The Railey family’s Stone Tavern
Charles Mahlon “C.M.” Railey and Edith Merrill Railey built Stone Tavern in 1932 beside the Deep Creek Lake bridge. The local centennial retrospective describes a place that combined meals and dancing with practical services such as groceries, gasoline and a pay telephone.
The Railey family’s own business history places Stone Tavern alongside its early rental cottages. Together, they served visitors arriving at a lake that was still a relatively new destination.
A postcard preserved by the Smithsonian, postmarked in August 1947, records the tavern’s lakeside dock. The building was demolished in 1969 during the widening of U.S. 219 and construction of a new bridge. Its physical disappearance did not erase its place in local memory.
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Sources used for this page. Historical interpretation is separate from the current menu.
- Mountain Discoveries · Deep Creek Lake 100 Years (Spring/Summer 2025)
Local recollections of Cabin Lodge, Thayer’s Barn and the Blue Barn; magazine p. 32.
- Railey Realty · Family business history
The Railey family’s cottages, Stone Tavern and later real estate business.
- Smithsonian National Museum of American History · Stone Tavern postcard
Primary artifact, postmarked August 19, 1947. Linked as evidence; image not reproduced.
