The Western Maryland Railway Port Covington Coal Pier is one of the last railroad coal unloading piers in Baltimore. During the Pier's operational life (1921-1974), it went from representing the state-of-the-art in east coast coal unloading facilities to complete obsolescence. The Coal Pier's capacity to rapidly unload large quantities of coal into ships, which resulted from a combination of two types of dumpers, made the Western Maryland Railway, and in turn the Port of Baltimore, a major competitor for the transportation of coal from eastern coal fields. The Coal Pier was thus an important part of the history of development of the Port of Baltimore.