| Eckhart Mines, Maryland | |
| Settlement Type: | Census-designated place |
| Pushpin Map: | USA Maryland#USA |
| Pushpin Label Position: | none |
| Pushpin Map Caption: | Location within the State of Maryland |
| Subdivision Type: | Country |
| Subdivision Type1: | State |
| Subdivision Type2: | County |
| Subdivision Name2: | Allegany |
| Unit Pref: | Imperial |
| Area Footnotes: | [1] |
| Area Total Km2: | 3.94 |
| Area Land Km2: | 3.94 |
| Area Water Km2: | 0.00 |
| Area Total Sq Mi: | 1.52 |
| Area Land Sq Mi: | 1.52 |
| Area Water Sq Mi: | 0.00 |
| Population As Of: | 2020 |
| Population Total: | 858 |
| Population Density Km2: | 217.70 |
| Population Density Sq Mi: | 563.73 |
| Timezone: | Eastern (EST) |
| Utc Offset: | -5 |
| Timezone Dst: | EDT |
| Utc Offset Dst: | -4 |
| Elevation Ft: | 1873 |
| Coordinates: | 39.6556°N -78.8803°W |
| Postal Code Type: | ZIP code |
| Postal Code: | 21528 |
| Blank Name: | FIPS code |
| Blank Info: | 24-24825 |
| Blank1 Name: | GNIS feature ID |
| Blank1 Info: | 2629795 |
Eckhart Mines is an unincorporated community and census-designated place (CDP) in Allegany County, Maryland, United States. As of the 2010 census it had a population of 932.[2]
Eckhart Mines lies at the southwestern base of Federal Hill, east of Frostburg and northwest of Clarysville. Braddock Run begins near Eckhart Mines.[3] The town was founded as a company town for the nearby Eckhart Mines. According to the Maryland Mining Heritage Guide, it was "the first coal company town in Maryland."[4]
The original owner was George Eckhardt, an immigrant from Germany.
The outcrop of the Pittsburgh coal seam here is known locally as "the big vein" or the "14 foot coal". The Eckhart Mines' location here was the first bituminous coal mine developed in the Georges Creek Valley coalfield, because this is where the National Road (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). The Eckhart operation was the first commercial coal company in the United States.
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.[5]
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.