In 1957, the state of West Virginia made its first land acquisition with an eye toward further developing a ski industry in West Virginia. Sarah Maude Thompson Kaemmerling granted to the state in the 1950s for the formation of a state park with the stipulation that the state make a matching acquisition. The state would go on to claim more than 30 properties between 1964 and 1970. It was not until 1971, however, that the Canaan Valley Resort State Park was established centering on the ski slopes at the southern end of the Valley. In 1972, an 18-hole golf course was also constructed there. The lodge at Canaan Valley Resort State Park Lodge opened in 1977.