Carrying The Torch

The 2022 Victorian Chautauqua program is already taking shape with a fresh lineup of talented performers, informative lectures, live music, artisans, food, and fun activities for the entire family. This free annual event is a rejuvenating Victorian experience nestled in a charming historic district along the B&O Railroad. 

Next year will be nearly a century and a half since the original Chautauqua began in New York. This Methodist resort, founded in 1874, provided immersive faith-based learning and cultural exposure for people from all walks of life. It also launched a nationwide movement that has had a lasting impact.

The Methodist leaders at that time felt strongly that education should be an integral part of their faith, with the intent of elevating individuals, including women and children. Their goals were progressive for the time, considering many women were non-educated and did not share the same rights as their male counterparts. 

As a getaway from urban heat and congestion, Victorian vacationers and part-time residents would attend lectures and classes in the novel New York community throughout the summer months. Because of the remote natural setting, outdoor recreation was a bonus that incorporated a healthful, relaxing escape from routine life.

Mother Chautauqua

The original New York resort was named after Lake Chautauqua. The featured attraction's name is speculated to come from the now-extinct Native-American Erie Language.

The Chautauqua model quickly grew in popularity in other rural communities nationwide. They began popping up to mirror and capitalize on the institution's success. The second Chautauqua in the United States was founded in 1881 as Mountain Lake Park and was conveniently situated along the Baltimore & Ohio Railroad. A small group of Methodist ministers and businessmen began the association with nothing more than a dream. Not even a lake was on the 800 acres they purchased for the proposed resort. To live up to the town's namesake, a dam was constructed along the Little Youghiogheny River to create a lake for recreation through the summer months. During the cold seasons, the lake would freeze over and provide ice for harvesting. The ice afforded many boarding homes and private residences with cold storage, and the B&O Railroad contracted harvests for their trains and hotels. Selling this valued resource provided much-needed income to the new town association that operated on a shoestring budget.

Growth & Progress

In its heyday, Mountain Lake Park boasted 254 structures, including the famed Bashford Amphitheater that seated 5,000 people.

The Assembly Hall was the first structure to go up in the newly planned community. It eventually included a 300-seat open theatre that was outgrown by the turn of the 20th century. The Alleghany Mountain location gained national acclaim and attracted notable musicians, preachers, and guest lecturers, including Mark Twain, William Jennings Bryan, and President Taft. To accommodate the swell in visitors, plans were laid to build a mammoth amphitheater across the street from the Assembly Hall that would seat 5000. The round, open-air structure with no center supports was an engineering marvel. It included a matching Ticket Office that remains today and serves as the Mountain Lake Park Historical Association's museum. The new Leo Martin Memorial Park occupies the former site of the Bashford Amphitheater. Within the park, a permanent outdoor stage marks the very spot from which notable figures from the past would address huge crowds. Among other significant buildings still standing are The Thompson Rest Home for Deaconesses, the Town Hall, the clay Tennis Courts, and over 50 summer cottages dating back to 1882.

Mountain Chautauqua

Maryland's Chautauquas have seen several iterations since Mountain Lake Park's founding. Mountain Chautauqua was the founding vision that closely mirrored the 1874 Chautauqua in New York State. The program presented various educational, spiritual, social, and recreational activities throughout the summer months. Few full-time residents toughed out the long winters on the mountaintop since the original cottages were not insulated, plumbed, or wired for electricity. 

Following two World Wars, the Great Depression, and the popularity of private automobile transportation, Mountain Lake Park's popularity waned into the 1940s. Many of the boarding homes fell into disrepair or were converted to private residences. Originally built and maintained with wealth from the B&O Railroad, large resort hotels could not be sustained once they moved into private hands. The Hepburn Act of 1906 began regulating railroad fares and holdings, forcing the destination hotels to be sold.

To resurrect the Chautauqua spirit in Maryland and increase public interest in culture and history, Maryland Humanities established the modern Maryland Chautauqua in 1995. Each year, three evening performances of a common theme toured eight locations in the state with professional reenactors portraying the lives of historical figures. Their annual season kicked off at Garrett College over July 5, 6, and 7 and was hosted by Garrett Lakes Arts Festival (GLAF).

Mountain Chautauqua, Then and Now

To celebrate the 25th anniversary of the modern Maryland Chautauqua, GLAF expanded the three evening performances into three full days and evenings. In 2019, the three-day festival, Chautauqua Then and Now, unfolded over a weekend in Mountain Lake Park to recall the original Mountain Chautauqua years. In 2020, the Maryland Humanities tour was presented as a virtual event to accommodate the coronavirus pandemic restrictions. It was then announced that after 26 years, 2020 marked Maryland Humanities' final season of Chautauqua programming.

Victorian Chautauqua

The Mountain Lake Park residents and many volunteers who staged the 2019 Chautauqua Then and Now were so enthralled with the Chautauqua’s return that they decided to make the weekend daytime festival an annual event. The new name, Victorian Chautauqua, is now held each weekend following the 4th of July. The two-day Victorian Chautauqua features live music, historical portrayals, lectures, children's activities, artists, heritage demonstrations, and historic tours, all in the spirit of the town’s founding members. Much like the result of Mountain Lake Park's founding, its organizers and attendees have deemed the first year of the Victorian Chautauqua a success. With everyone eager to return, the stage has been set for a summer festival that celebrates the warmth of this unique Victorian resort town along the rails.