 In 1818 the Ceres Land Company, which owned much of the land in Potter County and sought to open the area to settlement, hired an early settler, Jonathan Edgcomb, to build a tavern or hotel for travelers at the site of the park.The hotel was in a very remote location south of Coudersport, and its visitors were few, occasional wandering travelers or Native Americans.Edgcomb and his wife received of land in exchange for building the hotel and running it for three years.