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Nestled on the westside of the Allegany
Front in Maryland, lies a picturesque,
forested land known as Dan's Mountain
State Park. The park encompasses 467
acres on a 16 mile long mountain that
bears the name of an early settler,
Daniel Cresap. Daniel and his family
were some of the first white settlers in
what is now known as Allegany County.
Tales of the Cresap family portray
images of Daniel Boone and his frontier
adventures. If one of the family
epitomizes the character of an early
explorer and settler, it would be
Daniel. Daniel, the eldest son of Thomas
Cresap, was well known for being
adventurous. He and a Delaware Indian
known as Nemacolin, often hunted
together. On one such hunting foray,
Daniel treed a bear. Pursuing the bear
higher into the tree, Daniel lost his
grip and fell to the rocky ground. He
lay unconscious until Nemacolin found
him. Nemacolin carried Daniel home.
Since that time, the mountain has
has borne the name of
Dan's Mountain.
Early settlers in the area of what is
now the state park, were farmers and
coal miners. Thick veins of bituminous
coal are beneath much of the George's
Creek region (named for one of
Nemacolin's sons). Most of the farms on
the westside of Dan's Mountain were
small due to the rocky soil and steep
slopes.
Enough families settled in the vicinity
of the park to merit a school. A
one-room school house operated from the
late 1800's to the early 1900's. Heated
by a single pot-bellied stove, the wood
frame Dye School House served 20 to 25
students in grades one through eight.
In the 1960's, local citizens petitioned
the state to construct a swimming pool
in the park where the picnic shelter had
been built just a few years prior.
Fundraising commenced to provide the
local contribution of the pool.
Meanwhile, the state developed a day-use
area in the upper portion of the park.
An Olympic size pool was opened in the
day use area in 1980.
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