Lonaconing Map
Lonaconing is a town in Allegany County, Maryland, United States located along the Georges Creek Valley. It is part of the Cumberland, MD-WV Metropolitan Statistical Area. The population was 1,205 at the 2000 census.
The first non-Native American settlers in the late 18th century were explorers, hunters and farmers. Names of some of the first settlers were Dye, Duckworth, Green, Fazenbaker, Grove, VanBuskirk, Knapp and Miller. The first stone house built in 1797 in Knapps Meadow just north of Lonaconing was owned by Samuel VanBuskirk. The house still stands as of 2010. The Lonaconing Historic District was listed on the National Register of Historic Places in 1983. Lonaconing is the birthplace of Baseball Hall of Fame pitcher Lefty Grove.
Iron and coal companies in Lonaconing built railroads in the 1840s, in anticipation of connecting with the Baltimore and Ohio Railroad (B&O) and the Chesapeake and Ohio Canal. Some of these mining companies owned and operated their own railroad equipment. The Georges Creek Rail Road was built south from Lonaconing to connect with the Baltimore & Ohio at Piedmont(VA) All of the rail lines were absorbed into the Cumberland and Pennsylvania Railroad (C&P) by 1870.
Nearby cities include Wiley Ford, Fort Ashby, Ridgeley, Cumberland, Grantsville.