Fishville has been an area resort since the 1820s. The community began as a summer retreat for residents of Alexandria escaping the surrounding mosquito-laden river bottoms. One of Fishville's most noted summer residents was nineteenth-century author Timothy Flint, whose memoir of Daniel Boone became the basis for many of the legends that surround Boone today. By the mid-twentieth century, Fishville had evolved into a regional vacation spot on Big Creek, home to Dean's Hole, Slick's Skating Rink and Store, and Ed Hawthorne's Store and Dance Hall.