Cresaptown is an

unincorporated community An unincorporated area is a parcel of land that is not governed by a local general-purpose municipal corporation. (At p. 178.) They may be governed or serviced by an encompassing unit (such as a county) or another branch of the state (such as th ...

and

census-designated place A census-designated place (CDP) is a Place (United States Census Bureau), concentration of population defined by the United States Census Bureau for statistical purposes only. CDPs have been used in each decennial census since 1980 as the counte ...

(CDP) located in Allegany County,

Maryland Maryland ( ) is a U.S. state, state in the Mid-Atlantic (United States), Mid-Atlantic region of the United States. It borders the states of Virginia to its south, West Virginia to its west, Pennsylvania to its north, and Delaware to its east ...

, United States. As of the 2010 census it had a population of 6,247. Prior to 2010 it was part of the Cresaptown-Bel Air CDP. Cresaptown's

post office A post office is a public facility and a retailer that provides mail services, such as accepting letter (message), letters and parcel (package), parcels, providing post office boxes, and selling postage stamps, packaging, and stationery. Post o ...

was established December 22, 1800. Cresaptown is located southwest of

Cumberland Cumberland ( ) is an area of North West England which was historically a county. The county was bordered by Northumberland to the north-east, County Durham to the east, Westmorland to the south-east, Lancashire to the south, and the Scottish ...

History

Prior to 1728, Cresaptown was the site of a

Shawnee The Shawnee ( ) are a Native American people of the Northeastern Woodlands. Their language, Shawnee, is an Algonquian language. Their precontact homeland was likely centered in southern Ohio. In the 17th century, they dispersed through Ohi ...

village along the

Potomac River The Potomac River () is in the Mid-Atlantic (United States), Mid-Atlantic region of the United States and flows from the Potomac Highlands in West Virginia to Chesapeake Bay in Maryland. It is long,U.S. Geological Survey. National Hydrography D ...

. The inhabitants of this region were a portion of the Shawanese tribe, a sub-division of the Algonquian group, one of the most warlike combinations of that period. The warriors engaged in hunting and fishing for food and furs, while their families were left at home to tend the

maize Maize (; ''Zea mays''), also known as corn in North American English, is a tall stout grass that produces cereal grain. It was domesticated by indigenous peoples in southern Mexico about 9,000 years ago from wild teosinte. Native American ...

and grass that grew in the rich soil of the Potomac valley. The maize was ground into corn meal and made into Shawnee cake, a popular diet of the Shawnees living in the valley.William Harrison Lowdermilk, ''History of Cumberland, Md'', Harvard University, 1878, page 19-20 The Shawanees in the valley lived in shelters composed of two forked posts that were driven into the ground, and on these was laid a ridge pole. Small saplings, cut to a length of about , were laid against the pole, one end resting on the ground, forming a shelter similar to a V-shaped tent. This was covered with bark and skins and made tight enough to protect against rain or snow. The floors were spread with furs, which made sure for seats or beds. Emanuel Custer, father of

George Armstrong Custer George Armstrong Custer (December 5, 1839 – June 25, 1876) was a United States Army officer and cavalry commander in the American Civil War and the American Indian Wars. Custer graduated from the United States Military Academy at West Point ...

, was born in Cresaptown 1806, and moved to Ohio in 1845, finally settling in Michigan. Cresaptown was named for the family of Daniel Cresap, early settler and son of

Thomas Cresap Colonel Thomas Cresap (1702 1790) was an English-born settler and trader in the states of Maryland and Pennsylvania. Cresap served Lord Baltimore as an agent in the Maryland–Pennsylvania boundary dispute that became known as Cresap's War. ...

Demographics

Government and infrastructure

The Maryland Department of Corrections operates two prisons in the CDP: North Branch Correctional Institution and

Western Correctional Institution The Western Correctional Institution is a maximum security state prison for men located in Cresaptown census-designated place, unincorporated Allegany County, Maryland, near Cumberland. It opened in 1996 and has an official capacity of 1793. ...

. Additionally, the Allegany County Detention Center is in the CDP. North Branch is a supermax prison. The 372nd Military Police Company, known for participating in

Abu Ghraib prisoner abuse During the early stages of the Iraq War, members of the United States Army and the Central Intelligence Agency were accused of a series of human rights violations and war crimes against detainees in the Abu Ghraib prison in Iraq. These abuses ...

, is based here.

Education

Allegany County Public Schools is the school district for the entire county, and covers the CDP.
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Nearby city

Cumberland, Maryland Cumberland is a city in Allegany County, Maryland, United States, and its county seat. At the 2020 United States census, 2020 census, the city had a population of 19,075. Located on the Potomac River, Cumberland is a regional business and comm ...

References