Thousand Acres has a rich background, being one of the favorite hunting and fishing grounds of Meshach Browning. His autobiography, "Forty-Four Years in the Life of a Hunter", is the most famous description of life in Western Maryland in the middle of the 19th Century. Since the late 1800’s many U.S. Presidents and world-famous scientists and doctors have vacationed in Garrett County and at Deep Creek Lake.  During the 1940’s and ‘50’s Dr. Benjamin Spock, “the baby doctor” for many of his generation, actually camped on Thousand Acres; one of his companions on these camping expeditions was Dr. Jonas Salk. The family tradition at Thousand Acres began over a half-century ago, when the Smith family purchased the property not long after Deep Creek, a tributary of the Yougheghieny River, was impounded to create Deep Creek Lake.  Beginning in the early 1950's, the Smith family has developed and sold limited portions of the Thousand Acres shoreline to individual homeowners and to a small, private yacht club. The existing network of small roads within the property have been upgraded and expanded.  Today, these tree sheltered private roads provide access to the homes that have been built on this quiet section of Deep Creek Lake’s southern shoreline. The Smith family’s established legacy of environmental stewardship is being carefully preserved on Thousand Acres to ensure that the property will retain its unique heritage and beautiful natural character. The golf course and all community amenities and residential areas will be designed to protect and enhance the environment, including significant wetlands, streams, and springs found in the native forests of Thousand Acres. Carefully controlled land development will maintain Thousand Acres at Deep Creek Lake in harmony with its natural surroundings.