Industries (MD)

The Way We Worked is a Smithsonian traveling exhibition that was displayed February 2017 in Allegany County, Maryland. The Western Maryland Heritage Association presented exhibitions about ‘the way we worked’ at six locations in Allegany County in conjunction with Maryland Humanities and the Smithsonian. The Allegany Museum in Cumberland traced the changes that have affected the American workforce and work environments over the past 150 years.

"Rosie the Riveter" became a nickname for the millions of women from all backgrounds and across the country who worked in wartime industries and support services, including aircraft factories, shipyards, steel mills, foundries, lumber mills, warehouses, offices, hospitals and daycare centers. Some of the stories of the Western Maryland Rosies are recorded on these pages, as these women did indeed "make history."

The Buena Vista Ice Company was created by Thaddeus A. Wastler in 1900 after the land was sold to him due to a settlement of his father-in-law’s (Samuel T Royer) estate. Wastler first constructed two lakes; the lower, larger lake being named after Royer. When the lakes were completed, the construction of eleven massive ice houses began. They were built between the shores of the lakes, each with the ability to hold 30,000 tons of ice.