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–Not graded
History · Midland

Midland dates to 1850, and 43% of its homes were built before 1940

Below: 4 old photos and papers, maps from 1898 on, and the census since 1910.

1850founded
0on the National Register
43%homes built before 1940
4old photos & papers
Add an old photoShare a memory
From Midland’s archive · credits on each photo
Quick answers

How Midland began

When was Midland founded?

1850

Midland dates its founding to 1850 (Wikidata and Wikipedia’s history agree). The census first counted it in 1910.

First census: 1,173 in 19102020 census: 488176 years
Founding year: Wikidata; Wikipedia’s history section gives the same year. First post office: 1891.

What stands out about Midland’s past

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

A history waiting to be writtenOnly 4 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 Midland change.Old housesHalf of Midland’s homes were built before 1961.
★ What stands out · Help out

Start Midland’s collection

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

Decades since 1900 with photos
00s10s20s30s40s50s60s70s80s90s
1 of 10 decades. The empty ones are waiting for someone’s album.
Date a photo1 archive item has no date. Guess the decade.+2Retake an old viewMidland, Maryland: stand where they stood+15Share a family photoSign in to add one+10
On the map

Midland on the map, 1898 to 1998

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

Midland on the 1898 USGS mapMidland on the 1901 USGS mapMidland on the 1950 USGS mapMidland on the 1974 USGS mapMidland on the 1981 USGS mapMidland 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 Midland.

The story so far

Midland, in brief

Wikipedia doesn’t have a history of Midland yet. The photos, dates and memories neighbors add here are how it gets written.

Midland is a town in Allegany County, Maryland, United States, along the Georges Creek Valley. It is part of the Cumberland, MD-WV Metropolitan Statistical Area. As of the 2020 census, Midland had a population of 488. Midland was founded in 1850 as a coal-mining community, though today only some strip mining remains.

Midland was established in 1850. Between the 2010 and 2020 censuses its population grew from 446 to 488 (+9%).

Intro from Wikipedia. Population: U.S. Census Bureau.

Timeline

Midland, 1850 to 1905

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

  1. 19th century
  2. 1850
    FoundingMidland is established
  3. 1891Post officeThe Mullan post office opens
  4. 1894Post officeThe Mullan post office closes
  5. 1894Post officeThe Midland post office opens
  6. 1898On the mapFirst mapped by the U.S. Geological Survey
  7. 20th century
  8. 1905In the archiveMidland, Maryland
By decade

Midland, decade by decade

One decade in the archive so far: the 1900s. Scroll each row; tap a photo for its story.

1900s3 items
Midland, Maryland1905Midland, MarylandOcean No. 11906Ocean No. 1Mine opening Ocean No. 81906Mine opening Ocean No. 8
1910s–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
Date unknown1 to date
Ocean Mine No. 1 Complex, Powerhouse & Ventilation FanDate?Ocean Mine No. 1 Complex, Powerhouse & Ventilation Fan
Every building

Midland, building by building, 1915

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 sheet.

Midland fire insurance map, 1915, sheet 11915Sheet 1 of 1
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.

Midland, Maryland
Retake this viewMidland, Maryland, 1905

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

Retake this view · +15
People over time

Midland, census by census

02004006008001,0001,200192019401960198020002020Peak: 1,173

Between 446 and 1,173 people in every census since 1910.

12 censuses, 1910–2020.

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

Places that used to be

Lost post offices and places now gone

Midland’s post office has been open since 1894. Another post office, Mullan, opened and closed inside today’s town.

Mullan
1891–1894
Midland
1894–today
18901960today
Gone or out of use
Midland Schoolschool

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

Stories next door

History across the town line

Each neighbor’s History grade, on the same three inputs.

GilmoreIts storynot graded: under 1,000 residents or part of its town

Questions about Midland’s history

What year was Midland founded?

In 1850, according to Wikidata and Wikipedia’s history of the town. Midland’s post office opened in 1891, and the census of 1910 counted 1,173 people here.

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 (1), the Library of Congress (3), 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.