Negro Mountain officially named as testament to bravery

Oct. 13—GRANTSVILLE — More than four years after four road signs were removed, Negro Mountain officially got its name back as Garrett County received its first Black history marker on Thursday.

In 2019, a Maryland State Highway representative told the Cumberland Times-News that department crews removed two signs each from Interstate 68 and U.S. Alternate Route 40.

"We continue to work with the Association for the Study of African American Life and History and the local community to better understand the interests of all stakeholders," they said at the time.

The mountain occupies a 30-mile stretch of the Alleghenies from Deep Creek Lake north to the Casselman River in Pennsylvania.

The Garrett County portion of the ridge reaches 3,075 feet at its peak along U.S. Alternate Route 40. In Somerset County, Pennsylvania, it is the highest point in the state.

The mountain is set along a route that's part of the National Historic Road, which covers 824 miles through six states from Maryland to Illinois.

A new commemorative plaque, titled Negro Mountain African American Historic Site, was recently installed at a pull-off area on National Pike near Zehner Road.

The marker documents the death of a Black frontiersman who marched with British Col. Thomas Cresap "to engage the enemy" on May 24, 1756.

"Unable to cross the Youghiogheny River, they turned back," it states. "Here, they met Native American French-allies and a skirmish ensued."

The Black frontiersman, whose name is not known, was killed while fighting with Cresap, the marker states.

"As a testament to his bravery, Negro Mountain was named after him," it states.

The marker will serve as a permanent reminder that many African Americans played significant roles in colonial Maryland, in addition to being farmhands as portrayed in history books, said Sakima Romero-Chandler, pastor of Dickerson AME Church in Frostburg.

"We're not properly included in written history," she said.

"This can't be easily taken away," Romero-Chandler said of the marker and talked of its meaning.

"(Black people) are more connected to this land than just having worked this land," she said and added that Dickerson AME Church is also set to receive a historical marker from the state.

Romero-Chandler was among roughly 50 people at an unveiling ceremony for the marker on Thursday.

Representatives from the Maryland Historical Trust, Cultural Resources Division of the Maryland Department of Transportation, SHA, Frostburg State University, the Garrett County Historical Society, and other Garrett County officials were at the unveiling, which also included local historian Al Feldstein, and Frostburg Police Chief Nick Costello.

The event was hosted by the Dr. Edna B. McKenzie Branch of the ASALH in Pittsburgh.

The group nominated the site to Maryland's Roadside Historical Marker program, which works to educate the traveling public on Maryland's historical legacy.

MDOT, in partnership with the Maryland Historical Trust, manages the program.

Ronald Saunders, president of the Dr. Edna B. McKenzie Branch ASALH, thanked various individuals and agencies for making sure "the history of Negro Mountain is correct."

Negro Mountain honors "the race of the frontiersman" who fought with Cresap, he said.

"All Maryland residents can take pride," Saunders said.

Artie Lee Travis, vice president of student affairs at Frostburg State University, emceed the ceremony.

"Negro Mountain is part of Maryland's history ... part of America's history," he said.

State Highway Administrator William Pines said the site will educate visitors "for generations to come."

The marker joins others dedicated to heroic and influential African Americans including Frederick Douglass and Harriet Tubman, he said.

Frostburg resident Carmen Jackson, a longtime civil rights advocate and former Allegany County NAACP president, said she was pleased the history behind Negro Mountain was investigated.

"The research is why it is important to me," she said.

Traki Taylor, provost and vice president for academic affairs at FSU, said she was happy to see a diverse crowd at the event.

"This is an important part of American history," she said.

Allegany County NAACP member Rae Ann Smith was raised near the site of the new marker.

"I grew up just down at the bottom of the hill," she said and added that when she was a child, some people used the N-word when referring to Negro Mountain.

Barbara Spencer Dunn is a lifetime member of the Prince George's County Truth Branch of ASALH.

She said the first time she saw the Negro Mountain sign years ago, she was shocked.

"I knew it was some type of honor," Dunn said. "I wanted to know why."

The full story came out after the signs were removed," she said.

"'Negro' is not negative," Dunn said and added she enjoys seeing Negro to describe her mother and great-grandparents on their birth certificates.

Allegany County NAACP President Tifani Fisher said the marker will provide "an explanation of our history."

There's "much work to be done," she said and talked of someone who drove by the ceremony and "yelled a racial slur."

Still, "we were able to create a beautiful moment," Fisher said of the ceremony.

Negro Mountain was originally named to honor an African American, but over generations was labeled with a negative connotation that "made Black people feel not safe," she said.

Racial terror wasn't the intent of naming the mountain, Fisher said.

"That is a story that we have to review in a historical context," she said.

Teresa McMinn is a reporter for the Cumberland Times-News. She can be reached at 304-639-2371 or tmcminn@times-news.com.