Eckhart Mines is an

unincorporated community An unincorporated area is a region that is not governed by a local municipal corporation. Widespread unincorporated communities and areas are a distinguishing feature of the United States and Canada. Most other countries of the world either have ...

and

census-designated place A census-designated place (CDP) is a concentration of population defined by the United States Census Bureau for statistical purposes only. CDPs have been used in each decennial census since 1980 as the counterparts of incorporated places, such ...

(CDP) in Allegany County,

Maryland Maryland ( ) is a state in the Mid-Atlantic region of the United States. It shares borders with Virginia, West Virginia, and the District of Columbia to its south and west; Pennsylvania to its north; and Delaware and the Atlantic Ocean to ...

United States The United States of America (U.S.A. or USA), commonly known as the United States (U.S. or US) or America, is a country primarily located in North America. It consists of 50 states, a federal district, five major unincorporated territorie ...

. As of the 2010 census it had a population of 932. Eckhart Mines lies at the southwestern base of Federal Hill, east of

Frostburg Frostburg is a city in Allegany County, Maryland, United States, and is at the head of the Georges Creek Valley. It is part of the Cumberland, MD-WV Metropolitan Statistical Area. Located west of Cumberland, the town is one of the first cities ...

and northwest of Clarysville. Braddock Run begins near Eckhart Mines. The town was founded as a

company town A company town is a place where practically all stores and housing are owned by the one company that is also the main employer. Company towns are often planned with a suite of amenities such as stores, houses of worship, schools, markets and re ...

for the nearby Eckhart Mines. According to the ''Maryland Mining Heritage Guide'', it was "the first coal company town in Maryland." The original owner was George Eckhardt, an immigrant from Germany. The outcrop of the

Pittsburgh coal seam The Pittsburgh Coal Seam is the thickest and most extensive coal bed in the Appalachian Basin; hence, it is the most economically important coal bed in the eastern United States. The Upper Pennsylvanian Pittsburgh coal bed of the Monongahela Grou ...

here is known locally as "the big vein" or the "14 foot coal". The Eckhart Mines' location here was the first

bituminous coal Bituminous coal, or black coal, is a type of coal containing a tar-like substance called bitumen or asphalt. Its coloration can be black or sometimes dark brown; often there are well-defined bands of bright and dull material within the seams. It ...

mine developed in the

Georges Creek Valley Georges Creek Valley is located in Allegany County, Maryland along the Georges Creek. The valley is rich in wide veins of coal, known historically as "The Big Vein." Coal was once extracted by deep mines but is only mined today through surfac ...

coalfield, because this is where the

National Road The National Road (also known as the Cumberland Road) was the first major improved highway in the United States built by the Federal Government of the United States, federal government. Built between 1811 and 1837, the road connected the Pot ...

(now

U.S. Route 40 Alternate U.S. Route 40 has at least eight extant special routes. Current routes WaKeeney business loop U.S. Route 40 Business (US-40 Bus.) is a business route through WaKeeney, Kansas, that was recommended in 1979 as substitute for the formerly pro ...

) crossed the coal outcrop. The Eckhart operation was known as the

Maryland Mining Company The Maryland Mining Company is a historic coal mining, iron producer and railroad company that operated in Allegany County, Maryland, Allegany County, Maryland, United States. The company was based in Eckhart Mines, Maryland; the location in Brad ...

, which eventually combined with other companies to form the Consolidation Coal Company (now

Consol Energy Consol Energy Inc. is an American energy company with interests in coal headquartered in the suburb of Cecil Township, in the Southpointe complex, just outside Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania. In 2017, Consol formed two separate entities: CNX Resour ...

). The Eckhart operation was the first commercial coal company in the United States.

Demographics

History

In 1780 George Eckhardt secured lots 3644, 3645, 3646, in Allegany County. These lots were patented to him in 1800. He also had surveyed to him lot 3694, which he secured from John Stigler, to whom these lots had been awarded. A little village sprang up on George's land known as Eckhart Mines, which tradition says was named for him. George was from a German household, his was father Hann Adam Eckhardt (Eckhardt being spelled Eckhardt, Echert, Ekard, among other variations). Hann Adam arrived from Wetteraukreis, Hesse, Germany with George Adam by ship. Here in Eckhart he and his wife Mary (formally Anna Maria) lived, reared their family and died. The family cemetery is still located in the fields not far from the location of the original homestead. Today George Eckhardt's descendants live in various parts of the US from Catawba, North Carolina to Los Angeles California. A history of Allegany County, page 448, says that "'Eckhart Mines', was a well laid out village 1789, July 12. This mining village is about one and a half miles from Frostburg, is on the Eckhart Branch of the Cumberland and Pennsylvania Railroad in the basin of the Big Savage and Dan's Mt. and is very picturesquely situated." The report given in 1940 is, that there are ten stores there, four of them being general merchandise, several being grocery stores, and two churches, the Baptist and the United Methodist churches. The population was 2300 people. The first German Lutheran Church built in Eckhart was built of stone on land given by the Eckhardt's. It has long since gone into decay. Eckhart Mines was a mining district and had large beds of very rich coal underneath, but the land was stolen from the Eckhardt family and two of their family members were poisoned. It is now owned by the Continental Coal Company.

References

* Tom Robertson, ''Frostburg'', Arcadia Publishing 2002, 2. Liiber. I. C. No.P. folio 43 {{authority control Census-designated places in Allegany County, Maryland Census-designated places in Maryland Populated places in the Cumberland, MD-WV MSA Coal towns in Maryland Cumberland, MD-WV MSA Company towns in Maryland