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
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.
