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94-596: Allegheny Highlands may refer to: Allegheny Mountains Allegheny Highlands Council Topics referred to by the same term [REDACTED] This disambiguation page lists articles associated with the title Allegheny Highlands . If an internal link led you here, you may wish to change the link to point directly to the intended article. Retrieved from " https://en.wikipedia.org/w/index.php?title=Allegheny_Highlands&oldid=1053042611 " Category : Disambiguation pages Hidden categories: Short description

188-493: A tundra , with lower temperatures, numerous conifer trees, and large mammals, such as mammoths and saber-toothed tigers. Eventually, the climate began to warm up again, the large mammals started to disappear, and the vegetation seen more often today began to flourish. These climatic changes made life more sustainable for the Native Americans. They continued to invent new weapons and made advancements in agriculture until

282-502: A cave bat . Bobcat , snowshoe hare , wild boar and black bear and coyote are also found in the forests and parks of the Alleghenies. Mink and beaver are much less often seen. These mountains and plateau have over 20 species of reptiles represented as lizard, skink, turtle and snake. Some of the icterid birds visit the mountains as well as the hermit thrush and wood thrush . North American migrant birds live throughout

376-569: A dispute over the extent of lands belonging to either Thomas Fairfax, 6th Lord Fairfax of Cameron or to the English Privy Council . An expedition of 1736 by John Savage established the location of the source of the North Branch Potomac River . In March 1742, a frontiersman named John Howard—along with his son and others—had been commissioned by Governor Gooch to explore the southwest of Virginia as far as

470-674: A lesser extent, British stock. The Braddock Road was superseded by the Cumberland Road —also called the National Road—one of the first major improved highways in the United States to be built by the federal government . Construction began in 1811 at Cumberland and the road reached Wheeling, Virginia (now West Virginia) on the Ohio River in 1818. Just to the south, the state-funded Staunton and Parkersburg Turnpike

564-617: A little over seven dozen cave invertebrates. The indigenous people inhabiting the Allegheny Mountains emerged from the greater region's archaic and mound building cultures , particularly the Adena and Eastern Woodland peoples with a later Hopewellian influence. These Late Middle Woodland culture people have been called the Montaine (c. A.D. 500 to 1000) culture. Their neighbors, the woodland Buck Garden culture, lived in

658-566: A lower Greenbrier Valley map during the earlier decades of the 18th century. As early as 1719, new arrivals from Europe began to cross the lower Susquehanna River and settle illegally in defiance of the Board of Property in Pennsylvania, on un-warranted land of the northeastern drainage rivers of the Allegheny Mountains. Several Indian Nations requested the removal of "Maryland Intruders". Some of these moved onward as territory opened up beyond

752-535: A major disaster relief effort. Support for victims came from all over the United States and 18 foreign countries. After the flood, survivors suffered a series of legal defeats in their attempts to recover damages from the dam's owners. Public indignation at that failure prompted the development in American law changing a fault -based regime to strict liability . In the 1920s and '30s, Allegheny highways were extensively paved to provide access for automobiles. From

846-687: A military trail— Braddock Road —was blazed and opened by the Ohio Company in 1751. (It followed an earlier Indian and pioneer trail known as Nemacolin's Path .) Braddock Road connected Cumberland, Maryland (the upper limit of navigation on the Potomac River) and the forks of the Ohio River (the future Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania ). It received its name from the British leader of the French and Indian War (1754–63), General Edward Braddock , who led

940-578: A possible Fort Ancient (c. AD 850 to 1680) presence during the 15th century. Washington Boro ceramics have been found on the Barton (18AG3) and Llewellyn (18AG26) sites in Maryland on the northeastern slopes of the late Susquehannock sequence. The early Monongahela (c. AD 900 to 1630) are called the Drew Tradition in Pennsylvania. According to archeologist Richard L. George: "I believe that some of

1034-470: A second level United States physiographic region , covering parts of the states of New York, Pennsylvania , Ohio , Maryland , West Virginia , Virginia , Kentucky , Tennessee , Alabama , and Georgia . The formation of the plateau began during the Paleozoic Era. Regional uplift during this time caused the area to rise altogether without changing the topography of the land. The eastern side of

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1128-596: Is a series of rugged dissected plateaus located on the western side of the Appalachian Mountains . The Appalachian Mountains are a range that run from Nova Scotia in Canada to Alabama in the United States. The Appalachian Plateau is the northwestern part of the Appalachian Highlands physiographic division of the United States, stretching from New York state to Alabama . The plateau is

