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Allegany County is a county located in the western portion of the U.S. state of Maryland. As of 2000, the population was 74,930. Its county seat is Cumberland. The name Allegany comes from a local Native American word, oolikhanna, which means "beautiful stream." It should be noted that the spelling Allegany County is used in New York as well as in Maryland; Pennsylvania spells a similarly-named county Allegheny County, while Virginia and North Carolina spell theirs Alleghany County.

History

The western part of Maryland (including the present Allegany County) was incorporated into Prince George's County in 1696. This county included six current counties, and by repeated splitting, new ones were generated: Frederick from Prince George's in 1748; and Montgomery and Washington from Frederick in 1776.*

Allegany County was formed in 1789 by the splitting of Washington County. At the time it was the westernmost county in Maryland, but a later (1872) split produced Garrett County, the current westernmost county.

Law and government

Allegany County was granted a home rule form of government in 1974.

Geography

According to the U.S. Census Bureau, the county has a total area of 1,113 km² (430 mi²). 1,102 km² (425 mi²) of it is land and 11 km² (4 mi²) of it (1.02%) is water.

Adjacent Counties

Demographics

As of the census² of 2000, there were 74,930 people, 29,322 households, and 18,883 families residing in the county. The population density was 68/km² (176/mi²). There were 32,984 housing units at an average density of 30/km² (78/mi²). The racial makeup of the county was 93.02% White, 5.35% Black or African American, 0.15% Native American, 0.52% Asian, 0.03% Pacific Islander, 0.19% from other races, and 0.75% from two or more races. 0.76% of the population were Hispanic or Latino of any race.

There were 29,322 households out of which 26.50% had children under the age of 18 living with them, 50.60% were married couples living together, 10.30% had a female householder with no husband present, and 35.60% were non-families. 30.10% of all households were made up of individuals and 15.20% had someone living alone who was 65 years of age or older. The average household size was 2.35 and the average family size was 2.90.

In the county the population was spread out with 20.60% under the age of 18, 11.20% from 18 to 24, 26.80% from 25 to 44, 23.50% from 45 to 64, and 17.90% who were 65 years of age or older. The median age was 39 years. For every 100 females there were 99.20 males. For every 100 females age 18 and over, there were 96.90 males.

The median income for a household in the county was $30,821, and the median income for a family was $39,886. Males had a median income of $31,316 versus $21,334 for females. The per capita income for the county was $16,780. About 9.70% of families and 14.80% of the population were below the poverty line, including 17.70% of those under age 18 and 9.50% of those age 65 or over.

Cities and towns

In Total: 7

Occupying a middle ground between incorporated and unincorporated areas are Special Tax Districts, quasi-municipal unincorporated areas created by legislation passed by the Maryland General Assembly.* They lack home rule authority and must petition the General Assembly for changes affecting the authority of the district. There are eight Special Tax Districts in the county:

  1. Bel Air (1965)
  2. Bowling Green and Robert's Place (1972)
  3. Cresaptown (1949)
  4. Ellerslie (1963)
  5. La Vale Sanitary District (1947)
  6. McCoole (1965)
  7. Mount Savage (1950)
  8. Potomac Park Addition (1947)

  1. Cresaptown-Bel Air (a combination of the communities of Cresaptown and Bel Air recognized as a unit by the Census Bureau)
  2. La Vale

Other unincorporated areas include:

  1. Corriganville
  2. Eckhart Mines
  3. Ellerslie
  4. Flintstone
  5. Little Orleans
  6. McCoole
  7. Midlothian
  8. Mount Savage
  9. Oldtown
  10. Pinto
  11. Rawlings
  12. Spring Gap

Colleges and universities

External links

Maryland counties | Allegany County, Maryland | Potomac River counties | 1789 establishments | National Road

Condado de Allegany (Maryland) | Condado de Allegany (Maryland)

 

This article is licensed under the GNU Free Documentation License. It uses material from the "Allegany County, Maryland".

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