The Cumberland Narrows (or simply The Narrows) is a

water gap A water gap is a gap that flowing water has carved through a mountain range or mountain ridge and that still carries water today. Such gaps that no longer carry water currents are called wind gaps. Water gaps and wind gaps often offer a prac ...

in western

Maryland Maryland ( ) is a state in the Mid-Atlantic region of the United States. It shares borders with Virginia, West Virginia, and the District of Columbia to its south and west; Pennsylvania to its north; and Delaware and the Atlantic Ocean t ...

in the United States, just west of

Cumberland Cumberland ( ) is a historic counties of England, historic county in the far North West England. It covers part of the Lake District as well as the north Pennines and Solway Firth coast. Cumberland had an administrative function from the 12th c ...

. Wills Creek cuts through the central ridge of the Wills Mountain Anticline at a low elevation here between

Wills Mountain Wills Mountain is a quartzite-capped ridge in the Ridge and Valley physiographic province of the Appalachian Mountains in Pennsylvania and Maryland, United States, extending from near Bedford, Pennsylvania, to near Cumberland, Maryland. It is th ...

to the north and Haystack Mountain to the south. Cliffs and talus of the two mountains'

Tuscarora Tuscarora may refer to the following: First nations and Native American people and culture * Tuscarora people **'' Federal Power Commission v. Tuscarora Indian Nation'' (1960) * Tuscarora language, an Iroquoian language of the Tuscarora people * ...

quartzite Quartzite is a hard, non- foliated metamorphic rock which was originally pure quartz sandstone.Essentials of Geology, 3rd Edition, Stephen Marshak, p 182 Sandstone is converted into quartzite through heating and pressure usually related to tec ...

caprock Caprock or cap rock is a more resistant rock type overlying a less resistant rock type,Kearey, Philip (2001). ''Dictionary of Geology'', 2nd ed., Penguin Reference, London, New York, etc., p. 41.. . analogous to an upper crust on a cake that is ha ...

are prominent within the Narrows. A prominent rocky outcropping at the south end of Wills Mountain in the Cumberland Narrows is known as

Lover's Leap Lover's Leap, or (in plural) Lovers' Leap, is a toponym given to a number of locations of varying height, usually isolated, with the risk of a fatal fall and the possibility of a deliberate jump. Legends of romantic tragedy are often associated w ...

. The geological features of the Narrows provide Cumberland a western backdrop of the two mountains with a narrow gap between them.

Geography

The Cumberland Narrows serves as a western gateway from Cumberland to the

Appalachian Plateau The Appalachian Plateau is a series of rugged dissected plateaus located on the western side of the Appalachian Mountains. The Appalachian Mountains are a mountain range that run down the Eastern United States. The Appalachian Plateau is the nor ...

and the

Ohio River Valley The Ohio River is a long river in the United States. It is located at the boundary of the Midwestern and Southern United States, flowing southwesterly from western Pennsylvania to its mouth on the Mississippi River at the southern tip of Illinoi ...

beyond. Nemacolin's Path, which later became Old National Road and is now Alternate U.S. 40, passes through the Narrows, along with the former

Baltimore and Ohio Railroad The Baltimore and Ohio Railroad was the first common carrier railroad and the oldest railroad in the United States, with its first section opening in 1830. Merchants from Baltimore, which had benefited to some extent from the construction of ...

's main line between

Baltimore Baltimore ( , locally: or ) is the most populous city in the U.S. state of Maryland, fourth most populous city in the Mid-Atlantic, and the 30th most populous city in the United States with a population of 585,708 in 2020. Baltimore was ...

Washington Washington commonly refers to: * Washington (state), United States * Washington, D.C., the capital of the United States ** A metonym for the federal government of the United States ** Washington metropolitan area, the metropolitan area centered o ...

and

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, now part of the

CSX CSX Transportation , known colloquially as simply CSX, is a Class I freight railroad operating in the Eastern United States and the Canadian provinces of Ontario and Quebec. The railroad operates approximately 21,000 route miles () of trac ...

system, and a former line of the

Western Maryland Railway The Western Maryland Railway was an American Class I railroad (1852–1983) which operated in Maryland, West Virginia, and Pennsylvania. It was primarily a coal hauling and freight railroad, with a small passenger train operation. The WM beca ...

, now used by the

steam Steam is a substance containing water in the gas phase, and sometimes also an aerosol of liquid water droplets, or air. This may occur due to evaporation or due to boiling, where heat is applied until water reaches the enthalpy of vaporizatio ...

- and

diesel Diesel may refer to: * Diesel engine, an internal combustion engine where ignition is caused by compression * Diesel fuel, a liquid fuel used in diesel engines * Diesel locomotive, a railway locomotive in which the prime mover is a diesel engi ...

-powered

excursion train An excursion train is a chartered train run for a special event or purpose. Examples are trains to major sporting event, trains run for railfans or tourists, and special trains operated by the railway company for employees and prominent customer ...

s of the

Western Maryland Scenic Railroad The Western Maryland Scenic Railroad (WMSR) is a heritage railroad based in Cumberland, Maryland, that operates passenger excursion trains and occasional freight trains using both steam and diesel locomotives over ex-Western Maryland Railway (W ...

and the Great Allegheny Passage bike trail.

Lover's Leap

The rocky outcropping known as Lover's Leap is on Wills Mountain on the northeast side of the Cumberland Narrows. Lover's leap is above sea level and made up of oddly squared projectories of rock, from its top, all the way down to the National Highway (Alternate U.S. 40) below. Today, these rocks high above Wills Creek provide one of the most popular views in the

Allegheny Mountains The Allegheny Mountain Range (; also spelled Alleghany or Allegany), informally the Alleghenies, is part of the vast Appalachian Mountain Range of the Eastern United States and Canada and posed a significant barrier to land travel in less devel ...

, with Cumberland, the highway, and two railroads nearby below and the surrounding states of Pennsylvania and West Virginia in the distance.

Industry

The 46-room Wills Mountain Inn, a turn-of-the-20th-Century hotel and resort with a view of the Narrows, was located on the northern side of Wills Mountain until it burned-down on August 6, 1930. The Artmor Plastics Corporation was located on the Wills Mountain (northern) side of the Narrows in a former

World War II World War II or the Second World War, often abbreviated as WWII or WW2, was a world war that lasted from 1939 to 1945. It involved the World War II by country, vast majority of the world's countries—including all of the great power ...

textile factory. Artmor made household items such as plastic dishes and table tops. Following the closure of Artmor Plastics, the factory housed a museum chronicling the life of Arthur Morgan, Artmor's founder, as well as his rich art and history collection. After the death of Arthur Morgan, the building fell into disuse and disrepair and was the victim of frequent vandalism. Local officials attempted to purchase the property with State funds to add it to Wills Mountain State Park. However, they were unable to come to terms with Artmor's remaining shareholders. On November 11, 2015, the southern half of the former factory building was gutted by a fire set by a local youth. The loss was estimated to be $750,000.

References

*Will H. Lowdermilk, ''"History of Cumberland"'', Clearfield Co., October 1997, Paperback,
Full Text Online
*McGuinness, "Along the Baltimore & Ohio Railroads", Arcadia Publishing, 2004, *Rogers, "Adventure Guide to the Chesapeake Bay By Stillman D. Rogers, Barbara Radcliffe Rogers", Hunter Publishing, 2001,

External links

{{Gaps of the Appalachian Mountains Landforms of Allegany County, Maryland Allegheny Mountains Valleys of Maryland Places located in Cumberland, MD-WV-PA Water gaps of the United States