1222-617: Is at the Mason–Dixon line and the southern is at the West Virginia-Virginia border on Peters Mountain . The bedrock of the Alleghenies is mostly sandstone and metamorphosed sandstone, quartzite , which is extremely resistant to weathering. Prominent beds of resistant conglomerate can be found in some areas, such as the Dolly Sods . When it weathers, it leaves behind a pure white quartzite gravel. The rock layers of

1316-608: Is derived from the Allegheny River , which drains only a small portion of the Alleghenies in west-central Pennsylvania. The meaning of the word, which comes from the Lenape (Delaware) Native Americans, is not definitively known but is usually translated as "fine river". The closest approximation which makes sense is some context from the Jesuit Relations showing that Alligeh was one of several accepted renderings of

1410-549: Is different from Wikidata All article disambiguation pages All disambiguation pages Allegheny Mountains The Alleghenies comprise the rugged western-central portion of the Appalachians . They rise to approximately 4,862 feet (1,482 m) in northeastern West Virginia. In the east, they are dominated by a high, steep escarpment known as the Allegheny Front . In the west, they slope down into

1504-546: Is estimated that there is around 2,000 species of flora within the Appalachia region. Flowers vary due to elevation and climate of the area of Appalachia region. Different types of flowers in the northern and southern sections of the Appalachia. Flowers such as rhododendron , azalea and mountain laurel can be found in southern regions while up north trees will bear serviceberry , redbud , sourwood , and many others. Fauna such as bison and wolves used to be native to

1598-647: Is managed by the U.S. Forest Service .) The Alleghenies also include a number of federally designated wilderness areas , such as the Dolly Sods Wilderness , Laurel Fork Wilderness , and Cranberry Wilderness in West Virginia. The mostly completed Allegheny Trail , a project of the West Virginia Scenic Trails Association since 1975, runs the length of the range within West Virginia. The northern terminus

1692-546: Is still served by a rather sparse secondary highway system and remains considerably lower in population density than surrounding regions. In the telecommunications field, a unique impediment to development in the central Allegheny region is the United States National Radio Quiet Zone (NRQZ), a large rectangle of land—about 13,000 square miles (34,000 km )—that straddles the border area of Virginia and West Virginia. Created in 1958 by

1786-634: Is the Upper Silurian evaporate basin , or basin of chemically formed sedimentary rocks. The Plateau fold belt consists of structurally complex Paleozoic strata which were thrust faulted over the younger evaporates. When the Appalachian mountains were formed, the plateau was lifted. Ridges and valleys all die down underneath the plateau. There are multiple valleys throughout the region which consist of exposed areas of limestone and shale. Archaeologists have evidence that Native Americans in

1880-417: Is why it is so hard for researchers to determine when they settled in this area. Much like many historic Native American tribes, the early Appalachian inhabitants survived as nomads, following their food on a seasonal basis. Around this period, North America was still recuperating from its last glacial period , and the climate was very different from the present. The climate and habitat more closely resembled

1974-636: The Federal Communications Commission , the NRQZ severely restricts all omnidirectional and high-power radio transmissions, although cell phone service is allowed throughout much of the area. Much of the Monongahela (West Virginia), George Washington (West Virginia, Virginia) and Jefferson (Virginia) National Forests lie within the Allegheny Mountains. (No part of the wooded Alleghenies in Maryland or Pennsylvania, however,

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2068-638: The Interstate Highway System was extended into the northern portion of the Alleghenies, and the region is now served by a network of federal expressways— Interstates 80 , 70 / 76 and 68 . Interstate 64 traverses the southern extremity of the range, but the Central Alleghenies (the "High Alleghenies" of eastern West Virginia) have posed special problems for highway planners owing to the region's very rugged terrain and environmental sensitivities (see Corridor H ). This region

2162-622: The Iroquois , Shawnee , Delaware , Catawba and others, for purposes of trade , hunting and, especially, warfare . Western Virginia " Cherokee " were reported at Cherokee Falls , today's Valley Falls of the Tygart Valley . Indian trader Charles Poke's trading post dates from 1731 with the Calicuas of Cherokee Falls still in the region from the previous century. The "London Scribes" (The Crown's taxation records) vaguely mentions

2256-535: The Pennsylvanian Age . The plateau was subjected to glaciation during the Pleistocene ice age . As a result, the topography of this section of the plateau is relatively flat in comparison to the rest of the physiographic province. This portion of the plateau is marked with evidence of a glaciated past including bogs , lakes, and small hills of sand and gravel. The topography of the rest of the plateau

2350-851: The Philadelphia and Columbia Railroad , the Allegheny Portage Railroad and the Pennsylvania Canal system. Lying astride the border separating the Union and Confederacy , the Alleghenies were among the areas most directly affected by the American Civil War (1861–1865). One of the earliest campaigns of the War was fought for control of the Staunton and Parkersburg Turnpike and for the access it provided to

