The Republican. [volume] (Oakland, Md.) 1877-current, 1937-12-23

III SOIllS newspaper OF magazine. MI.
Gonder's article below appeared in the
Baltimore Sunday Sun, issue of
December 10.
In the shadow OF the great Back
bone Mountain, six miles from Oak
land, stand the remains of the once
famous Deer Park Hotel, at one time
among the most exclusive of summer
resorts. Unheard of now, the empty
structure stares out over rolling
countryside of the ridge of distant
mountains that gave it great but fleet
ing popularity. Like many other such
places, it was doomed by the automo-
bile.
1t was Henry Gassaway Davis who
brought about the earlier transforma-
ton of the Allegheny summit, from a
wilderness into one of the great noun
tain resorts of the country, and it was
Mr.. Davis who named the tract, which
was then his farm, "Deer Park" 1t
was by his invitation that the elder
John w. Garrett, then president of the
Baltimore and Ohio Railroad, ex-
amined the region-with such pleas
ure that he built a summer home there
for himself, and his son, T. Harrison
Garrett, built another. A little later
the Baltimore and Ohio Railroad built
the large summer hotel and its numer-
Gus cottages to provide for the sum-
mer guests that soon began pouring
into Deer Park.
Haven OF Rest
To Baltimore and Washington es-
pecially it was a haven of rest, easily
accessible and therefore sought
Whittier went the leaders of both par
ties in Congress to escape the heat for
brief periods. There, too, went Presi-
dents of the United States and former
Presidents for rest and recreation.
General U. S. Grant and Ms. Grant
were summer guests in 1883. A Presi-
dental honeymoon on June s, 1886,
carried Mr.. Cleveland and his bride,
former Miss Folsom, to one of the B.
& o. Railroad cottages. There, too,
President Harrison found relief from
official cares, and with him always
came Mrs. Harrison and their daugh-
ter, Mrs. Mckee. Such distinguished
foreigners as Emperor Dom Pedro
and Grand Duke Alexis also spent
brief periods at the hotel.
People Lost Interest
But is has been a quarter century
since the resort enjoyed any such
popularity. Tastes changed. People
began to lose interest in quiet rest
and sought thrills instead. A little
later the great popularity of the auto
mobile put the thought of taking a
train to vacationland out of date, and
since Deer Park was not near to the
most-traveled highways, it began its
rapid decline. Eight summers ago the
blue shutters that protected the win
dows in the buildings were replaced by
boards.
The curious traveller of today seek
ing the old hotel leaves United States
Route 219 six miles north Of Oakland
for three-mile trip over rolling roads
that lead into the little town of Deer
Park.
1t seems almost a dream city. On
the left of the raod is the quaint little
Episcopal Chapel whose rusty bell no
longer calls the hotel guests to morn
ing worship. On the right is long
row of cottages, deep in anmowed
grass.
Here and there on what was once a
lawn a single rose tries to lift its red
petals above tall ragweed. Ivy has
spread over the roofs and windows as
if irving to hide the sagging monu-
ment to the past. Weed-filled gravel
paths ramble through tall grass to-
ward sagging bridges or past llteless
fountains. One can, with imagination,
discern what once were formal gar
dens on the Henry G. Davis estate,
now, almost completely obscured by
the growth of underbrush.
Grazing On The Links
Following around the road that
passes the chapel and the larger cot
tages one moves to what used to be a
part of the golf course, now only a
grazing field for some nearby farm
er's cattle; past the buildings that
hold the swimming pools which have
now crumbled into ruins. The road
that runs in front of the hotel is now
blocked and plastered with mo tres
passing" signs.
Both annexes connect with the main
building by open boardwalks that lead
between the porches and also by long,
narrow passageways at the second
story level. The broad, once well-fur-
nished porch of the main building, is
bare, the huge oak doors chained and
locked. Peering through the board