Cresson was a resort town that earned world wide fame 100 years ago. Cresson was started in 1854 by what was known then as the Allegheny Mountain Health Institute. The name was eventually changed to the Cresson Springs Company. The orginization set aside this land for "...a place of recreation and conservence..." They also provided a museum, library, and an observatory for the promotion for natural science. Since it was situated ontop the Alleghenies it was named "Summit-ville." The name was given by T. Chapman in his historical writings of 1865. Eventually Summit-Ville bacame a bustling business town. One of the hotels in cresson, the Summit House, was a favorite get away place for such people as Abraham Lincoln and Charles Dickens. In 1830 the Old Stone House (now called the Lemon House) was constructed with the coming of the railroad. The town's name was changed to "Cresson", named after Elliot Cresson, a Philanthropist who died in about 1854. Among the well-known institutions of the town are the sanitorium erected on a grant given by Andrew Carnegie and Mount Aloysius College.