Theodore Roosevelt is quoted as claiming Chautauqua as “the most American thing in America!” The Chautauqua concept grew to be one of the largest educational movements to this day. It began at Lake Chautauqua in rural western New York along the Buffalo, New York & Philadelphia Railroad. Easily accessible to major northern cities, the resort quickly grew in popularity, providing cultural, educational, religious, and recreational programs. It offered “college” courses that could lead to professional employment, and home-school programs promoted year-round self-learning.

The hugely popular model spawned hundreds of rural locations across the country to replicate the original.

Mountain Lake Park was a vision of seven clergymen and businessmen. After visiting the New York location, they were confident they could replicate a Chautauqua further south in rural Maryland’s Appalachian Mountains using the convenient access of the B&O Railroad. They found great success in the bucolic location, ranking fifth in the nation and attracting visitors from locations as far east as Baltimore and Washington, D.C., to points west as far as Chicago.

Their list of top-notch guest speakers, performers, educators, and preachers earned the resort accolades and prestige. Programs would feature prominent opera singers, cultural groups from foreign lands, and even Carter The Great, a renowned magician who then performed under his given name, Charles Carter. It was a fascinating phenomenon that attracted thousands of people each week.

At the turn of the 20th century, travel to remote locations was largely limited to the railroads. Horse-drawn carriages were slow and treacherous on rough country roads. Most rural towns were developed around natural resources like timber and coal. The railroads would transport those resources to urban areas where they were most needed. Once the resources dried up, the rural towns were often abandoned or suffered depressed economies.

As with Mountain Lake Park, Chautauquas were established as summer resorts. Investors sold shares and lots to capitalize on vacation travel. Many cottages were built by families who would spend their entire summers on the mountaintop while wage-earning husbands and fathers commuted from the city for weekends with their families. The economy centered on tourism and recreation, making the town self-sustaining.

Everything has its season, and Mountain Lake Park enjoyed three decades of success. However, the founders realized early on that they were operating underwater throughout most of its existence. Wealthy investors supplemented the losses until one by one, they began selling their shares to get out from under the financial burden.

Additionally, the advent of the automobile changed tourism travel. People could suddenly access new, offbeat locations by car and travel at their leisure rather than being bound to train schedules. Since rural road systems were largely underdeveloped then, Mountain Lake Park was not easily accessible by car.

Legislation passed in the early 1900s broke up railroad monopolies. That eliminated discounted passenger fares to railroad-owned resorts, prompting the sale or abandonment of hotels. Other factors like the Great Depression and two World Wars imposed a financial strain on the Mountain Lake Park Association. The founders eventually agreed to lift the religious restrictions and sold the Association to the Board of Foreign Missions. The town was neglected within the broader scope of the new owner’s goals, forcing a transition to a municipality.

Mountain Lake Park is a residential community with many of its origional Victorian cottages in tact. The Mountain Lake Park Historical Association actively works to preserve the town’s assets and history. Each July, The Victorian Chautauqua Festival celebrates the town’s history with a weekend to relive its early years as a resort community along the B&O Railroad. Although no passenger rail service exists, freight trains rumble by daily, reminding residents of a bygone era.