2444-583: The Riviere de la Ronceverte . The " Kanawha Madonna " may date from this period or earlier. Where the New River breaks through Peters' Mountain, near Pearisburg Virginia the 1671 journal mentions the "Moketans had formerly lived". According to a number of early 17th century maps, the Messawomeake or "Mincquas" (Dutch) occupied the northern Allegheny Mountains. The "Shatteras" (an ancient Tutelo) occupied

2538-720: The Tug Fork river running along its western flank. The land to the south and to the west of the Alleghenies is the Valley and Ridge physiographic province. The eastern edge of the Alleghenies is marked by the Allegheny Front , which is also sometimes considered the eastern terminus of the Allegheny Plateau . This great escarpment roughly follows a portion of the Eastern Continental Divide in this area. A number of impressive gorges and valleys drain

2632-482: The ecosystems within the Alleghenies are remarkably varied. In recent decades, the many stages of ecologic succession throughout the area have made the region one of enduring interest to botanists. The larger megafauna which once inhabited the High Alleghenies— elk , bison , mountain lion —were all exterminated during the 19th century. They survived longer in this area, however, than in other parts of

2726-688: The "Salt Village" below the Kanawha Falls , but, that simply the "Mehetan" were associated with these. He explained, below the "Salt Villages", a mass of hostile Indians had, implied, arrived and some believe these to be "Shanwans" of Vielles Expedition of 1692~94, ancient Shawnee. In 1669, John Lederer of Maryland for the Virginia Colony and the Tennessee Cherokee had visited the mouth of the Kanawha and reported no hostilities on

2820-619: The 1950s to 1992, the United States government maintained a top secret continuity program known as Project Greek Island at The Greenbrier hotel in the Alleghenies of southern West Virginia. In August 1963, at the March on Washington for Jobs and Freedom , Dr. Martin Luther King Jr. referenced the Alleghenies—among several in an evocative list of mountains—in his famous " I Have a Dream " speech, when he said "Let freedom ring from

2914-558: The A.D. 1300 Luray phase ( Algonquian ) peoples' "invasion". It is thought that these ancient Alleghenians were pushed from the classic Huffman Phase of the eastern slopes of the Alleghenies to the Blue Ridge Mountains in western Virginia , which was eastern Siouan territory. In 1669, John Lederer and members of his party became the first Europeans to crest the Blue Ridge Mountains and the first to see

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3008-647: The Alleghenies for the first time. In the following decades, pioneer settlers arrived in the Alleghenies, especially during Colonial Virginia's Robert Dinwiddie era (1751–58). These included squatters by the Quit-rent Law. Some had preceded the official surveyors using a "hack on the tree and field of corn" marking land ownership approved by the Virginia Colonial Governor who had to be replaced with Governor John Murray, 4th Earl of Dunmore . Trans-Allegheny travel had been facilitated when

3102-556: The Alleghenies were formed during the Appalachian orogeny . Because of intense freeze-thaw cycles in the higher Alleghenies, there is little native bedrock exposed in most areas. The ground surface usually rests on a massive jumble of sandstone rocks, with air space between them, that are gradually moving down-slope. The crest of the Allegheny Front is an exception, where high bluffs are often exposed. Mineral springs in

3196-532: The Alleghenies. The first permanent European settlers west of the Alleghenies have traditionally been considered to have been two New Englanders: Jacob Marlin and Stephen Sewell, who arrived in the Greenbrier Valley in 1749. They built a cabin together at what would become Marlinton, West Virginia , but after disputing over religion, Sewell moved into a nearby hollowed-out sycamore tree. In 1751, surveyor John Lewis (father of Andrew Lewis ) discovered

3290-845: The Alleghenies: to the east, Smoke Hole Canyon ( South Branch Potomac River ), and to the west the New River Gorge and the Blackwater and Cheat Canyons . Thus, about half the precipitation falling on the Alleghenies makes its way west to the Mississippi and half goes east to Chesapeake Bay and the Atlantic seaboard. The highest ridges of the Alleghenies are just west of the Front, which has an east/west elevational change of up to 3,000 feet (910 m). Absolute elevations of

3384-759: The Allegheny Highlands reach nearly 5,000 feet (1,500 m), with the highest elevations in the southern part of the range. The highest point in the Allegheny Mountains is Spruce Knob (4,863 ft; 1,482 m), on Spruce Mountain in West Virginia . Other notable Allegheny highpoints include Thorny Flat on Cheat Mountain (4,848 ft; 1,478 m), Bald Knob on Back Allegheny Mountain (4,842 ft; 1,476 m), and Mount Porte Crayon (4,770 ft; 1,450 m), all in West Virginia; Dans Mountain (2,898 ft; 883 m) in Maryland, Backbone Mountain (3,360 ft; 1,020 m),

