On September 10, 2011, the C&O Canal Association supported a Transportation Celebration and Forum that was held at the Allegany Museum in Cumberland, Maryland. The nation’s efforts to create an interstate transportation system began, ended, or passed through Cumberland.
- As the western terminus of the C&O Canal, Cumberland was a busy boat building center and the transfer point for coal from Western Maryland mines shipped east on the canal.
- The city was also a major railroad town and a strategic spot for rival railroads aiming to move coal and other resources to the nation.
- The year 2011 was the 200th anniversary of the groundbreaking for the first federally funded road in America, the Cumberland/National Road. It started in Cumberland and was built west to Vandalia, Illinois.
The C&O Canal Association donated $500 to support this forum.
(Updated December 2018.)