The Frostburg News Archive

The Frostburg News was one of five short-lived newspapers that Henry F. Cook (1868-1931) published in Allegany, his home county. Cook, the son of a miner who also worked in the coal mines himself as a young man, had previously published the Echo newspaper as well as the Friendsville Collaborator. After the News, he would go on to publish the Frostburg Forum; in 1897 and the Frostburg Gleaner in 1899. The Frostburg News commenced publication on March 19, 1897 and was described by the Cumberland Daily News as a "spicy new weekly."

In its brief life, the Frostburg News provided a sympathetic voice for the concerns of coal miners, but seemed to rely heavily on reprinted notices from other newspapers for much of its content. By April 1897, editor Cook was announcing the acquisition of a new printing press that would allow expansion to an eight-column format, which in turn would require a temporary suspension of the paper for its move into larger quarters. These plans apparently were preempted by a new business plan when Cook joined forces with John B. Williams to start the Frostburg Forum later in 1897.