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History · Lonaconing

Lonaconing’s post office opened in 1837, and 65% of its homes were built before 1940

2 places in town are on the National Register, among them a historic district with 231 buildings. Below: 2 old photos and papers, maps from 1892 on, and the census since 1900.

1837first post office
2on the National Register
65%homes built before 1940
2old photos & papers
4famous people
Add an old photoShare a memory
From Lonaconing’s archive · credits on each photo
Quick answers

How Lonaconing began

When was Lonaconing founded?

1837

The Lonaconing post office opened in 1837, the earliest record of the town by name.

First census: 2,181 in 19002020 census: 1,001189 years
Founding year: the first Lonaconing post office (Blevins & Helbock, CC0).The full story ↓

What stands out about Lonaconing’s past

Read from the archive, the National Register and the record. The page puts what stands out first.

A historic districtThe Lonaconing Historic District takes in 231 historic buildings.A history waiting to be writtenOnly 2 old photos are in the public archives. The rest are in attics and albums.On the map since 18986 editions of the USGS map, 1898 to 1998. Watch Lonaconing change.Old housesHalf of Lonaconing’s homes were built before 1938.
★ What stands out · On the National Register

2 listings protect 231 historic buildings

The country’s official list of buildings and places worth saving.

places listed
2
National Historic Landmarks
0
none yet
historic buildings protected
231
each building in a district counts
first listed
1973
Lonaconing Furnace
Lonaconing FurnaceLonaconing Historic District
DistrictsStructures

Architectural styles listings

Italianate1
Queen Anne1
Romanesque Revival1
Lonaconing FurnaceStructure
Lonaconing Historic DistrictItalianate

National Park Service, National Register of Historic Places. Photos from Wikimedia Commons, credited on each place’s page.

Help out

Start Lonaconing’s collection

The first neighbors to add old photos shape how Lonaconing’s history is told.

Decades since 1900 with photos
00s10s20s30s40s50s60s70s80s90s
2 of 10 decades. The empty ones are waiting for someone’s album.
Retake an old viewLonaconing, Maryland: stand where they stood+15Share a family photoSign in to add one+10
On the map

Lonaconing on the map, 1898 to 1998

Every edition of the U.S. Geological Survey’s map of Lonaconing. Tap a year, or press play to watch the town change.

Lonaconing on the 1898 USGS mapLonaconing on the 1901 USGS mapLonaconing on the 1950 USGS mapLonaconing on the 1974 USGS mapLonaconing on the 1981 USGS mapLonaconing on the 1998 USGS map1898Frostburg sheet · 1:62,500

U.S. Geological Survey historical topographic maps (public domain), via Esri’s collection of the scans. The red ring marks the center of Lonaconing.

The story

How Lonaconing came to be

From Wikipedia’s history of Lonaconing.

Read it all →

The first non-Native American settlers in the late 18th century were explorers, hunters and farmers. Surnames of some of the first settlers were Dye, Duckworth, Green, Grindle, Fazenbaker, Grove, VanBuskirk, Knapp, and Miller. The first stone house, built in 1790, in Knapps Meadow, just north of Lonaconing, was owned by Samuel VanBuskirk. The house still stands and is a private residence as of 2016. [1] The Lonaconing Historic District was listed on the National Register of Historic Places in 1983.

ChaptersLonaconing glassware manufacturersEarly mining railroadsThe Lonaconing Furnace (1836–1855)

Text from Wikipedia, licensed CC BY-SA 4.0.

Timeline

Lonaconing, 1837 to 1910

Woven from the archive, old maps, post office records, the National Register and the people born here.

  1. 19th century
  2. 1837Post officeThe Lonaconing post office opens
  3. 1843Born hereBinger Hermann is born here
  4. 1857Born hereJohn Gardner Murray is born here
  5. 1868Born hereJames Francis McIndoe is born here
  6. 1898On the mapFirst mapped by the U.S. Geological Survey
  7. 20th century
  8. 1900Born hereLefty Grove is born here
  9. 1905In the archiveLonaconing, Maryland
  10. 1910In the archiveReservoir, Lonaconing, Maryland, Postcard, Circa 1910
By decade

Lonaconing, decade by decade

2 decades in the archive, from the 1900s to the 1910s. Scroll each row; tap a photo for its story.

