This month we are taking quick trip to Spring Mountain, PA, which lies along the east side of the Perkiomen Creek and is still a popular destination. Spring Mountain covers 401 acres and contains a dense forest which covers 335 of the 401 acres.
Health resorts
Rock Enon Springs
This month we are back to the springs of Virginia as we visit the unincorporated community of Rock Enon Springs in Frederick County, Virginia.
Originally, the name of the resort was “Capper Springs” after one of the settlers, John Caper. In 1856, William Marker bought the property and began to advertise the springs as a health resort, as well as building a hotel that could accommodate visitors.
Rockbridge Alum Springs
This month we are thinking of warmer weather in Rockbridge County, Virginia. Rockbridge opened as a resort in the 1830s by James Campbell, who hoped to exploit the growing interest in the nearby waters. The resort was then sold to brothers John and William Fraizer in 1850, and they began buildings its 36 buildings by 1853.
Rawley Springs and Massanetta Mineral Springs Company
Rawley Springs is an unincorporated community in Rockingham County, 9 miles west of Harrisonburg, Virginia, and was once known for its lavish medical resort. European men began to settle the land in the early 19th century. One of the earliest settlers was Benjamin Smith, who sent his wife Elizabeth to the springs for her health in 1810. Doctors were perplexed on what was causing her illness, but within six weeks of staying at the springs and drinking the water she was cured. Shortly after, people began to set up summer camps by the springs. Joseph Hicks is credited for purchasing land and officially advertising the small village as a resort community in 1824.
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Atlantic City as a winter resort
This month we are heading down to Atlantic City, New Jersey. Atlantic City has been known as a summertime resort since it was incorporated in 1854. The first hotel was the Belloe house, built in 1853, and has been home to the Miss American Pageant. The city was the inspiration for the board game Monopoly.
Many of us may know Atlantic City as a summertime resort, but did you know it also advertised itself as a winter resort for its “sanitary effect upon diseases and invalids?”
Sharon Springs
This month we are visiting Schoharie County, New York! The village of Sharon Springs is west of Albany and is near attractions such as Howe Caverns, Adirondack Park, Catskill Park, Fenimore Art Museum and the National Baseball Hall of Fame and Museum. Sharon Springs, before European settlement, was frequented by the Iroquois population for the spring’s natural healing waters. Major European settlement began in 1825 with the establishment of a boarding house opened by David Eldredge.
The Royal Victoria Hotel
This month we are leaving the United States and heading to the Commonwealth of the Bahamas’ capital, Nassau!
The American Civil War (1861-1865) brought an unusual increase in affluent American southern tourists to the Bahamas when Nassau acted as a blockade for the exchange of American goods. The Bahama government, hoping to cash in on the industry, built its first luxury hotel, the Royal Victoria Hotel.