Production In Maryland

Maryland was the third state to produce coal, and from the available information a small amount was mined each year after 1888, some of it being used locally but probably the larger portion being floated down the Potomac River. In 1798 some coal was used in the arms plant at Harper's Ferry, and while many of the records of this plant have disappeared, we know the tonnages delivered here from 1818 to 1837, the latter date being five years before the date usually given as the start of shipments. These data are shown in Table 54. In addition, some coal was used in an iron plant above Harper's Ferry, but the amount is not known. All of the coal to these plants came down the river, and for 1826-1830, both inclusive, some old canal records show coal passing through the canal at Great Falls, but practically all of the Cumberland coal used around Washington prior to 1842 was floated down the Potomac River during high water, and even at those times it was a precarious and dangerous business. After 1842, when the Baltimore & Ohio Railroad reached Cumberland, the records of shipments are unusually complete. The canal was completed to Cumberland in 1850, but its useful life terminated with the Civil War. The production records of this field are the most complete of any of the early coal mining states.