Findley Lake was settled by
War of 1812 veteran
Alexander Findley, a native of
Northern Ireland who had emigrated to America sometime around 1769, settled in eastern Pennsylvania, married and started a family, and returned to Ireland for a few years before making the decision to live permanently in the United States. After purchasing land in Greenfield, Pennsylvania, in 1805, he then purchased lot 52, near what is now Findley Lake, from the
Holland Land Company in 1811, and built a
dam there in 1815 to power his mill, thus creating the lake from two ponds. The settlement that grew up around the mills prospered. The Lakeside Assembly on the southwest shore entertained visitors to the region, during the summers between 1895 and 1915, with programs that rivaled
Chautauqua Assembly, at the
Chautauqua Institution. Founded in 1895 by
United Brethren minister Rev. C. G. Langdon, who lived in a parsonage on the lake's east shore, the Lakeside Assembly's first president was Dr. F. E. Lilley, who was succeeded by
American Civil War veteran and
U.S. Medal of Honor winner
Ebenezer Skellie. The Assembly was reached by two
steamboats, the Silver Spray and the Daisy. The
United Methodist Church (which absorbed the United Brethren in 1968) continued to operate a summer camp, Camp Findley, in the hamlet of Findley Lake until the early 21st century. Findley Lake is a four season getaway for camping at
Paradise Bay Park Family Campground (located right on the lake), hiking, biking, golf, fishing, hunting, boating, skiing and snowmobiles.
Peek'n Peak Four Season Resort is less than five miles and all hamlet and
town roads are approved and marked as snowmobile trails. The community has antique and specialty shops as well as restaurants,
bed and breakfasts and country inns. == Geography ==