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The Geographical Review April 1998, Vol. 88 (2), pp. 175-198 THE ENVIRONMENTAL TRANSFORMATION OF AN APPALACHIAN VALLEY, 1850-1906 GEOFFREY L. BUCKLEY ABSTRACT: The physical environment of the George's Creek Valley in western Maryland was altered dramatically during the late nineteenth and early twentieth centuries, as coal mining and associated activities expanded and intensified. Although mineral extraction was the chief agent of change, forest and water resources also were affected by other industrial and commercial activities, as well as by the region's growing population. Examining the environmental alteration that took place in the valley, this work also considers attitudes and motivations that contributed to the transformation. Keywords:Appalachia, coal mining, deforestation, landownership, water pollution. DR. BUCKLEY is an assistant professor of geography at Ohio University, Athens, Ohio 45701­2979.