3478-566: The Allegheny Mountains run about 300 miles (480 km). From west to east, at their widest, they are about 100 miles (160 km). When combining the Allegheny Province with the Kanawa Province, they run 400 miles (640 km). The USGS physiographic classification of all land in the United States lists the Allegheny Mountains as a section within the larger Appalachian Plateau province. It may be generally defined to

3572-655: The Appalachia region. Abundant mushroom and lichen can be found including chanterelle , oyster mushroom and rock tripe . The Appalachian Plateau has a vast array of natural resources throughout its rugged landscape. Within these resources, there are many sedimentary substances. In the valleys of the Appalachian Plateau there is an abundance of limestone . This limestone is still mined for cement and aggregate. Due to excessive mining over time, limestone fields are depleted in many areas but some are still relatively plentiful. Ironstone and coal are also among

3666-483: The Appalachian Plateau falls under the classification of Appalachian Highlands because of those similar characteristics. The rock underlying the Appalachian Plateau consists of a base of Precambrian rock, overlain by sedimentary rock from the Paleozoic Era . On top of the basement is a thick layer, approximately 20,000 feet, of a mixture of Cambrian , Ordovician , and Middle Silurian rock. This rock consists of shale , siltstone , and sandstone . Above this layer

3760-428: The Appalachian Plateau region great biodiversity. To the north are many conifers, such as red spruce and balsam fir which can be seen growing at the northernmost latitudes of the Appalachian region. In the northern sections of the plateau at lower elevations you can find northern hardwoods , such as sugar maple and white oak . In southern Appalachia, growth of sycamore , walnut , and hickory trees are common. It

3854-646: The Appalachian Plateau region include the Southern Appalachian Forest Coalition and the Northern Forest Alliance. Ultimately, experts and researchers say the best way to continue protecting the Appalachian region is to incorporate conservation into public education so that people understand and support the benefits of conserving the lands. The Appalachian region is home to a wide variety of plant and animal life due to its vast array of climate and conditions giving

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3948-473: The Appalachian region but have vanished. Elk have been reintroduced in some regions, having died out due to overhunting and habitat destruction previously. Throughout all of the Appalachian Plateau region there is an abundance of fox, raccoon, wild boar, black bears, white-tailed deer, and beaver. Researchers also found there to be over 200 species of game and songbirds including wild turkey, heron, geese, hawks, ducks and many more. Fungi are also prominent in

4042-512: The Appalachian region's forest was at full-scale with the invention of the railroad, saw-mills, and clear-cutting of trees. This caused major flooding and wildfires to the region and destroyed keystone species across the region. Realizing that the destruction of the forest was becoming a major issue, the government passed the Weeks Act of 1911, which allowed the federal government to purchase private land in order to protect rivers and watersheds in

4136-622: The B&;O Railroad. The Battle of Rich Mountain (July 11, 1861) gave the Federals control of the turnpike, of Tygart's Valley, and of all of the territory of western Virginia to the north and west, including the railroad. (Union General George McClellan 's victory in this theater would ultimately bring him promotion to commander the Army of the Potomac .) The Federals fortified at Cheat Summit , and

4230-574: The B&O traversed the Alleghenies, changing the economy and society of the Mountains forever. The B&O had reached Martinsburg, (West) Virginia by May 1842, Hancock, (West) Virginia , by June, Cumberland, Maryland, on November 5, 1842, Piedmont, (West) Virginia on July 21, 1851, and Fairmont, (West) Virginia on June 22, 1852. (It finally reached its Ohio River terminus at Wheeling, (West) Virginia on January 1, 1853.) The Chesapeake and Ohio Canal — also begun in 1828, but at Georgetown —

4324-468: The Confederates established strongholds at Camp Bartow and Camp Allegheny . Here they faced each other warily through the fall of 1861 and the following winter. General Robert E. Lee 's attempt to attack Cheat Summit Fort (September 12–15, 1861) and Federal attempts to attack Bartow and Allegheny, all failed to change the strategic stalemate. Finally, the harsh, high elevation winter achieved what

4418-596: The Europeans arrived in North America. Europeans settled in North America beginning in the seventeenth century. In 1749, Jacob Martin and Steven Sewell were the first Europeans known to settle the Appalachian Plateau, specifically in what is now Pocahontas County, West Virginia . European colonization and competition with the Native Americans resulted in high mortality due to new diseases, as well as more deaths and social disruption due to warfare. After pushing out

