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YRWA meetings are held on the forth Tuesday of every other month begining Febuary at 7:00 p.m in the Center for Adventure & Outdoor Studies at Garrett College in McHenry, Maryland.
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In 1889, the Confluence and Oakland Railroad was built to reach the timberlands along the river held by the Yough Manor Land Company. It followed the path of the river south from Confluence, Pennsylvania through Friendsville, to the town of Kendall (originally called Krug). Here was headquartered two major lumber companies, the A. Knabb Co. which manufactured barrels and staves from the white oak in the valley, and the Kendall Lumber Co. which maintained a large sawmill at the site. As of 1908, Kendall was a thriving town, however operations at the mills ceased by 1912 as the timber in the river valley was depleted. Today, little remains of the town of Kendall.
As the timber and coal industries along the Youghiogheny waned, the land regenerated naturally and through the efforts of many thoughtful landowners the river valley regained much of its original beauty. The Department of Natural Resources is currently purchasing lands along the river in an effort to preserve the valley for the enjoyment of future generations.
Native Americans named the Youghiogheny River, which translates into our language as "a river that flows in a contrary direction", because as strange as it seems, the river flows from south to north. Life in the river has certainly changed since the early days of the first settlers when they encountered brook trout thriving in the river. By the early 1900's, deforestation and coal mining devastated the river. In 1929 Albert Powell, a fisheries biologist for the state, described a major fish kill: "I observed many numbers of all species of fish floating downstream and collecting in the eddies. I recall rainbow and brook trout, smallmouth bass, sunfish, rock bass, minnows, and mudpuppies (or hellbenders as they were sometimes called)." The fish kill was caused by a slug of very acidic water originating at the Crellin Mine, and killing fish as far downstream as Friendsville. Today, the "Yough" is much healthier. The Yough was established as Maryland's first Wild and Scenic River in 1976. The river now offers excellent opportunities to catch trout and smallmouth bass. River otters, mink, and ospreys once again call this river home.
yrwa@garrettcollege.edu