Frostburg Historic District - Frostburg, MD
Posted by: 
silverquill
N 39° 39.395 W 078° 55.621
17S E 677839 N 4391696
Frostburg boasts many historic and charming homes, a few dating from the earliest days of the National Road.
Waymark Code: WM1PR9
Location: Maryland, United States
Date Posted: 06/18/2007
Views: 86
Three major events have shaped the development of the town of Frostburg; the first of these was the coming of the National Pike. This road was the principal route along which the westward migration took place during the first half of the nineteenth century. It was also the route along which the agricultural products and raw materials of the west moved to eastern markets. After the National Pike was surveyed, in about 1811, Josiah Frost, laid off building lots just west of the house which had been built a few years before by George & Mary Clark McCulloh , and called Mt. Pleasant.
As trade began to flow over the new road, the town began to grow and prosper. Meshach Frost built a house in 1812 which he rented a few years later to the Stockton Stagecoach Company. They named it Highland Hall, and it soon became a famous stopping place for east-west travelers and catered to both celebrities and laborers using the National Pike. Over the years, Highland Hall was joined by the Franklin Hotel, and other hostelries, and Frostburg became a regular stopping point for travelers until the coming of the railroad in the 1840's and 50's. The growth of the town took place in a slow but steady fashion. Since there was already one Mount Pleasant in Maryland, the name of the town was changed to "Frostburg" by the government when a post office was established there in 1820.
The development of the railroad and the C&O Canal brought a decline in the traffic using the National Pike, but it also brought new opportunity for economic development. Coal was discovered near the town as early as 1782, but difficulties in transportation made mining in Western Maryland seem quite unlikely. The first shipment east from the Maryland coal fields was not made until 1820. The first mined in the Western Maryland region was taken from a location about a mile and one-half from Frostburg. this early coal was taken to Cumberland by wagon for use there in the glass works. Some other mines opened in the area, but mining was still a relatively small operation until the completion of the Baltimore and Ohio Railroad to Cumberland in 1842, and the Cumberland and Pennsylvania Railroad to Frostburg in 1852.
Frostburg boasts many historic and charming homes, a few dating from the earliest days of the National Road, some contemporaries of the Famed "SOUTHERN MANSIONS", some built in the later 1800's. Many of these homes stand straight and unembellished in their original dignity. A large portion of the city has just recently been declared a National Historic District.
Coordinates for the Frostburg Historic District are take at the City Hall on Main St.