4512-744: The High Alleghenies attracted Native Americans and 18th century white settlers and provided a modest incentive to the local economy. The spas developing around these geological features include celebrated resorts that continue to cater to an exclusive clientele, such as The Greenbrier ( White Sulphur Springs, West Virginia ; hotel built 1858) and The Homestead ( Hot Springs, Virginia ; original lodge built 1766). The High Alleghenies are noted for their forests of red spruce , balsam fir , and mountain ash , trees typically found much farther north. Hardwood forests also include yellow birch , sugar and red maple , eastern hemlock , and black cherry . American beech , pine and hickory can also be found. The forests of

4606-443: The Mississippi River. Following Cedar Creek through the Natural Bridge , they floated in buffalo-skin boats down the New , Coal , Kanawha , and Ohio Rivers to the Mississippi. Although captured by the French before he reached Natchez , Howard was eventually released and (in 1745) was interviewed by Fairfax. Howard's description of the South Branch Potomac River resulted in the definite decision by Fairfax to secure his lands in

4700-440: The Monongahela were of Algonquin origin.... Other scholars have suggested that Iroquoian speakers were interacting with Late Monongahela people, and additional evidence is presented to confirm this. I conclude that the archaeologically conceived term, Monongahela, likely encompasses speakers of several languages, including Siouan." According to Dr Maslowski of West Virginia in 2009: "The New River Drainage and upper Potomac represents

4794-419: The Montaine sites in the Tygart Valley . Small groups of Montaine people appear to have lingered much beyond their classically defined period in parts of the most mountainous valleys. The watershed of the Monongahela River is within the northwestern Alleghenies, and it is from it that the Monongahela culture takes its name. The Godwin-Portman site (36AL39) located in Allegheny County, Pennsylvania , had

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4888-430: The Native Americans, the European American settlers developed much of this land for agriculture. From 1861 to 1865, the Appalachian Plateau suffered from the American Civil War , but in comparison to many other parts of the country, little damage was done. During the war, Union forces gained control over a majority of the plateau, and afterwards that possession was not challenged. Only three noteworthy battles occurred in

4982-410: The Ouasioto Mountains and the earliest term Canaraguy (Kanawhans otherwise Canawest ) on the 1671 French map occupied the southerly Alleghenies. They were associated with the Allegheny "Cherokee" and Eastern Siouan as trade-movers and canoe transporters. The Calicuas, an ancient most northern Cherokee, migrated or was pushed from the Central Ohio Valley onto the north eastern slopes of the Alleghenies of

5076-420: The Railroad had already arrived eight years before. Debt-ridden, the Canal company dropped its plan to continue construction of the next 180 miles (290 km) of the Canal into the Ohio Valley. The company had long realized—especially with the difficult experience of digging the Paw Paw Tunnel —that the original plan of construction over the mountains and all the way down the Youghiogheny River to Pittsburgh

5170-491: The Shenandoah Valley and the Allegheny Mountains beyond. The proto-historic Alleghenies can be exampled by the earliest journals of the colonists. According to Batts and Fallows' September, 1671 Expedition, they found Mehetan Indians of Mountain "Cherokee-Iroquois" mix on the New River tributaries. This journal does not identify the "Salt Village", but, that the "Mehetan" were associated with these and today thought to be " Monetons ", Siouans. However, this journal does not identify

5264-432: The United States lived in the Appalachian region more than 12,000 years ago; however, it is hard to say exactly when the occupants first inhabited the land. Human artifacts were collected near the Meadowcroft Rockshelter in southern Pennsylvania that were at least 16,000 years old. Because the early Native Americans were hunter-gatherers living off the land, they left little material traces of their lives behind them. This

5358-474: The United States. The Appalachian Plateau is a province of the physiographic region of the Appalachian Highlands . The Appalachian Plateau province is divided into seven physiographic sections: Mohawk, Catskill , Southern New York , Allegheny Mountains , Kanawha , Cumberland Plateau , and the Cumberland Mountains . Each section is classified under the Appalachian Plateau province because of its similarities in geologic makeup, topography, and wildlife. Likewise,

5452-481: The ancient Messawomeake, Iroquois tradesmen to 1630s Kent Island, by 1710 maps. Sometime before 1712, the Canawest ("Kanawhans"-"Canallaway"-"Canaragay") had moved to the upper Potomac and made a Treaty with the newly established trading post of Fort Conolloway which would become a part of western Maryland during the 1740s. Prior to European exploration and settlement, trails through the Alleghenies had been transited for many generations by American Indian tribes such as

