Editing Frostburg, Maryland (section)

==History==
[[File:2016-06-25 10 05 47 View east along U.S. Route 40 Alternate and south along Maryland State Route 36 (Main Street) between Water Street and Broadway in Frostburg, Allegany County, Maryland.jpg|thumb|upright=1.1|Main Street in Frostburg]]

===19th century===
Frostburg had its beginnings back in 1811 when surveying began for the [[National Pike]], a road used to transport crops and raw materials to East Coast markets. President [[Thomas Jefferson]] had authorized construction of the road in 1806. Meshach Frost built the first house in present-day Frostburg in 1812 and named it Highland Hall (on the present-day the site of St. Michael's Church and Rectory). This building was a popular stopping point for celebrities and dignitaries who traveled the National Pike. This would be followed by the Franklin Hotel and other hotels.

The [[Baltimore and Ohio Railroad]] (B&O) and the [[Chesapeake and Ohio Canal]] reached Cumberland in 1842 and 1850, respectively. Consequently, travel on the National Pike saw a steady decline, although travel through Frostburg did not.<ref name="Frostburg History">City of Frostburg, MD. {{usurped|1=[https://web.archive.org/web/20110504142912/http://www.frostburgcity.com/index.php?q=node%2F81 "Local History."]}} Accessed 2010-01-12.</ref> [[Coal mining]] was the first major economic draw, but the industry faced problems in its early manifestation. The mountains of western Maryland and Frostburg proved to make transportation of coal very difficult. Not until the completion of the railroads did the coal industry in Frostburg began to flourish. The first major coal producer was Meshech Frost, who owned a significant amount of land for mining and founded the Frostburg Coal Company. This eventually was sold to the much larger [[Consolidated Coal Company]].

Structures from the coal industry's dominant period still remain. One of the major freight depots for coal is located at 19 Depot St. in Frostburg and is one of the few remaining depots in western Maryland. The [[Mount Savage Railroad]] was the first to build a rail line to Frostburg in 1852, and it connected to the B&O Railroad in Cumberland, as well as the C&O Canal. The [[Cumberland and Pennsylvania Railroad]] (C&P) took over the Mount Savage line in 1854, and expanded with the construction of a tunnel under Frostburg, and a rail line southward to [[Piedmont, West Virginia]]. This railroad and tunnel were used to transport coal between Frostburg and George's Creek. Another major economic turn for Frostburg was the manufacture of [[fire brick]] beginning in 1864, utilizing the high-grade fire clays which are found in the area. One of the main businesses that formed was the Big Savage Fire Brick Company, still one of the main suppliers of fire bricks on the East Coast.<ref name="Frostburg History" />

In 1898, the Maryland General Assembly authorized State Normal School #2 and a $20,000 appropriation to construct a building, though no money to buy land. The money for the land was collected among local citizens, many of them coal miners and their families.

Two years later the first building, Old Main, opened. Two years after that, the first classes were held. The only available course of study at that point was a two-year elementary-education program. In 1904, the first class graduated.

In 1934, State Normal School #2 introduced its first four-year program. Nearly 30 years later (1963), the school finally was renamed Frostburg State College. In the next ten years more programs sprouted, including the university's first graduate program (Master's of Science in management).

In 1987, Frostburg State College joined the [[University System of Maryland]] and was renamed [[Frostburg State University]]. FSU celebrated its centennial in 1998.<ref>{{cite web|url=http://www.frostburg.edu/about/history.htm|title=History of the University - Frostburg State University}}</ref>

===Major events===
====National Register Sites====
The [[Hocking House]] was listed on the [[National Register of Historic Places]] in 1982.<ref name="nris">{{NRISref|2008a}}</ref> The [[Frostburg Historic District]] was listed in 1983 and the [[Borden Mines Superintendent's House]] in 1984.<ref name="nris" />

====Tornado====
{{main|1998 Eastern tornado outbreak}}
On June 2, 1998, an [[Fujita scale|F4]] [[tornado]] struck Frostburg and the adjacent Eckhart Mines valley, damaging more than 125 homes and Frost Elementary School.<ref>[http://www.erh.noaa.gov/er/lwx/Storms/Frostburg.htm June 2, 1998 PA-MD-WV Tornado Outbreak]</ref>