During the 1920s, investors Wilber Lemon, A.E. Wright, Marion and Ella Auther, and others purchased land at Brookings, a former logging community, and platted Woodland Park as a summer resort for African Americans. These investors were also involved in developing the nearby resort Idlewild. Known for its quiet, residential atmosphere, Woodland Park had a clubhouse for property owners and lodging establishments, including the Royal Breeze Hotel, which the Authers built around the original Brookings Lumber Company mill. Federal Civil Rights legislation passed during the 1960s gave African Americans equal access to public accommodations, allowing people to vacation where they pleased and lessening the need for resorts like Woodland Park.