Frostburg, resort and trading town (1990 pop. 8,075), Allegany co., W Md., in the Alleghenies, 9 mi/14.5 km W of Cumberland. Bituminous coal and clay mining; makes firebrick, clothing. Named for Meshach Frost who settled here in 1812 and around whose tavern on the Natl. Road the community grew. The Frost mansion, built in 1846 with a 3d story added in 1890, is now a funeral home. William Cullen Bryant described Frostburg in 1860 as a little town “flying high among the mountain ridges.” Seat of Frostburg State Univ. and the Miners’ Hosp. Ripley’s Believe It or Not once claimed Frostburg had more bars—and churches—per capita than any other town in the U.S. Big Savage Mt. and Savage R. State Forest lie just W.
