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List of summer colonies

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The term summer colony is often used, particularly in the United States, to describe well-known resorts and upper-class enclaves, typically located near the ocean, lakes, or mountains of New England, the Northeast United States, or the Great Lakes.

While some have roots in the 18th Century, many began in the 19th Century with the development of railroads and steamships and expanded with the invention of the automobile. During the summers, if the family could afford it, the mother and children of a family would escape the heat of cities and spend "the season" in cooler climates, especially if the family owned a "summer cottage". This is called "summering". The father would often work in the city during the week and take the train, steamship, or car to the "summer cottage" after work on Friday, returning to city in time for Monday morning. He would also spend his two-week vacation at the summer place, as close to Labor Day or July 4th as his seniority at his job allowed. Those fathers without 9-to-5 jobs might spend the entire summer with his wife and children at the summer colony. The less affluent would only spend their one- or two-week vacation away from the city, often renting a room or a cottage at a summer resort or renting a stand-alone summer cottage for the one or two weeks. They would often rent the same cottage for the same two weeks a year. This pattern started to decline in the last quarter of the 20th Century as people work, social, and family patterns changed, as people became wealthier, and as travel became cheaper.

Many of these historic communities are considered quiet bastions of old money, though some, such as The Hamptons, are now well known for their celebrity-driven social scenes. Additionally, their economies tend to be driven largely by this tourist trade, particularly those communities that are remote or on islands. Some summer colonies within sufficient proximity to an urban center, such as Lake Bluff, Illinois or Denville, New Jersey, may eventually become a year-round commuter town, while retaining the original character.

In Canada, the term cottage country is often preferred.

Well-known summer colonies in North America edit

United States edit

California edit

Connecticut edit

Delaware edit

Georgia edit

Illinois edit

Maine edit

Maryland edit

Massachusetts edit

Michigan edit

Minnesota edit

Missouri edit

New Hampshire edit

New Jersey edit

Listed from north to south:

New York edit

North Carolina edit

Listed from north to south:

Ohio edit

Pennsylvania edit

Rhode Island edit

Virginia edit

Washington edit

Rosario Resort and Spa, Orcas Island, was a hangout for John Wayne. The Wayne family's summers were often spent in the waters off the Pacific Northwest coast, from Seattle to the San Juans.[4]

Wisconsin edit

Canada edit

See also: cottage country and summer village

Prince Edward Island edit

Nova Scotia edit

New Brunswick edit

Quebec edit

Ontario edit

Manitoba edit

Saskatchewan edit

Alberta edit

British Columbia edit

Summer colonies outside of North America edit

The Philippines edit

See also edit

References edit

  1. ^ "In the Imperial language of the time, Bar Harbor was a summer colony, and its local residents were natives" Hornsby, Stephen J. (October 1993). "The Gilded Age and the Making of Bar Harbor". Geographical Review. 83 (4). American Geographical Society: 466. doi:10.2307/215826. JSTOR 215826.
  2. ^ "Martha's Vineyard, that summer colony for the super rich and those who come to gawk at them" Rodriguez, Richard (1982). Hunger of Memory: The Education of Richard Rodriguez. Bantam Books. p. 195. ISBN 0-553-27293-4.
  3. ^ "the transformation of Nantucket from decaying backwater, long since past its heyday as a whaling center, into a thriving tourist area." Brown, Dona (1997). Inventing New England: Regional Tourism in the Nineteenth Century. Smithsonian. ISBN 1-56098-799-5.
  4. ^ "Northwest Prime Time".
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