Cumberland is known as the "Queen City of the Alleganys." The National Road, the Baltimore and Ohio Railroad, and the Chesapeake and Ohio Canal pass through the town, which was once an Ohio Company outpost and the westernmost part of the British Empire in North America. Cumberland has changed from a trading site to a manufacturing locality, to a tourist haven over many generations.
Author Patrick H. Stakem is a native of Cumberland with an interest in local history and transportation.