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History · Midlothian

Midlothian’s post office opened in 1892

Most of Midlothian was built recently: 0.0% of its homes predate 1940 and the median home dates from 1975. Below: 4 old photos and papers and maps from 1898 on.

1892first post office
0on the National Register
0.0%homes built before 1940
4old photos & papers
Add an old photoShare a memory
From Midlothian’s archive · credits on each photo
Quick answers

How Midlothian began

When was Midlothian founded?

1892

The Midlothian post office opened in 1892, the earliest record of the town by name.

2020 census: 352134 years
Founding year: the first Midlothian post office (Blevins & Helbock, CC0).The full story ↓

What stands out about Midlothian’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 18987 editions of the USGS map, 1898 to 1998. Watch Midlothian change.
★ What stands out · Help out

Start Midlothian’s collection

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

Decades since 1900 with photos
00s10s20s30s40s50s60s70s80s90s
0 of 10 decades. The empty ones are waiting for someone’s album.
Date a photo4 archive items have no date. Guess the decade.+2Retake an old viewConsolidation Coal Company Mine No. 11,…: stand where they stood+15Share a family photoSign in to add one+10
On the map

Midlothian on the map, 1898 to 1998

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

Midlothian on the 1898 USGS mapMidlothian on the 1901 USGS mapMidlothian on the 1949 USGS mapMidlothian on the 1951 USGS mapMidlothian on the 1974 USGS mapMidlothian on the 1981 USGS mapMidlothian 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 Midlothian.

The story

How Midlothian came to be

From Wikipedia’s history of Midlothian.

Read it all →

The village of Midlothian was the site of the Bowery iron furnaces. These were two coal-fired furnaces built in 1868 by Cumberland Coal and Iron. There was a source of carbonate iron ore on the hill to the northeast, tapped by a tram road. Limestone was available from a hill to the east. The furnaces produced pig iron, and operated from 1874 to 1880. The pig iron was shipped by rail on the C&P via a spur line off the main. The product went to Cumberland.

Text from Wikipedia, licensed CC BY-SA 4.0.

By decade

Midlothian, decade by decade

Date unknown4 to date
Consolidation Coal Company Mine No. 11, East side of State Route 936Date?Consolidation Coal Company Mine No. 11, East side of …Consolidation Coal Company Mine No. 11, Lepley Ventilator, East side of State Route 936Date?Consolidation Coal Company Mine No. 11, Lepley Ventil…Consolidation Coal Company Mine No. 11, Aerovane Fan, East side of State Route 936Date?Consolidation Coal Company Mine No. 11, Aerovane Fan,…Consolidation Coal Company Mine No. 11, Air-Manway Shaft, East side of State Route 936Date?Consolidation Coal Company Mine No. 11, Air-Manway Sh…
Today1 recent
2016-06-25 12 14 43 View north along Maryland State Route 736 (Old Legislative Road) just south of Shaft Road in20162016-06-25 12 14 43 View north along Maryland State R…
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.

Consolidation Coal Company Mine No. 11, East side of State Route 936
Retake this viewConsolidation Coal Company Mine No. 11, East side of State Route 936

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

Retake this view · +15
Famous people

Famous people close to Midlothian

Nobody well known was born in Midlothian itself, so here are the best known from just nearby.

See all →
Edward MooneyCatholic cardinal · b. 1882
Lenore KightAmerican swimmer, Olympic silver medalist · b. 1911
Lefty GroveAmerican baseball player · b. 1900
J. Glenn BeallPolitician and United States Army soldier · b. 1894
Binger HermannAmerican politician · b. 1843
Charles J. ColganPolitician · b. 1926
Stories next door

History across the town line

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

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

Questions about Midlothian’s history

What year was Midlothian founded?

The Midlothian post office opened in 1892, the earliest record of the town by name (U.S. post office records).

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 (4), Wikipedia, U.S. Geological Survey historical maps, the US Post Offices dataset (Blevins & Helbock) and the USGS Geographic Names Information System. Archive images are copied here with their credits and licenses, shown on each photo’s page. Refreshed monthly.