Frostburg is next reached. This was always a prominent point on the road. It did not derive its name, as many suppose, from the crisp atmosphere in which it was located, but from the original owner of the land on which it stands, whose name was Frost. Frostburg was the first stage station west of Cumberland. The leading taverns of Frostburg in the palmy days of the road were the "Franklin House" and the "Highland Hall House." The Franklin House was kept for many years by Thomas Beall, the father of the Bealls of Uniontown. It was headquarters of the Good Intent stage line. The Highland Hall House was conducted at different times by George W. Claybaugh, George Evans, Samuel Cessna and Thomas Porter. It was the headquarters of the Stockton line of coaches. During Cessna's time at this house he was the principal actor in a tragedy which produced considerable commotion in the vicinity. A negro servant employed by Cessna addressed some insulting remark to his wife, and immediately upon being informed thereof, Cessna proceeded to dispatch the negro without ceremony. He was tried in Cumberland for murder and acquitted, public sentiment very generally acquiescing in the verdict of the jury. About the year 1850 the Highland Hall House was purchased by the authorities of the Catholic church, remodeled, improved and converted to ecclesiastical uses. About one mile west of Frostburg, and at the foot of Big Savage mountain, is Sand Springs, so called from the gurgling water in the sand at that point. In 1836 the widow Ward kept a wagon stand tavern at Sand Springs. Her house was a favorite resort for old wagoners. On the night of October 3, 1836, snow fell to the depth of a foot at Sand Springs, breaking down the timber all through the surrounding mountains. Mrs. Ward's wagon yard was crowded with teams and wagons that night, and the snow was so deep the next day that the wagoners deemed it inexpedient to turn out, and remained at Mrs. Ward's until the following morning. John Snider was among the wagoners at Mrs. Ward's on the occasion mentioned, and is authority for the occurrence of the October snow storm. The tavern at Sand Springs was subsequently kept by John Welsh, an old stage driver, Hiram Sutton and Jacob Conrod, in the order named. Hiram Sutton was a son-in-law of Jared Clary. He kept the Sand Springs tavern down to the year 1852, when he moved to Parkersburg, West Virginia, and may be living there yet. Philip Spiker, the old blacksmith at Sand Springs, it is said could shoe more horses in a given time than any other blacksmith on the road. He had a rival, however, in A. Brice Devan, now of Dunbar, who, in the palmy days of the road, carried on a shop in Hopwood, and shod horses for old wagoners all night long on many occasions. Devan's backers will not concede that Spiker was a speedier shoer than he.