Mountain Lake Park was established in 1881 as a 'Chautauqua', the Victorian concept for a summer camp retreat to refresh the body, mind and spirit. The Baltimore and Ohio Railroad's arrival in 1851 had launched this area as a resort destination. The B&O owned a resort hotel in Oakland, two miles to the west of Mountain Lake and they also owned the fashionable Deer Park Hotel, four miles to the east. That created six miles of continuous summer resorts with trains frequently stopping at all three stations. This station, located in the middle was built approximately the same time as the one in Oakland, 1884, though I can not seem to hone in on a specific date - even the historical marker omits the date. As for the lake... one didn't exist until about 1896 when a twenty-two acre artificial lake was developed for swimming and boating.