5546-434: The closely associated Allegheny Plateau , which extends into Ohio and Kentucky . The principal settlements of the Alleghenies are Altoona , State College , and Johnstown, Pennsylvania ; and Cumberland, Maryland . Using the USGS classification of physical geography ( physiography ), the Allegheny Mountain range is part of the Appalachian Plateau province of the Appalachian Highlands physiographic division. The name

5640-419: The colonial Alleghenian location of only a few other early colonial trading locations. A general knowledge of these few outposts are more of traditional telling of some local people. However, an example is the "Van Metre" trading house mentioned in an earlier edition of the "Wonderful West Virginia Magazine" being on the South Branches of the upper reaches of the Potomac. Another very early trading house appears on

5734-445: The eastern United States. The first purchase under this act was the Pisgah National Forest . In 1964, the Wilderness Act expanded protections for millions of acres of federal land, such as the Shining Rock and Linville Gorge . The 1975 Eastern Wilderness Act created expanded protected areas in North Carolina, Virginia, and Tennessee. Today, close to 21% of the region is protected. Conservation groups that are dedicated to preserving

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5828-507: The eastern United States. Naturalist John James Audubon reported that by 1851 a few eastern elk ( Cervus canadensis canadiensis ) could still be found in the Alleghany Mountains but that by then they were virtually gone from the remainder of their range. Mammals in the Allegheny region today include whitetail deer , chipmunk , raccoon , skunk , groundhog , opossum , weasel , field mouse , flying squirrel , cottontail rabbit , gray foxes , red foxes , gray squirrels , red squirrels and

5922-521: The entire region are now almost all second- or third-growth forests , the original trees having been removed in the late 19th and (in West Virginia) early 20th centuries. The wild onion known as the ramp ( Allium tricoccum ) is also present in the deeper forests. Certain isolated areas in the High Alleghenies are well known for their open expanses of sphagnum bogs and heath shrubs (e.g., Dolly Sods , Cranberry Glades ). Many plant communities are indeed similar to those of sea-level eastern Canada. But

6016-480: The heightening Alleghenies of Pennsylvania!" The Flight 93 National Memorial is located at the site of the crash of United Airlines Flight 93 —which was hijacked in the September 11 attacks —in Stonycreek Township, Pennsylvania , about 2 miles (3.2 km) north of Shanksville . The memorial honors the passengers and crew of Flight 93, who stopped Al-Qaeda terrorists from reaching their intended target. Appalachian Plateau The Appalachian Plateau

6110-463: The highest peaks located in the Cumberland Mountains. A physiographic region is a large portion of land that is grouped by several factors. Each region has similar geology, topography , and groups of plants and animals. There are eight physiographic regions in the United States . Each region is divided into provinces, there are 25 provinces in the United States. Each region is then divided into sections, creating 85 different physiographic sections in

6204-404: The highest point in Maryland; Mount Davis (3,213 ft; 979 m), the highest point in Pennsylvania, and the second highest, Blue Knob (3,146 ft; 959 m). There are very few sizable cities in the Alleghenies. The four largest are (in descending order of population): Altoona , State College , Johnstown (all in Pennsylvania) and Cumberland (in Maryland). In the 1970s and '80s,

6298-435: The ill-fated Braddock expedition four years later. In addition to the war, hunting and trading with Indians were primary motivations for white movement across the mountains. Permanent white settlement of the northern Alleghenies was facilitated by the explorations and stories of such noted Marylanders as the Indian fighter and trader Thomas Cresap (1702–90) and the backwoodsman and hunter Meshach Browning (1781–1859). In

6392-448: The late 18th century, a massive migration to the Monongahela River basin took place over three main routes: along the old Braddock Road via Winchester, Virginia ; through the Shenandoah Valley to the head of the Cheat River and from there to the Monongahela; and along the Lincoln Highway to Ligonier, Pennsylvania , and thence along Jacob's Creek to the Monongahela. These immigrants were predominantly Scotch-Irish , German , and, to

6486-406: The lower streams of the Alleghenies. The Mohetan representative through a Siouan translator explained to Mr Batts and Mr Fallon, Colonel Abraham Woods explorers 1671–2, that he (Moheton Native American ) could not say much about the people below the "Salt Village" because they (Mountain Cherokee) were not associated with them. The Mohetan was armed by this time of 1671 for the Mohetan Representative

6580-411: The mines. Among the terrible coal incidents was the Monongah mining disaster of 1907. Protecting the Appalachian Region from damage of human influence has been important in the modern era. Conservationists have been fighting to preserve the wildlife in the Appalachia region . The region has proved that with good care, the flora and fauna can be very resilient. However, back in 1890, the destruction of

