I've done 2 caches so far taking you to cool historic places
around Cumberland and this one is the third. The other day we went
to place a different cache and we walked along Lake Road. As we
walked I noticed a cairn on the side of the road which was
dedicated to the Black Pioneers of Cumberland. I was surprised by
this. I had no idea there was a Black community at one time in
Cumberland! Being the curious type I wanted to know more.
In doing a bit of investigating at the Cumberland Museum, I was
told that this area where the cairn is placed was known (believe it
or not)as 'Coontown' back when people used that kind of
terminology. Yikes. When the volunteer told me this we both
shuddered to think that was ever ok. But thats the way it was back
then and its a part of history.
This community was very small. Only about 40 men who came here
to work in the Coal mines lived in this area. Most of them probably
made their way here from the gold fields in California.
There was also one man who had a laundry business and another
had a Shoe-shine business on Dunsmuir Street.
The story goes that many people wondered how a man with a
Shoe-shine business could own a big building on Dunsmuir Street and
they figured it probably had something to do with the goings-on in
the upstairs portion of the building. According to the book: One
Hundred Spirited Years, A History of Cumberland , "One police
report referred to rowdy Saturday night activities and police
investigations at the shop."
Hmmmmm......what could have been going on there? I wonder....In
any case the women
of the Black
community are also reported to have fed many hungry children
with food like biscuits and goat cheese during the big Strike
of 1912-1914. I think that is really great.
One of the most interesting characters of the Black community was
John Brown.
This man
arrived in Cumberland in 1893 to work in the mines and
prospect. In the winter he mined and in the summer he headed
for the mountains. According to an article by Ben Hughes,
Brown was the first non-aboriginal man to find the way to
Forbidden Plateau. He had a claim on Oyster River and built a
cabin at Circle Lake. He died in the 1960's at more than 90
years of age.
So, that's just a little bit more about the history of
Cumberland. Happy caching!
All information was obtained from the book: One Hundred Spirited
Years, A History of Cumberland and from talking to the great women
at the Cumberland Museum. Thank you Ladies!
pictures are used with permission from Cumberland
Museum for one time use only