Campus News
October 29th, 2024
Nichols discusses 'pre-Lake' Deep Creek
JCLS presenter highlights previous Deep Creek dams, historical oddities
Chris Nichols discussed Deep Creek prior to the lake's development at his October 16th Joan Crawford Lecture Series presentation in the Performing Arts Center at Garrett College.
The third time was the charm when it came to damming Deep Creek.
Delawder T. Harrison's 1883 effort created Lake Cleveland, and R.T. Browning's 1893 dam initiative led to the forming of Lake Brown, on the current site of Glendale Bridge. Those dams and the resulting lakes, however, didn't stand the test of time.
"Mentions of either Lake Brown or Cleveland really dropped off past 1900 – it's unclear if the dams were removed or just eroded away," Chris Nichols told an October 16th audience at the Performing Arts Center at Garrett College. Nichols – the October Joan Crawford Lecture Series presenter – had a packed room for his presentation, entitled Before the Dam: Life Around Deep Creek Pre-1925.
Garrett County Fishing Commissioner R.T. Browning – grandson of well-known Western Maryland outdoors legend Meshach Browning – created Lake Brown (named for then-Governor Frank Brown). Nichols said that damming effort was significant as it was "likely the first publicly funded fishing and recreation spot in the State of Maryland."
The "first mention" of Deep Creek Lake that Nichols found was from 1922. A newspaper article hyped a $5 million dam project near Oakland "that remarkably ended up being completed in about two years."
Nichols, however, said the project "wasn't without some hiccups".
The developers rerouted numerous roads as part of the project and didn't want to develop the expensive (for that time) Glendale Bridge. However, county officials forced the developers to include the bridge – at their cost – as the price for finishing the lake project.
Nichols also covered the century leading up to the development of Deep Creek Lake as part of his JCLS presentation.
Nichols noted that the McHenry Family was particularly influential in the early history of what became Garrett County. The McHenry Family letters provide some solid historical record of what took place in 150 years before Deep Creek Lake's creation.
"Even in the 1800s, there was a surprisingly large number of visitors to this area . . . well before there was a Deep Creek Lake," said Nichols. "It was basically a sportsman's paradise for trout fishing, waterfowl hunting, and bigger game."
Early attempts to populate what is now Garrett County were not particularly successful, according to Nichols.
"Garrett County in general was slow to develop and become populated," said Nichols, noting a 1777 Maryland General Assembly act passed to spur development didn't really have the intended effect.
"The General Assembly passed an act for recruiting the quota of troops necessary for the American [revolutionary] army," said Nichols noting the legislation furnished volunteers with clothing and other necessities, along with "a bounty of 40 dollars . . . and 50 acres of land."
While soldiers received 50 acres of land – predominantly in underdeveloped Western Maryland – the legislative action didn't have the intended effect. Most soldiers sold their land to speculators rather than choosing to live on it themselves.
Nichols noted that Colonel James McHenry – physician and aide to General George Washington – owned about a thousand acres of land around present-day McHenry. He and his family – including nephew/attorney John McHenry – attempted to jumpstart development in the area.
There was also considerable interest in the early 1800s with extending the C&O Canal past Cumberland, but those efforts fizzled in the 1820s.
The area did receive considerable positive publicity via F.G. Skinner, an 1820s outdoors writer who said "never anywhere have I eaten anything to compare with those fat flaky salmon-colored Deep Creek trout cooked 'en papillotte' (in paper)."
Nichols also touched on the impact of local hunter/writer Meshach Browning.
"He wrote 44 years of the Life of a Hunter with many hunting tales and some descriptions of life in the Glades," said Nichols. "I believe most of it is true, but there are a lot of exaggerations in his stories."
Nichols noted that Deep Creek Lake's 2025 centennial will be celebrated via the Deep Creek Lake 100 planning committee. He encouraged people interested in the Lake's centennial to visit https://deepcreeklakepoa.com/deep-creek-lake-centennial-2025/.
Nichols, a Garrett County resident who works as an energy markets analyst with the National Energy Technology Laboratory in Morgantown, has produced a series of printed maps of the county focusing on outdoor recreation and historical features. Nichols' website may be found at https://dimesy.com.
Garrett College's faculty created the Joan Crawford Lecture Series in honor of the dynamic educator Joan R. Crawford.
Crawford, who died in 2010, served the College community for more than 30 years, including serving as the head of the humanities division and director of enrollment. After her retirement, Crawford was named Professor Emerita.
The Joan Crawford Lecture Series of presentations are offered free of charge, and the public and community members are invited to attend.
All presentations from the Joan Crawford Lecture Series will be available to view online after the event through the College's YouTube page. For more information, contact Stephanie Miller at stephanie.miller@garrettcollege.edu.