History

"Welcome to Mountain Lake Park...you've got to heaven at Last!" Greeting to visitors in the early 1900's.

*History page is under construction - links currently contain no content, completion expected soon.

Mountain Lake Park is a fine example of a Victorian resort that grew out of two American activities in the nineteenth century. One of which was the Independent Chautauqua, the other the Methodist Camp Meeting. These activities usually sprang up beside lakes or in wooded settings, quickly spreading to small towns all across the country.

In 1881 a group of businessmen and Methodist ministers from Wheeling, West Virginia were inspired to create their own Chautauqua resort. It would be based on strict Christian principles. They came to eight hundred acres known as Hoye's Big Pasture and were inpressed by the picturesque scenery, the cool, clean mountain air, and the convenient train service. The men saw this as the ideal place to refresh the body as well as the soul.

They soon formed The Mountain Lake Park Association and promptly purchased the land for the sum of four thousand six hundred and seventy-two dollars and renamed the area Mountain Lake Park. Homes, bussinesses, a lake, and other attractions soon sprang up in Mountain Lake Park, all of which you can learn more about on this site.

"Come to the paradise of the mountains. Come and see the great hills which God has piled up. Come and hear and see the greatest achievements of man." (Summer tours on picturesque B. & O, 1897)