Eckhart Mines is an

unincorporated community An unincorporated area is a parcel of land that is not governed by a local general-purpose municipal corporation. (At p. 178.) They may be governed or serviced by an encompassing unit (such as a county) or another branch of the state (such as th ...

and

census-designated place A census-designated place (CDP) is a Place (United States Census Bureau), 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 counte ...

(CDP) in Allegany County,

Maryland Maryland ( ) is a U.S. state, state in the Mid-Atlantic (United States), Mid-Atlantic region of the United States. It borders the states of Virginia to its south, West Virginia to its west, Pennsylvania to its north, and Delaware to its east ...

United States The United States of America (USA), also known as the United States (U.S.) or America, is a country primarily located in North America. It is a federal republic of 50 U.S. state, states and a federal capital district, Washington, D.C. The 48 ...

. As of the 2010 census it had a population of 932. Eckhart Mines lies at the southwestern base of Federal Hill, east of Frostburg 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 all or most of the stores and housing in the town are owned by the same company that is also the main employer. Company towns are often planned with a suite of amenities such as stores, houses of worship, schoo ...

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 coal seam, ...

mine developed in the

Georges Creek Valley Georges Creek Valley is located in Allegany County, Maryland along the Georges Creek (Potomac River), Georges Creek. The valley is rich in wide veins of coal, known historically as "The Big Vein." Coal was once extracted by deep Coal mining, mi ...

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. Built between 1811 and 1837, the road connected the Potomac and Ohio Rivers and was a main tran ...

(now U.S. Route 40 Alternate) crossed the coal outcrop. The Eckhart operation was known as the Maryland Mining Company, 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. It employs more than 1,600 people. In 2017, Consol form ...

). 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.Liiber. I. C. No.P. folio 43 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.

References

* Tom Robertson, ''Frostburg'', Arcadia Publishing 2002, {{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