The Environmental Transformation of an Appalachian Valley, 1850–1906^*

* I would like to thank Robert D. Mitchell, Craig E. Colten, Adam Rome, and Eugene McCann for their comments on an earlier draft of this article. I also thank Betsy Robinson of the Smithsonian Institution for her assistance in obtaining prints of the historical photographs.

Abstract

The physical environment of the George's Creek Valley in western Maryland was altered dramatically during the late nineteenth and early twentieth centuries, as coal mining and associated activities expanded and intensified. Although mineral extraction was the chief agent of change, forest and water resources were also affected by other industrial and commercial activities, as well as by the region's growing population. Examining the environmental alteration that took place in the valley, this work also considers attitudes and motivations that contributed to the transformation.

• Appalachia
• coal mining
• deforestation
• landownership
• water pollution

Additional information

Notes on contributors

Geoffrey L. Buckley

Dr. Buckley is an assistant professor of geography at the Ohio University, Athens, Ohio 45701–2979.