Tag: history
Garrett County B-52 crash to be commemorated
For the Cumberland Times-News
GRANTSVILLE — A B-52 bomber with a crew of five and two thermonuclear bombs crashed in a snow storm on Big Savage Mountain, near Grantsville, Garrett County, on January 13, 1964.
The result was a massive search for the location of the plane, and for the crew, four of whom had ejected from the plane.
The military was heavily involved in the search and rescue, but the people of Garrett and Allegany Counties in Maryland and Somerset County, Pennsylvania joined in to walk through deep snow looking for parachutes, plough the roads for the search personnel to travel more easily, run telephone line and feed the large number of people participating.
A collection of news stories is now online at digital.whilbr.org, the history website of Western Maryland Regional Library.
There are stories published at the time by the Cumberland newspapers, the Cumberland Evening Times, Cumberland News, Cumberland Sunday Times and later the Cumberland Times-News, together with The Republican from Oakland, Garrett County.
Both towns also reported on all commemorative events. In addition there are several in-depth articles about the events, bringing the perspective of time to the story.
The website allows one to see how the events of that very cold and eventful January were reported at the time, with the concern for human lives but also the initial fear of the potential nuclear threat that the bombs posed. One can read the stories chronologically, using the browse feature or search for an individual.
The crash of the B-52 will be commemorated Saturday, July 12, 2014 in Grantsville.
The stories are available at http://digital.whilbr.org or from the Allegany County Library System’s website http://www.alleganycountylibrary.info <http://www.relib.net> under “Research.”
The Whilbr website features images of original source documents from the collections of the public libraries, historical societies, and individuals in Western Maryland. Its purpose is to display Western Maryland-related historical documents, images, audio, and video.
Western Maryland Regional Library provides support and materials for the continued enhancement of resources available through the Allegany County Library System, the Ruth Enlow Library of Garrett County, and the Washington County Free Library System.
History Associates Commissioned to Develop Strategic Initiative & Interpretive Plan for Garrett County Maryland
ROCKVILLE, MD, January 14, 2014 /24-7PressRelease/ — History Associates, the leading U.S. historical services firm, recently completed a comprehensive cultural resource planning study for the Garrett County Maryland Chamber of Commerce, which is the official management entity for the Mountain Maryland Gateway to the West Heritage Area (MMGWHA). History Associates created a Strategic Initiative and Interpretive Plan for the area, which will provide a framework for developing the region as a destination for heritage tourism.
History Associates conducted preliminary research into the history of the region and identified a number of compelling stories. Historians determined the current level of interpretive offerings in a detailed site survey and identified areas in which interpretation could be further developed. Next, History Associates convened a stakeholders meeting with MMGWHA and heritage area partners to discuss potential initiatives. A follow-up survey was conducted to clarify opinions as well as to collect information regarding specific heritage assets. Using the feedback from the meeting and surveys as a guide, History Associates evaluated the initiatives with particular emphasis on identifying target audiences, associated costs, and potential return on investment.
Local Family, Town Topic Of Article
Author and historian Joe Manning, Florence, Mass., recently completed an online article that centered on the Blizzard family and the Garrett County mining town of Kempton, pictured below. George Blizzard was among the many employees of the Davis Coal and Coke Company, which began operations in 1914. The company built the mine and houses on a hillside above the Potomac, where most of the residents lived in single-family houses, with four to six rooms, an outdoor toilet, and a small lot, enough for a lawn in front and a small garden in back. Next to the company store was an arcade called the Opera House, with a lunchroom, bowling alleys, pool tables, dance floor, and auditorium. The streets were unpaved. By 1918, Kempton had 106 houses and a population of 850, which grew to around 2,000 by the time the mine suddenly closed in April 1950, causing the Garrett County commissioners to have the county declared a federal disaster area as some 250 miners were suddenly unemployed. Within a decade or so, the town all but disappeared. Pictured above are George and Lillie Blizzard, with children (from left) Mildred, Carl, Dorothy (front), and Nellie. Dorothy Blizzard Slaubaugh is still living today in Virginia, and an interview with her done by Manning in February is included in his feature. Many descendants of the Blizzards reside in Garrett County today. For the past seven years, Manning has been conducting a personal project to track down and interview descendants of some of the families photographed by the Farm Security Administration in the late 1930s and early 1940s. “In my career as a social worker, I became interested in child labor photos, and wanted to find out what ultimately happened to these children,” Manning said. “I began scanning the many photos available through the FSA and had a desire to turn these children and their families into more than just a photo; to find out about them and what became of them.” He has completed nearly 50 such articles over the past several years. Manning grew up in southern Maryland, but spent a lot of time in Garrett County. His father Joseph was a deputy secretary of the Maryland Department of Natural Resources under Governor Marvin Mandel and had a second home in Garrett County. Manning’s online article about Kempton and the Blizzard family can be found at http://www.eightsteeples.com/blizzard1.html.
