Held in late summer, the parades were especially successful in Bethlehem and North Conway. The exhibition is on view through March 30, 2002. Admission is free. Grand Hotels of the White Mountains is made possible, in part, by the Robert and Dorothy Goldberg Charitable Foundation. Popular Resorts includes a wealth of material from Society collections reflecting the grand hotel buildings and activities in which guests engaged.
Rare documents help tell the story, including hotel business records, travel accounts, and menus.
Paintings, post cards, and photographs evoke an enchanting era of the Granite State's past. The exhibition looks back to the 1820s, when New Hampshire's White Mountains became one of the most popular tourist attractions in North America. With the introduction of rail service to the area around 1850, visitors came in large numbers from all parts of New England, New York, Philadelphia, and Baltimore, as well as from Canada and Europe. Accommodating the ever-growing number of summer visitors to the White Mountains proved a challenge, but at the same time brought unprecedented prosperity to New Hampshire's North Country. At the height of their popularity between 1885 and 1920, more than 20 such hotels provided for some 6,500 guests simultaneously.