 During the boom years, East Coast railroads were finding that a lucrative passenger business could be built up by transporting people from a city to railroad-owned hotels in the mountains, including nearby in Oakland, Maryland.Thus, B&O Railroad ventured into the “resort hotel” business in 1869, when they purchased several of Perry family's “Anchorage Farm.” In 1872, the railroad built the center section of the Deer Park Hotel; and it opened for the first time on July 4, 1873.The east and west wings of the hotel were added in 1881-82 bringing the total number of rooms to 300.