Jun. 17—CUMBERLAND — A reminder of the city's earlier public-spirited residents will be reborn to bring history within reach of the community.
The Allegany County Historical Society recently submitted to GovDeals.com the winning $156,000 bid for the city-owned 1840s Cumberland Hose Company building at 400 N. Mechanic St.
The historical society plans to use the building for activities, including a discovery center to conduct historical research, artifact analysis and public education events.
The mayor and City Council on Tuesday are expected to approve transfer of the property to the historical society.
"Our excitement is palpable," ACHS President Dave Williams said.
Historically, the volunteer fire company building was the social hub of the neighborhood.
"We have a chance to revitalize that ... recreate that relationship," Williams said.
The first floor of the Mechanic Street building will feature a multi-use space to serve neighborhood families in the long tradition of local volunteer fire halls, he said.
"It's a place where everybody can gather," Williams said. "That's the role of the building in the past and the future."
The second floor will house an archeology lab aimed to uncover Cumberland's buried past, Williams said.
"Our official mission is education," he said. "We want to broaden that to include engagement."
The historical society envisions the firehouse as an anchor for development of the nearby neighborhood, Williams said and added Mechanic Street has a history of artisans and craftsmen, including a comb maker, blacksmiths, pubs and tanneries.
According to the intended use statement for the Mechanic Street property, the ACHS Board of Trustees voted to purchase and renovate the building through a package developed with First United Bank and Trust Center City Cumberland Branch staff Boggs & Company — managers of ACHS Endowment Funds, and private contributions.
ACHS on Wednesday plans to feature a button on its website, alleganycountyhistory.org, where donations can be submitted for the project.
Two former firehouses sold
Ken Tressler, Cumberland's director of administrative services, said the city in the past successfully sold some of its surplus items, including used vehicles and lawnmowers via GovDeals.com.
"We were happy with them and they were telling us about their real estate services as well," he said.
For its first attempt, the city used the company to sell the Mechanic Street property and a former firehouse on Frederick Street.
"We required that they submitted intended uses for the properties," Tressler said.
Initially, the same party wanted both properties, but only submitted the winning bid, $94,000, for Frederick Street.
The Frederick Street property, which was appraised before the sale at roughly $55,000, received 10,433 unique visitors, and 16,887 hits — meaning the number of times visitors scrolled through the online listing's photo and/or documentation.
The Mechanic Street property, appraised at about $76,000, got 15,995 visitors and 27,746 hits.
The GovDeals administrator sent the city an email the day before the auctions closed and there were 254 watchers for the Frederick Street and 365 for the Mechanic Street properties.
"It's more competitive," Tressler said of GovDeals, which provided national exposure for the local properties. "I think that's a good thing for the city of Cumberland."
As part of the sales process, winning bidders for both properties must pay GovDeals a 7.5% fee, which brings the total for ACHS to $167,700.
Tressler said the Mechanic Street property "is in good hands" with the historical society.
"We're happy they got it," he said.
"They are good stewards," Tressler said. "I think it's going to be good for the neighborhood."
Ruth Davis-Rogers, historic planning and preservation, agreed and added she's glad to see the Mechanic and Frederick street properties find new lives.
"If you don't have people in a building, nature will take over very quickly," she said.
History and 'new vibe'
According to a Maryland Historical Trust 1970s architectural survey file provided by Allegany College of Maryland Reference Librarian Barbara Browning, the Cumberland Fire Engine Company, known as the Canada Company, was formed in about 1830 with scant firefighting equipment.
Three years later, a fire destroyed 75 buildings in the heart of downtown.
"In 1837 and 1839 the city gave the volunteer organization a fire engine, four ladders, three hooks, four axes, and thirty dollars towards erecting a house," the documents state.
The company was incorporated in 1840, and the firehouse was completed in 1845 with large double doors and arched windows.
"This is the oldest of a number of firehouses in Cumberland built during the 19th century," the documents state. "The Canada Hose Company building is an outstanding example of 19th century utilitarian civic architecture."
ACHS was founded in 1937 and in 1954 the purchased the 1867 house at 218 Washington Street to use as its headquarters.
"The house soon became the repository for hundreds of items of local and national significance and was named 'History House,'" according to alleganycountyhistory.org.
Today, the organization owns and operates as museums Gordon-Roberts House at 218 Washington Street; F. Brooke Whiting House & Museum, 632 Washington Street; and Union Grove One Room School on Mason Road.
"A big part of the new vibe at (ACHS) is a commitment to present the history of everything in Allegany County," Williams said. "Part of the history of the community is the Historical Society itself."
'Stayed right on budget'
Use plans and funding for the Mechanic Street property were developed by a team that includes the historical society and its longtime collaborator Suzanne Trussell of Oxbow Cultural Research.
The team had been looking for a roomy place to expand their work when the Mechanic Street firehouse became available, said Trussell, an independent subcontractor for ACHS.
"It just felt right," she said. "It just fit."
Trussell plans to be a professional tenant of the building's upstairs, which will focus on archaeology and history.
"Archaeology is space consuming," she said of the need for tables and boxes to clean, study, categorize and store artifacts. "We have the ability to share things real time as they come out of the ground," she said.
Katherine Getty, director of business relationships at First United Bank & Trust in Cumberland, worked with ACHS to establish strategy and a reasonable monetary limit before the bidding process began.
"In any auction situation you want to figure out what your top number is," she said and added that the organization "stayed right on budget."
The goal for the firehouse is a "pretty extensive planning project" that requires ACHS leadership members to be good fiduciaries, Getty said.
"I think they're doing a good job," she said. "I'm really excited for the organization."
Teresa McMinn is a reporter for the Cumberland Times-News. She can be reached at 304-639-2371 or tmcminn@times-news.com.