1900s–1910s2 items
Lonaconing, Maryland1905Lonaconing, MarylandReservoir, Lonaconing, Maryland, Postcard, Circa 1910c. 1910Reservoir, Lonaconing, Maryland, Postcard, Circa 1910Postcard
1920s–1990snothing yet
Nothing in the archives for these yearsWeddings on Main Street, storms, parades, school pictures, the old store. If it’s in your family album, it belongs here.
Add from your album
Today2 recent
Lonaconing Furnace2013Lonaconing FurnaceLonaconing Furnace2010Lonaconing Furnace
Every building

Lonaconing, building by building, 1892–1921

Fire insurance maps drew every building, what it was made of and what it was used for, so insurers could price the risk of fire. Pick a year, then a sheet.

Lonaconing fire insurance map, 1892, sheet 11892Sheet 1 of 1
Edition
Sheets
BrickWoodStone

Sanborn Map Company, via the Library of Congress. Editions published in 1930 or earlier, which are in the public domain.

Then & now

Stand where they stood

No then-and-now pairs yet. Take a photo from the same spot as an old one and they appear here side by side.

Lonaconing, Maryland
Retake this viewLonaconing, Maryland, 1905

Find the spot, match the angle, and add your photo. It becomes the first then-and-now pair on Lonaconing’s page.

Retake this view · +15
People over time

Lonaconing, census by census

05001,0001,5002,0002,5001900192019401960198020002020Peak: 2,429

Between 1,001 and 2,429 people in every census since 1900.

13 censuses, 1900–2020.

U.S. Census Bureau decennial counts, from the census table on Lonaconing’s Wikipedia page.

Famous people

4 famous people were born in Lonaconing

Writers, athletes, leaders and more, ranked by how widely they’re known.

See all →
Lefty GroveAmerican baseball player · b. 1900
Binger HermannAmerican politician · b. 1843
James Francis McIndoeUnited States Army general · b. 1868
John Gardner MurrayPresiding Bishop of the Episcopal Church · b. 1857
Places that used to be

Old corners

Lonaconing’s post office has been open since 1837.

Hamlets and corners on the map
Charlestown

US Post Offices dataset (Blevins & Helbock, CC0). Places and cemeteries from the USGS Geographic Names Information System (2021).

Questions about Lonaconing’s history

What year was Lonaconing founded?

The Lonaconing post office opened in 1837, the earliest record of the town by name (U.S. post office records).

What is on the National Register in Lonaconing?

Two places: the Lonaconing Furnace (listed 1973) and the Lonaconing Historic District (1983).

Memory lane

What the archives can’t tell you, neighbors can.

Town Square →
Start a conversation
Sources

Where this page comes from

Founding dates: Wikidata, Wikipedia, the U.S. post office records of Blevins & Helbock (CC0) and the Census. Homes by year built: Census ACS 2020–24. National Register of Historic Places: National Park Service (list of May 22, 2026). Old photos, postcards and papers: Wikimedia Commons, the Library of Congress and other public archives, credited on each item’s page. Maps: U.S. Geological Survey historical topographic maps (via Esri) and Sanborn fire-insurance maps (Library of Congress). History text and census tables: Wikipedia (CC BY-SA 4.0). Places that used to be: USGS Geographic Names Information System (2021). How TownRatings grades history →

From Wikimedia Commons (4), Wikidata (1), the National Register of Historic Places (2), Wikipedia, Wikidata and Wikipedia for famous people, U.S. Geological Survey historical maps, U.S. Census counts (via Wikipedia), the US Post Offices dataset (Blevins & Helbock), the USGS Geographic Names Information System and Sanborn fire insurance maps (Library of Congress). Archive images are copied here with their credits and licenses, shown on each photo’s page. Refreshed monthly.