6674-573: The mountains during the warmer seasons. Occasionally, osprey and eagles can be found nesting along the streams. The hawks and owls are the most common birds of prey . The water habitats of the Alleghenies hold 24 families of fish. Amphibian species number about 21, among them hellbenders , lungless salamanders , and various toads and frogs . The Alleghenies provide habitat for about 54 species of common invertebrate . These include Gastropoda , slugs , leech , earthworms and grub worm . Cave crayfish ( Cambarus nerterius ) live alongside

6768-580: The name of the Erie people among the early 17th century missionaries among the Native peoples throughout the eastern Great Lakes region, along with Rique, Yenresh and Erichronon. The suffix -ni means "of the," in Lenape, despite the irony that geh is also Iroquoian for "of the." So, most likely, Alligehni, or Oligini, would probably be the Lenape name for the original homeland of the Erie people. The word "Allegheny"

6862-473: The pair. Sewell eventually settled on the eastern side of Sewell Mountain, near present-day Rainelle, West Virginia . They may well have been the first to settle what was then called the "western waters"— i.e. , in the regions where streams flowed westward to the Gulf of Mexico rather than eastward to the Atlantic. Among the first whites to penetrate into the Allegheny Mountains were surveyors attempting to settle

6956-550: The plateau appears as a mountain range. This false appearance is due to a very steep slope on the eastern side known as the Allegheny Front . The eastern edge is the highest part of the Appalachian Plateau. In Pennsylvania , the elevation ranges from 1,750 to 3,000 feet and continues to rise toward West Virginia , where the elevation is around 4,800 feet. From West Virginia to Tennessee , the elevation lowers to 3,000 feet and continues slanting downward to 1,000 feet in Alabama . On

7050-414: The plateau region during the war, so not much of the land was destroyed. After the war, the coal industry boomed. Many counties in the Appalachian Plateau region, such as McDowell County, West Virginia , became dominated by coal mining. Coal mining towns were created, and many immigrants were attracted to the region for work. Although mining was good for the economy, deaths were high in the harsh work of

7144-445: The plentiful natural resources found. In different regions of the Appalachian Plateau, enough plant debris accumulated to form peat, which upon burial, compaction and heating was made into the coal of the Appalachian coalfields. Due to the abundant coal in the Appalachian Plateau, coal mining has been a staple of the area and has proved to be a very successful mining hub. Iron ore was once an extremely abundant natural resource but due to

7238-499: The range of the Huffman Phase (Page) hunting and gathering area or when it is found in small amounts on village sites, trade ware or Page women being assimilated into another village (tribe)." Finally, according to Prof Potter of Virginia, they [the people represented by the Huffman Phase of Page pottery] had occupied the eastern slopes of the Alleghenies on the upper Potomac to the northern, lower Shenandoah Valley region before

7332-405: The region, but most of the revenues flowed out of the mountains to the cities of the eastern seaboard where the captains of industry were headquartered. This inequity created a bitter legacy that would last for generations and form the foundation of the mountaineers' poverty and the area's immense environmental degradation . The most momentous disaster to afflict the people of the Alleghenies

7426-671: The region. An expedition under Peter Jefferson and Thomas Lewis in the following year emplaced the " Fairfax Stone " at the source of the North Branch and established a line of demarcation (the " Fairfax Line ") extending from the stone south-east to the headwaters of the Rappahannock River . Lewis' journal of that expedition provides a valuable view of the Allegheny country before its settlement. Jefferson and Joshua Fry 's "Fry-Jefferson Map" of 1751 accurately depicted

7520-532: The reservoir known as Lake Conemaugh . (This body of water had been built as part of the Main Line of Public Works , then abandoned.) With a flow rate that temporarily equalled that of the Mississippi River , the flood killed 2,209 people and caused US$ 17 million of damage (about $ 425 million in 2012 dollars). The American Red Cross , led by Clara Barton and with 50 volunteers, undertook

7614-634: The south by the Allegheny Front , and to the east by the Susquehanna River valley. To the west, the Alleghenies grade down into the dissected Allegheny Plateau. The westernmost ridges are considered to be the Laurel Highlands and Chestnut Ridge in Pennsylvania , and Laurel Mountain and Rich Mountain in West Virginia . Big Stone Ridge marks the southern extent of the Alleghenies and is an outlier of Flat Top Mountain , with

7708-916: The thin layer of iron, over time it was mostly depleted. A very well-known natural resource of the Appalachian Plateau is its land and soil. The soil is rich and it is ideal for farmland. Within the limestone found throughout the Appalachian Plateau there are many fossilized substances such as old plant and stems, which may help to explain why the plateau also has a rich amount of natural gases and petroleum. The Appalachian Plateau has many landmarks and public spaces to camp out, go hiking, and sight see. Allegany State Park in New York, Ohiopyle State Park in Pennsylvania, Hocking Hills State Park in Ohio, Cooper's Rock State Forest in West Virginia, and Cloudland Canyon State Park in Georgia are notable state parks on or along

