History of Mussoorie way backs to 1825 with its construction as a shooting lodge after the British military officer Captain Young and Mr. Shore, the resident Superintendent of Revenues at Dehradun explored the areas surrounding Dehradun. Sooner with time, Mussoorie became a popular holiday resort and a hill station owing to its natural beauty and biological diversity.
The historical information of Mussoorie says that later in 1827, a sanitorium was built at Landour that became a large cantonment for military training later. The total population of the town in 1901 was only 6461, which rose significantly to 15,000 in the summers with more and more people visiting the area to enjoy the pleasing climate of the place. The pace of increasing population kept on increasing every year making the place more and more popular and one of the favourite tourists destinations.
The name "Mussoorie" is said to be derived fro the term 'mansoor', a shrub found abundantly in the area. Earlier, only road transport was available as an accessibly to Mussories. The travellers had to travel as road distance of 93 km from Saharanpur to reach Mussoorie but with railway reaching Dehradun in 1900, the accessibility to the place became easier with a road travel of just 34 kms.
At present Mussorie is one of the most frequently visited tourists destinations of the country. The place has emerged as the most exotic hill stations since its discovery and has gradually developed in all the fields including tourism, education, business and beauty.
In addition to that, the place has attracted many personalities so deeply that they spent a major part of their life at this place. Some of the big names includes Sir George Everest, after whom Mount Everest, the highest peak in the world, is named, lived in Mussoorie from 1832-60. In 1884, the Duke and Duchess of Connaught came here to spend their summer. The famous author, Ruskin Bond, now lives with his adopted family in Landour near Mussoorie.
The hills of Mussoorie was rich in Limestone and quarrying of limestone started in the late 90s which was stopped in 1995 after Prime Minister of India, Indira Gandhi, banned mining in the area.
The exotic hill station of Mussoorie is also famous for the gateway to Yamunotri and Gangotri, two of the most popular Hindu sacred in north India. The shrines of Yamunotri, Gangotri, Kedarnath and Badrinath make up the Char Dham Yatra, which is considered as the four highly sacred destinations of the Hindus in India
