06/03/2026
Thank you, Frederick Magazine
Cumberland’s Revival Comes with Some Frederick Flavor
By Guy Fletcher
CUMBERLAND—Tucked between two Appalachian Mountain ridges, this city of just 18,000 today still wears some of the signs from its mammoth industrial past, while offering a glimpse of a promising future.
Indeed, the “Queen City” was once a dominant transportation hub in Western Maryland that boasted the C&O Canal, a burgeoning railroad industry and a booming urban footprint that put Cumberland on par with large metropolitan areas.
Now, a $16.5-million renovation to its main drag is giving Cumberland a boost as destination for both tourists and new businesses.
“We did a complete renovation downtown, and it was needed,” says Becky McClarran, a local businesswoman and marketing chair for the Downtown Cumberland Business Association, a nonprofit that promotes the area as the cultural, retail and professional heart of the city.
Like many cities’ downtown business districts in the 1970s (including Frederick’s), Cumberland’s was suffering from shifting economic winds that left empty storefronts and businesses shuttered. In response, Cumberland did what many communities across the United States did: It created a pedestrian mall, closing three blocks of Baltimore Street to traffic.
It worked, for some time. But the pedestrian mall model wasn’t enough to combat suburban shopping centers and changing retail trends. There were also complaints about accessibility and the logistical challenges of operating businesses without street traffic. Nationwide, 85 percent of all pedestrian malls reopened to traffic by the 1990s.
“When [the pedestrian mall] opened, it was what we needed to do,” McClarran explains. “Now, it’s what we didn’t need to do.”
Enter Frederick’s Cochran Studio, led by well-known urban artist William Cochran, which was contracted to transform the old pedestrian mall into a vibrant, thriving commercial space. Construction began in 2022 and was completed by 2024.
Adopting what Cochran calls a “living street” model, Baltimore Street is now a curbless, one-way single lane of traffic winding by wide sidewalks filled with plenty of new trees and other landscaping. Billed as the nation’s first artist-designed streetscape, it has been praised as a world-class example of sustainable public space. The beautification also allowed Cumberland to upgrade its electrical and internet infrastructure in the area.
“Sometimes you have to reinvent yourself and we did,” McClarran says. “It’s a whole new look for downtown Cumberland.”
Many once-empty storefronts now offer a variety of international dining options, several shops and boutiques have opened in recent years, and the Wills Hotel offers lodging right on Baltimore Street in a renovated Victorian-era building.
Like Frederick, Cumberland’s historic downtown buildings feature ornate architecture and names of the popular stores they once housed. Those businesses are gone, but the buildings have been repurposed into coffee shops and restaurants, office space and apartments. More are on the way.
“We’re seeing that kind of energy coming in,” McClarran says.
Beyond downtown, there is much to see and do in Cumberland and surrounding Allegany County, with some 300,000 visitors annually taking it such popular sights as the Western Maryland Scenic Railroad, Canal Place Heritage Area and numerous opportunities for outdoor enthusiasts, including hiking, biking and kayaking.
For more information about visiting Cumberland and Allegany County, go to www.mdmountainside.com.
