Maryland.gov Home

Maryland's National Register Properties

Return to Home Page



Photo credit: Don Cook, 12/2002 		Lonaconing Historic District
Inventory No.: AL-VI-B-113
Date Listed: 9/15/1983
Location: Lonaconing, Allegany County
Category: District
Period/Date of Construction: c. 1836-1920
Resources: 53 (34 contributing, 8 non-contributing)
Description: The Lonaconing Historic District comprises 278 buildings and structures consisting of a variety of 19th and early-20th century commercial, industrial, and residential buildings which attest to the development of Lonaconing as a center of the iron, coal, and silk industries in the George's Creek Valley of Western Maryland. The focus of the district is a group of 40 late-19th and early-20th century commercial structures lining Main Street and intersecting streets, including a hotel, bank, three dry goods stores, and numerous other shops and warehouses, mostly constructed after a fire which devastated downtown in 1881. These brick or frame, generally 2-story buildings have undergone remarkably little alteration and in most cases retain their original storefronts, cornices, and other decorative detailing. Also included within the district are structures related to the industrial development of Lonaconing, such as a coal company office building and furnace, and a silk throwing mill which employed the wives of miners. Houses in the district include workers' housing of various materials and configurations from the mid to late 19th century. The earliest of these are of log construction. Duplexes were often sheathed in board-and-batten siding, whether of log or frame construction. Still later duplexes were sheathed in German siding, with simple Victorian ornament. Other individual houses in the district, constructed of frame or brick, reflect Italianate, Queen Anne, and Colonial Revival influences. Significance: Lonaconing Historic District is significant for its wide variety of 19th and 20th century architectural styles reflecting the town's growth and prosperity as a center of Maryland's expanding coal and iron industry. Its buildings, ranging in size and complexity from simple vernacular one- and two-family log cabins to elaborate Victorian structures in frame and brick, are enhanced by their crowded placement on Lonaconing's closely parallel streets, which correspond in their cuts to the steeply rising mountains surrounding the town to the north and south. The result of these man-made accommodations to the rugged natural environment of George's Creek Valley and to a once-burgeoning industrial economy is exemplified and largely intact in the present-day Lonaconing Historic District.

District Resources (53) (34 contributing, 8 non-contributing)

From associated listing in National Register nomination form. C = Contributing, NC = non-contributing, blank = not evaluated.

AddressStatusResource Name and MIHP (if any)
Beechwood StreetCFrame, Board and Batten Double House
Church StreetCMethodist Church
Church StreetCTwo Story Frame, Gable Roofed House
12 Church StreetCAL-VI-B-098 -- Bennett Brick House
30-32 Church StreetCAL-VI-B-099 -- Francis Brick House
Douglas AvenueC1/2 Story Cottage
Douglas AvenueCGerman Sided, White Frame Double House
7 Douglas AvenueCGerman Sided Frame House
50 Douglas AvenueCAL-VI-B-133-1 -- 50 Douglas Avenue
13 Dutch Row (German Street)CAL-VI-B-114 -- Hamilton Log House
Furnace StreetCVernacular Queen Anne Frame House
Furnace StreetCBoard and Batten Double House
9-11 Jackson StreetCAL-VI-B-108 -- Eisenberg Clothing Store
23 Jackson StreetCAL-VI-B-109 -- Rosenbaum's Dry Goods
2-8 Jackson Street (Recorded as 2468 through misreading of tax map)CAL-VI-B-107 -- Ternent and Sons Department Store
E. Main StreetCAL-VI-B-004 -- Lonaconing Furnace (George's Creek Coal & Iron Furnace)
1 E. Main Street (MD 36)CAL-VI-B-097 -- First Presbyterian Church
53-55 Main Street (MD 36)CAL-VI-B-358 -- Mary Hadley Tenant House, site (Kidwell House)
84 E. Main Street (MD 36)CAL-VI-B-086 -- Mellos Log Cabin
86 E. Main Street (MD 36)CAL-VI-B-085 -- McCormick House (Queen Anne Brick House)
455 1/2 E. Main Street (MD 36)CAL-VI-B-330 -- Frances Clupp House, site
E. Main Street (MD 36) (at Ayers & Star Alley)CAL-VI-B-332 -- Band Hall, site
E. Main Street & Scotch Hill RoadCAL-VI-B-312 -- World War I Doughboy Monument
E. Main Street & Scotch Hill RoadCAL-VI-B-313 -- World War II & Korean War Monument
7-9 Park StreetCAL-VI-B-094 -- George's Creek Iron and Coal Company Offices
21 Park Street (Recorded as 23 Park Street)CAL-VI-B-095 -- Park Street Log Cabin
Railroad AvenueCDuplex
3 Railroad StreetCAL-VI-B-113-3 -- Spier Estate
11 and 12 E. Railroad StreetCLog Duplex
74 E. Railroad StreetCAL-VI-B-087 -- Klots Throwing Company (General Textile Mills, Gentex Corporation, Lonaconing Silk Mill)
10 Robbin StreetCAL-VI-B-113-2 -- 10 Robbin Street
Rockville Street & Sioux PlaceCAL-VI-B-082 -- Rockville Row
2 Union StreetCAL-VI-B-106 -- Brady Hotel (Hotel Brady)
West side of Union Street, north of Railroad AvenueCStore with Warehouse
Koontz Run from south of Castle Hill Road to Georges CreekNCAL-VI-B-113-7 -- Channel of Koontz Run
37 E. Main Street (MD 36)NCAL-VI-B-093 -- Meyers Log House
90 E. Main Street (MD 36)NCAL-VI-B-113-4 -- Marvin E. and Daniel E. Shockey House
455 1/3 E. Main Street (MD 36)NCAL-VI-B-331 -- Star Alley House, site
E. Main Street (MD 36) over George's CreekNCAL-VI-B-337 -- Bridge A-1014, site (SHA)
W. Main Street (MD 36) over Koontz RunNCAL-VI-B-113-6 -- SHA Bridge No. 01166
Union Street over George's CreekNCAL-VI-B-325 -- Bridge AL-0610 (SHA)
1 Water Station Run RoadNCAL-VI-B-113-5 -- Della Lynn Kyle House
14-16 Jackson Street AL-VI-B-339 -- 14-16 Jackson Street, site
17 1/2 Jackson Street  
18 Jackson Street AL-VI-B-340 -- Harris Store, site
68 E. Main Street AL-VI-B-113-9 -- San Toy Theatre
W. Main Street (MD 36) AL-VI-B-104 -- First National Bank, site (Miners & Merchants Bank)
W. Main Street (MD 36) AL-VI-B-105 -- Maryland Hotel, site
14 Main Street (MD 36) AL-VI-B-103 -- F.W. Weber Company 5 & 10, site
26 Main Street (MD 36) AL-VI-B-102 -- Lonaconing Bakery, site
Park Street & Main Street AL-VI-B-096 -- Central High School, site (Lonaconing High School)
9 Railroad Street AL-VI-B-113-8 -- 9 Railroad Street
6 St. Peter's Place AL-VI-B-088 -- St. Peter's Episcopal Church