Coal Miner Statue Proposed In Frostburg

FROSTBURG, Md. (AP) -- A group in Frostburg is raising money for a statue highlighting the link between mining and education in the western Maryland city.

The Cumberland Times-News  reported Sunday on efforts by the Foundation for Frostburg and several local citizens. They hope to raise $55,000 to erect a life-size bronze sculpture near the intersection of U.S. 40 and state Route 36.

It would depict a miner with one leg propped on a pile of coal, reading a book.

Organizer Ray Walker says coal mines employed as many as 2,500 Allegany County residents in the 19th and early 20th centuries. He says their financial contributions led to the opening in 1902 of a teachers college called State Normal School No. 2.

The institution evolved into what is now Frostburg State University.

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