Still farther west, nearly a hundred and fifty miles from Baltimore, a few cabins were built by hunters and trappers. The settlement began as Wills Creek. During the French and Indian War, a fort was constructed there called Fort Cumberland and slowly a small town grew around the fort. During the French and Indian War, the Maryland settlers moved back toward Baltimore, and the town was almost abandoned. In 1785, a town was again laid out called Washington Town. Later the name was changed to Cumberland in memory of the fort. Although the town was used as a trading center by the farmers and trappers nearby, it did not grow rapidly at first. The residents living there had to be connected with Baltimore by roads. As you already know, Maryland had few roads and these roads were very poor and in bad weather they were risky to use. Now look again at the All Roads Led to Baltimore map (Activity #1) and circle Frederick, Hagerstown and Cumberland.

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