HistoryBits: Patrick McCarty was entrepreneur in early Keyser

Merchandise such as salt and flour were first transported on horseback to earliest settlers. A boat yard was located on the west bank of Georges Creek in Westernport before a settler actually lived in Piedmont.

Shipments of wood were floated on the Potomac. Flat boats were usually 80 feet long and 13 feet wide, with a depth of three feet. They carried from 20 to 25 tons and were maneuvered by four men.

After reaching Georgetown, the coal vessels were unloaded, the barge broken up, sold as wood, and then the men walked the 160 miles back to Westernport. Later, rafts were transferred to the C & O canal to be sent to market places in Washington and Georgetown.

The first man to move freight by boats and rafts from what we know today as Keyser was Patrick McCarty. A July 24, 1964, Keyser newspaper article described an iron forge found at the site of Keyser’s sewage treatment plant that was likely the forge established by Patrick McCarty in 1815.

We cannot be certain that this was the location of the forge when it was in operation. The newspaper article noted that local historian Willie Wolfe explained that the McCarty forge was located “near the mouth of Wildcat Run at Limestone.”

McCarty’s most famous product was the old tinplate woodstove. He also produced horseshoes, hammers, hoes, log chains, picks, shovels, as well as skillets.

He was an enterprising man who sought the Eastern cities trade. Major shipping of pig iron and hollowware were begun about 1790 by McCarty. Other products transported were flour from his gristmill at Mill Meadow, salt refined along the Potomac where the Keyser Industrial Park is located today, and whiskey. His products were available at his Paddytown store, as well as being shipped to other markets.