Big Pool Junction became a railroad connection point when the Big Pool Train Station was built in 1892 to link with the B&O Railroad across the river at Cherry Run, West Virginia, during a boom period when the 18 miles between Hagerstown and Big Pool were the busiest on the Western Maryland Railway. In the spring of 1904, construction of the Cumberland Extension began there, reaching Hancock by December and Cumberland by March two years later. Along this corridor, the Ernstville Road Bridge was built in 1930 to carry motor vehicles safely over the railway, and a concrete culvert overpass replaced it in 1997 as part of the Western Maryland Rail Trail. Near Licking Creek, transportation history spans three eras: the limestone single-arch Licking Creek Aquaduct, built between 1836 and 1838 with a 90-foot span, was the longest of the C&O Canal's six aquaducts; railroads ended the usefulness of canals; and modern roads, including Interstate 70, helped make the western Maryland Line unnecessary. Nearby is a graveyard dating to the early 1800’s with numerous marked and unmarked graves, many identified only by plain field stones. In the Millstone area, a small canal community first called Millstone Point later became Millstone, and during the Civil War several companies of the First Regiment Maryland Infantry were stationed there to protect the C&O Canal from Confederates; later, Moffet Station was built nearby when the Cumberland Extension passed through. Little Pool, nearly a mile long, formed part of the C&O Canal, and a wooden foot bridge near its eastern end links the Western Maryland Rail Trail and the C&O Towpath. Farther along, a railroad siding and coal trestle were built to make unloading cargo easier, and at Hancock a combination passenger and freight station built in 1904-1905 remained in passenger use until service ended in the early 1950’s.
