Frostburg owes its existence to a project authorized by Congress in 1806— construction of The National Pike. Josiah Frost bought a tract of land that straddled the proposed route and laid out a series of “town lots” on it. His son, Meshach, built a log house on Lot 1 and brought his bride to live there in June 1812.

When stagecoach service was inaugurated on the Pike in 1818, the house became an inn known as Highland Hall, and a cluster of taverns, smithies, and houses grew up around it. Over the years, Highland Hall was joined by the Franklin Hotel and other hostelries. The Post Office called the place Frostburg.

When the railroad arrived in the late 1840s, merchants were able to ship coal in quantities never before possible. The town became a commercial coal-mining center, alternately thriving and suffering with the fluctuating price of coal.

The manufacture of fire bricks from the the high grade fire clays found in the area also became economically feasible with the availability of the railroad for hauling the product to market. That industry was well established by the 1860s. The Big Savage Fire Brick Company, formed in 1902, is still one of the major manufacturers of fire bricks in the eastern United States.

Frostburg boasts many historic and charming homes. A few date from the earliest days of the National Pike, others are contemporaries of the more famous mansions of the South, and some were built in the late 1800s. Many stand unchanged in their original dignity. Amidst them, at the heart of the town’s National Historic District, a monument marks the grave site of Meshach Frost and his wife.