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History · Mount Savage

Mount Savage’s post office opened in 1847, and 73% of its homes were built before 1940

2 places in town are on the National Register, among them a historic district with 189 buildings.

1847first post office
2on the National Register
73%homes built before 1940
5famous people
Add an old photoShare a memory
Quick answers

How Mount Savage began

When was Mount Savage founded?

1847

The Mount Savage post office opened in 1847, the earliest record of the town by name. Another post office, Jennon's Run (1840), opened inside today’s town and later closed.

2020 census: 733179 years
Founding year: the first Mount Savage post office (Blevins & Helbock, CC0).

What stands out about Mount Savage’s past

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

A historic districtThe Mount Savage Historic District takes in 189 historic buildings.A history waiting to be writtenNo old photos of Mount Savage are in the public archives yet. The rest are in attics and albums.Old housesHalf of Mount Savage’s homes were built before 1938.Deep rootsA post office since 1847: 179 years of Mount Savage.
★ What stands out · On the National Register

2 listings protect 191 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
191
each building in a district counts
first listed
1983
Mount Savage Historic District
Mount Savage Historic DistrictEvergreen, built 1780
BuildingsDistricts

Architectural styles listings

Bungalow1
Romanesque Revival1
Georgian Revival1
Victorian1
Eastlake1
Foursquare1
Mount Savage Historic DistrictBungalow
EvergreenBuilt 1780

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

Help out

Start Mount Savage’s collection

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

Decades since 1900 with photos
00s10s20s30s40s50s60s70s80s90s
0 of 10 decades. The empty ones are waiting for someone’s album.
Share a family photoSign in to add one+10
The story so far

Mount Savage, in brief

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

Mount Savage is an unincorporated community and census-designated place (CDP) in Allegany County, Maryland, United States. As of the 2010 census it had a population of 873. A small blue-collar community, Mount Savage lies at the base of Big Savage Mountain in the Allegheny Mountains, between the cities of Frostburg and Cumberland. It began as a small farming settlement in the mid-19th century, but it was not until 1844 that the region was put on the nation's map with the pressing of the first iron rail in the United States. After this claim to fame, Mount Savage became the fifth largest city in Maryland. Named as the headquarters for the Mount Savage Railroad and later the Cumberland and Pe…

Its first post office opened in 1847. Between the 2010 and 2020 censuses its population fell from 873 to 733 (-16%).

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

Timeline

Mount Savage, 1780 to 1957

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

  1. 18th century
  2. 1780BuiltEvergreen is built
  3. 19th century
  4. 1840Post officeThe Jennon's Run post office opens
  5. 1847Post officeThe Jennon's Run post office closes
  6. 1847Post officeThe Mount Savage post office opens
  7. 1882Born hereEdward Mooney is born here
  8. 20th century
  9. 1908Born hereLaurence Edmund Allen is born here
  10. 1922Born hereTommy Mont is born here
  11. 1957Born hereKenneth Preston is born here
By decade

Mount Savage, decade by decade

Today6 recent
2016-06-25 08 58 12 View north along Maryland State Route 36 (Mount Savage Road) between Old Row Road and Cobblestone R…20162016-06-25 08 58 12 View north along Maryland State R…Evergreen Heritage Center, people w- award2015Evergreen Heritage Center, people w- awardMD 36 near the Mount Savage Castle2008MD 36 near the Mount Savage CastleMt. Savage Furnace2006Mt. Savage FurnaceMt. Savage Furnace2006Mt. Savage FurnaceMount Savage Castle2000Mount Savage Castle
Famous people

5 famous people were born in Mount Savage

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

See all →
Edward MooneyCatholic cardinal · b. 1882
Kenneth PrestonUS Army soldier · b. 1957
L
Laurence Edmund AllenAmerican journalist · b. 1908
T
Tommy MontAmerican football coach · b. 1922
Theodore N. BarthBishop of the Episcopal Diocese of Tennessee · b. 1898
Places that used to be

Lost post offices

Mount Savage’s post office has been open since 1847. Another post office, Jennon's Run, opened and closed inside today’s town.

Jennon's Run
1840–1847
Mount Savage
1847–today
18401930today

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

Questions about Mount Savage’s history

What year was Mount Savage founded?

The Mount Savage post office opened in 1847, the earliest record of the town by name (U.S. post office records).

What is on the National Register in Mount Savage?

Two places: the Mount Savage Historic District (listed 1983) and the Evergreen (2015).

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 (6), the National Register of Historic Places (2), Wikidata and Wikipedia for famous people, 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.