all city folk with all their problems and their liberal ways. And realistically, Garrett Countians draw that line even further West. Even Cumberland is viewed with a bit of an upturned nose if you live in Garrett County. GC is truly a world unto itself, and Garrett Countians prefer it that way (and do much to keep it so). From a personal perspective, I spent this past weekend in Garrett County and I was disgusted with the hideous growth and EVIL impact of tourism and the influx of outsiders on what was always a pleasant, country place. Personally I'd happily give up the lake--cut it right out of the center of the county and ship it to Baltimore--if it would keep the city out of "my" county. I may not live there anymore, but GC will always be my home. Damn the real estate and construction industries that are steadily destroying such a beautiful isolation.

And as to the question of making the drive up 219 to the site of the United 93 crash, that is a trip well worth making for anyone, at any time, from anywhere. If you need a moment of humanity--and a reminder for why you wake up each morning and do whatever it is that you do--you need to make that trip. The site itself is in the middle of a field, literally, but still takes visitors by the hundreds EVERY DAY. The drive north from Garrett County is mostly single-lane, rather winding, but very quaint. You'll pass through some Pennsylvania towns (Salisbury comes to mind) that are really Garrett County towns but for a slight geographic disturbance called "the Mason Dixon Line". Meyersdale, the largest town you'll come across on the trek, is still very small and basically rural. Make the trip, you'll be happy you did.

Regarding winter in Garrett County, here's the thing--there are two approaches that would work equally well should you choose to move there. First, you could accept that it's a fact of life there, learn to live in and drive in snow and go on with your daily life. This is what most people there do, and have no problems with that, except for an occasional two or three day extension to the weekend when three feet of snow drops in six hours. Or, you could spend the summer gathering wood for the stove, harvesting and canning your produce, stocking up on dry goods and ammunition (in preparation for hunting) and then pretty much lock yourself in until May. Some people still do that and enjoy every minute of it. Given my choice of how to live out my days, this is EXACTLY what I would do. I would not fear the snow, I would embrace it. What better way to get away from the troubles of the world. Throw the televison out in the yard, cut off the internet, and experience life as it was in the days of America's birth. I can't think of a much better place to do just that than Garrett County!

[Orwelleaut]

So, how akin to Western PA/Northern WVA is Maryland West of Sideline Hill roadcut? Other than being Steelers fans, we have speechways: yunz, redd up, jaggin' arahnd, dahntahn, etc...Does one hear the sounds of Pittburghese on the streets of Cumberland?

[westsideboy]

You hear some of the Pittsburgh slang. Gum bands, yunz, hogies, the "needs washed" construction, sweeper for vaccuum, dark velar "l", the pull-pole-pool vowel merger is all very common. Can't say me or my family or friends would use Jaggin' or redding up, but I know what they mean.

Most lingusitics maps I have seen normally include most of Garrett County in with S.W. PA, while Allegany County is normally included with the Potomac Highlands of WV, and the upper Shenandoha Valley. In generally I think the whole Western Maryland area is pretty diverse lingusitically since it is right on the border between Midland and Southern Speech areas and is influenced by D.C., Baltimore, and Pittsburgh media.

[Orwelleaut]

Originally Posted by westsideboy

You hear some of the Pittsburgh slang. Gum bands, yunz, hogies, the "needs washed" construction, sweeper for vaccuum, dark velar "l", the pull-pole-pool vowel merger is all very common. Can't say me or my family or friends would use Jaggin' or redding up, but I know what they mean.

Most lingusitics maps I have seen normally include most of Garrett County in with S.W. PA, while Allegany County is normally included with the Potomac Highlands of WV, and the upper Shenandoha Valley. In generally I think the whole Western Maryland area is pretty diverse lingusitically since it is right on the border between Midland and Southern Speech areas and is influenced by D.C., Baltimore, and Pittsburgh media.

Sounds like you guys are pretty influenced by Pittsburgh, but in a peripheral sense like Wheeling and parts of Eastern Ohio. How strong is the PA Dutch influence? Does one find scrapple and shoofly pie on the menu?

[westsideboy]

There is some PA Dutch influence in Garrett and the rural eastern part of Allegany County. Garrett County has a pretty sigficant number of Amish around Grantsville and Redhouse. Flintstone in Allegany County has some Mennonites and Church of the Bretherns.

Personally, growing up in Cumberland, I never had scrapple, or shoofly pie, and had never heard of a faschnaut (sp?) until I moved to the central portion of MD. Personally, I think there is alot of more PA Dutch influence in places like Washington, Frederick, and Carroll Counties than in Western Maryland.