Dismal Swamp 1900s & 2000s

The 1900s

1923     Largest Forest fire ever raged for 3 years consuming 150 square miles

1929     United States Government purchased the Lake Drummond Company

1952     Lake Drummond dried up there was no water in the Canal.

1974     Great Dismal Swamp National Wildlife Refuge created

1989     Dismal Swamp Welcome Center opened

The 2000s

2004     Dismal Swamp Canal became a designated site and member of the National Underground Railroad Network to Freedom Program

2005     The 200th anniversary of the  Canal & 65th anniversary of the Atlantic Intracoastal Waterway

2005     Dismal Swamp Canal Trail opens to the public

2008     Dismal Swamp State Park opens to the public

2011     Largest fire in recent history. 9 square miles consumed                                                                     2016     Damage from Hurricane Matthew caused the Dismal Swamp Canal to close October 2016.

2017 Dismal Swamp Canal reopened to boating traffic in October.