7802-459: The troops had failed to accomplish, and in the spring of 1862 both armies moved on down the pike to the Battle of McDowell (May 8, 1862), and then on to fight what became General Stonewall Jackson 's Shenandoah Valley Campaign (spring 1862). Two years later, much of this contested area (along with much else) became part of the new state of West Virginia . The very rugged terrain of the Alleghenies

7896-507: The western side of the plateau, the elevation is 900 feet in Ohio , increasing to about 2,000 feet in Kentucky . From Kentucky the elevation drops down to 500 feet in northwestern Alabama . The plateau has a slight slant towards the northwest, making it higher on the eastern side. A large portion of the plateau is a coalfield, which was formed approximately 320 million years ago during

7990-574: The western valleys of the central Allegheny range. The Montaine sites extend from the tributaries of the upper Potomac River region south to the New River tributaries. These also were influenced by the earlier Armstrong culture of the more southwestern portions northern sub-range of the Ouasioto (Cumberland) Mountains and by the more easterly Virginia Woodland people. The Late Woodland Montaine were less influenced by Hopewellian trade from Ohio, although similarly polished stone tools have been found among

8084-510: The whole mountain range. His map labeled the range as the "Alleghanies", but his book was titled On the Appalachian Mountain System . As late as 1867, John Muir —in his book A Thousand Mile Walk to the Gulf —used the word "Alleghanies" in referring to the southern Appalachians. There was no general agreement about the "Appalachians" versus the "Alleghanies" until the late 19th century. From northeast to southwest,

8178-628: Was "wildly unrealistic". Public works financed at the state level were not lacking during this period. The Main Line of Public Works was a transportation network project built between 1826 and 1834 by the Commonwealth of Pennsylvania . It created a railroad and canal system across southern Pennsylvania between Philadelphia and Pittsburgh , intended to transport freight (notably including anthracite coal ) and people with greater reliability, speed and capacity. The Main Line of Public Works included

8272-512: Was also a public work of enormous economic and social significance for the Alleghenies. It approached Hancock, Maryland , by 1839. From the beginning, the B&O Railroad and the Chesapeake and Ohio Canal operated in bitter legal and commercial competition with one another as they vied for rights to the narrow strips of land along the Potomac. When the Canal finally reached Cumberland in 1850,

8366-537: Was constructed to provide a direct route for the settlements of the Shenandoah Valley to the Ohio River by way of the Tygart Valley and Little Kanawha Rivers. Planned and approved in 1826 and completed in 1848, the Staunton and Parkersburg was maintained by fees (tolls) collected at toll houses placed at regular intervals. Construction on the Baltimore and Ohio Railroad began at Baltimore in 1828;

8460-694: Was created mainly from stream erosion . The result is a rugged landscape, unlike many other plateaus, that includes many narrow stream valleys surrounded by steep ridges. The region in Kentucky is known as the Eastern Kentucky Coalfield . It includes 35 counties and covers around 30% of Kentucky's land. Major sections include the Allegheny Plateau , the Cumberland Plateau and the Cumberland Mountains , with

8554-568: Was given several pouches of ammunition for his and the other's weapons as a token of friendship. Somebody had already been trading within the central Alleghenies before the Virginians historical record begins in the Allegheny Mountains. Some earlier scholars found evidence these Proto-historics were either Cistercians of Spanish Ajacan Occuquan outpost on the Potomac River or Jesuits and their Kahnawake Praying Indians ( Mohawk ) on

8648-416: Was not at all amenable to a large-scale maneuver war and so the actions that the area witnessed for the remainder of the conflict were generally guerrilla in nature. With the further spread of the railroad networks in the 1890s and early 1900s, many new towns developed and thrived in the Alleghenies. The lumbering and coal industries that boomed in the wake of the railroads brought a measure of prosperity to

8742-458: Was once commonly used to refer to the whole of what are now called the Appalachian Mountains . John Norton used it (spelled variously) around 1810 to refer to the mountains in Tennessee and Georgia . Around the same time, Washington Irving proposed renaming the United States either "Appalachia" or "Alleghania". In 1861, Arnold Henry Guyot published the first systematic geologic study of

8836-608: Was the Johnstown Flood —locally known as the "Great Flood of 1889"—which occurred on May 31 of that year after the catastrophic failure of the South Fork Dam on the Little Conemaugh River 14 miles (23 km) upstream of the town of Johnstown, Pennsylvania . The dam broke after several days of extremely heavy rainfall, unleashing 20 million tons of water (18 million cubic meters) from

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