Cumberland, MD

Cumberland, officially the City of Cumberland, is a western gateway city and seat of Allegany County, Maryland, and the primary city of the Cumberland, MD-WV Metropolitan Statistical Area. At the 2010 census, the city had a population of 20,859, and the metropolitan area had a population of 103,299. Cumberland is a regional business and commercial center for Western Maryland and the Potomac Highlands of West Virginia. Historically Cumberland was known as the “Queen City,” as it was once the second largest in the state. Cumberland is often referred to as “Where the South Begins.” Because of its strategic location, after the American Revolution at the time of heavy migration across the Appalachian Mountains by pioneers, it served as a historical outfitting and staging point for westward emigrant trail migrations throughout the first half of the 1800s. In this role, it supported the settlement of the Ohio Country and the lands of in that latitude of the Louisiana Purchase. It also became an industrial center, served by major roads, a canal connecting to Washington, DC, and railroads. Industry declined after World War II, and later urban, business and technological development in the state has been concentrated in eastern coastal cities. Today the Cumberland, MD-WV Metropolitan Statistical Area is one of the poorest in the United States, ranking 305th out of 318 metropolitan areas in per capita income.