St. Johnsbury Caledonian. [volume] (St. Johnsbury, Vt.) 1867-1919, 1909-12-22
Hotels and Highways.

In urging a greater development c
summer business in Vermont the pos
sibilities Of getting more boarders int
farmers houses seems to be the aim o
some of the editorial writers of tn
state. Boarders at farmers house
would be good if the farmer had TIT
time to give them proper entertainment
and modern comfortable roo ms anC
bath but without these things the sum
mer business among Vermont farmers
will make slow progress. There is how
ever another way in which Vermont
might prepare for summer trade with
great profit, and that is in the establish
ment of a line OF up to date hotels con-
nected with belt line of good roads.
People must recognize the great
change in travel that has been effected
by the growing use of the automobile.
Travel is no longer confined to valleys
traverseo by railroad but will go any
where where there are sufficient attrac-
tions. Good scenery, good places to
stop and good lines of communication
form the attractions that will draw the
automobiles. With an automobile at
his command the tourist does not wish
to make long stops at one point Like
the humming bird he wants to dash
from beauty spot to beauty spot, take a
sip OF its pleasure and move on to new
fields. So the longer this line of pleasure
can be made in the state of Vermont the
longer will the tourist stay within it's
borders, and the greater will be the pro-
fit to Vermonters.
At present too little of the terri
tory of Vermont is opened to the auto
mobile tourist. The greater portion of
nonresident tourists visit Manchester
on the west side, cross over to Wood
stock on the east side and then take the
shortest route out of the state. An ex.
cellent hotel at each place and the scenic
route between the two places are the at
fractions that secure this travel. The
value OF this travel is shown in the sue
cess of these two hotels and in the
general increase in value Of real estate in
their immediate vicinity. In Manches-
ter farms that were placed in the grand
list at $1,000 and $1,000 dozen years
ago are now in the list at from $4,000
to $4,000. This increase in value has
been made by people coming to the hotel
and liking the location so we'll they
bought property and built fine summer
homes there. The hotel and its success
has transformed the place from deca-
dent town into an up to date and thriv-
ing Vermont community. While the in
crease in value of outside property has
not been SO great in Woodstock it has
been considerable and the demand for
desirable home sites there is constantly
increasing.
With these examples before us it is
easy to see the value of a route up the
west side of the state to Burlington,
across from there via Stowe and Morris
vile to St. Johnsbury and from here to
Lake Memphremagog or into the White
Mountains. This route would reach
some of the finest scenery to be found in
the state. Mt. Mansfield could be visit
ed and the view from Walden heights
and in Danville of the Green mountains
on one side and the White mountains on
the other is one that can not be dupli.
Gated elsewhere. From St. Johnsbury
there are several very attractive side
trips and an hours run would take the
tourist into the " hite mountain region,
or trip to Newport would furnish at
fractions that could not fail to please
any lover of natural beauty.
One requisite would be good hotels
with rooms with baths connected at
proper distances along the route. There
are already go)d hotels at Rutland,
Middlebury, Burlington, Waterbury,
and a fair one at Morrisville. The
natural division of the trip from Burl-
ington to St. Johnsbury would be
good hotel at Stowe with better accom-
modations on Mt. Mansfield. Then to
complete the link better hotel in st.
Johnsbury would nightly increase the
attractions of the route. So the impor-
tance of the new hotel project here that
is being discussed becomes apparent.
Another necessity is a line Of highway
good enough to please the tourists and
this is not SO difficult problem as
might at first appear. 1t does not mean
macadam roads over the whole route
but rebuilding Of the poorer sections
and good system of repairs for the rest
of the route. So the matter of good
roads is feasible possibility.