Nestled in Garrett County behind Backbone Mountain lies the town of Kitzmiller, population 300.
I recently travelled there to hear from the Department of Natural Resources on the development of the state’s newest park (more to come later). Kitzmiller sits in a stunningly beautiful section of the Potomac River Valley. Immediately greeted by the Northern Branch of the Potomac, which is fairly thin this far west, I stared at the opposing mountain face of West Virginia, my back still to Maryland’s tallest ridge line.
There isn’t much available written history on Kitzmiller, but its past as a working mountain town is evident. The town popped up around a wool mill on the raging Potomac. The town bears the owner’s name, Ebenezer Kitzmiller, whose first outpost is dated around 1853. Like most of Western Maryland, local economies boomed with the introduction of railroads in the 1870s and 1880s. In fact, Garrett County was officially created from Allegheny County in 1872 and named after the B&O Railroad’s president John Garrett. Lumber and coal became key in Kitzmiller, which at one point had a mine pulley system spanning across the sky from Maryland to West Virginia. The Hamilton Coal and Coke Company was especially prevalent, and it is believed but disputed that they built many of the town’s buildings. The population ballooned to about 1000 around 1900 as houses and shops set up across town.
Coal can still be seen in open veins as one drives around Kitzmiller. In fact, part of the surrounding mountain is gone! An entire section of mountain face was surface mined away, leaving a funny-looking flat ledge about 1000 feet up, spanning about a mile along the Potomac.
Kitzmiller is in one of Maryland’s least explored or known about regions, which is why I encourage travelers to visit. If you aren’t in a rush, I suggest exiting I-68 at Frostburg, making your way through Lonaconing, Westernport, and eventually Kitzmiller as an alternate backway into Oakland and Deep Creek Lake. Kitzmiller is very clean and inviting, with a paved path along the Potomac, parks, and inviting smiles. I wish every Marylander could travel to Kitzmiller to learn more about our diverse past and present.
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