The place that is now Mountain Lake Park might still be known as “Hoyes Big Pasture” if the stockholders of Mountain Lake Park Association had not approved its purchase on November 2, 1881, for the sum of $4,672. The Association had been created by four gentlemen of Wheeling, West Virginia, for the purpose of establishing a resort that would be founded upon Christian principles and provide healthful recreation and religious and literary instruction.

Later that same month, the Baltimore and Ohio Railroad ran an excursion train from Baltimore to Mountain Lake Park carrying people who might be interested in buying lots in the resort. Purchasers had to agree that any house built would cost at least $300—unless the purchaser was a clergyman, in which case the cost requirement was only $150.

In the ensuing years, many improvements were made in the Park, including damming streams to create a lake, constructing an amphitheater able to accommodate 5,000 people, and construction of hotels, boarding houses, an auditorium, an assembly hall, and numerous fine residences referred to as “cottages.”

Mountain Lake Park is now the most populous municipality in Garrett County, although it is primarily a bedroom community with no central business district. The residents are proud of their town’s history and natural beauty, complementing the latter with their creative and energetic attention to the appearance of their properties. They take active interest in maintaining the high quality of governance and administration that has been established over the years.