Greetings Neighbor!
Hello, my name is Chris Nichols, your neighbor on Narrows Hill. I’m also a real estate agent with Taylor-Made Deep Creek Vacations and Sales and am ready and able to help you achieve your real estate goals.
Just in case you’re not aware, Narrows Hill generally lies in the area “between the bridges” – that is the Glendale and State Park Bridges and continues roughly to Toothpick and Beckman’s Peninsula Roads. Before there was a Deep Creek LAKE, there was just Deep CREEK and the Narrows is where Deep Creek carved through the terrain to create a rocky gorge which you can still see on either side of the Glendale Bridge.
In this detail from a map I developed, “Deep Creek – Then and Now”, I’ve zoomed in on the Narrows Hill area. The map’s background layer is a 1901 topographical map showing the general terrain, roads and structures at that time. Overlaid are today’s roads (in black) and the lake (translucent blue). I don’t really think the roads have moved since then, but over the scale of the whole map, it’s tough to get everything to align completely. You can see the rest of this map and others I’ve made of the area at narrowshill.com
You’ve probably already noticed the “STATE DAM” labeled around where today’s Glendale Bridge is. Before the current dam, there was actually a much smaller dam on Deep Creek to create a fish hatchery pond. You can find out more about this dam (and a couple of other actual and proposed ones on Deep Creek) on my website, dimesy.com.
The Narrows of Deep Creek was one of Meshach Browning’s favorite fishing spots. He was one of the earliest settlers of what would become Garrett County in the early 1800’s and wrote a fascinating account of his life and times titled “Forty-Four Years of the Life of a Hunter”. When his wife Mary was craving a mess of trout to fry up in fresh butter, Meshach headed to the Narrows of Deep Creek to catch them, where he wrote “success was certain”. The Deep Creek Lake Lions Club has a great historical exhibit on Browning’s life and times at the nearby McHenry Community Park. You can find out more about all the other great stuff and the park the club runs here: deepcreeklions.org.
For those of you who have docks in this area, you may gripe about the rocks and steepness of the lakefront, but one advantage is that there is almost always enough water to float your dock. As the Membership VP for the Property Owners’ Association of Deep Creek Lake, I often hear stories from owners in the southern end of the lake who have to pull their docks in August in some years. So, even if lake levels aren’t a big issue for your property the POA does a great job representing lake are owners, and I’d recommend joining if you’re not already a member. It’s just $30 per year and you can go online to deepcreeklakepoa.com to learn more.
I bet you’re asking yourself, “Isn’t this letter just an ad for his maps and real estate business?”. Yeah, it sure is, but hopefully it’s got some heart and value added. But since it is ad, here are some items I’m obligated to say. If your property is currently listed with another real estate professional, the letter is not intended to solicit the offerings of other Brokers. All information in this letter including but not limited to market information, mapping and history is deemed reliable but not guaranteed.
With that out of the way, I do hope you’ll consider checking out my maps or consulting with me for your real estate needs. If you’re selling, or even just wondering what your property is worth, now’s still a great time to do it. If you know someone who’s looking to buy (maybe even yourself), there are still good rates out there to help make that happen.
But I’d be happy to hear from you on any of the other items in here, too! I love to hear stories, get corrections on claims I’ve made or help others learn more and connect with our special slice of heaven.
Hope to see you out and about on the lake! For more info on items in this letter, a good place to start is my personal website, dimesy.com or just contact me by phone or email below.
Best regards,
Chris
