ington, and in 1822 Ethan Allen Crawford opened a road along 

 the Ammonusuc; these attracted attention and visitors. But 

 in 1837, King tells us, the White Mountains were still a secluded 

 district where the inns offered ''only the homely cheer of country 

 fare, and the paths to Mount Washington were rarely trodden 

 by any one who did not prize the very way, rough as it might 

 be, too much to search for easier ones." 



In 1840 the first horse was ridden to the summit. The dec- 

 ade which followed was that in which railroads began to play 

 a part in the economic development of the State. From the 

 middle of the century on, the popularity of the White Moun- 

 tains grew fast. 



In 1846 there was published in Boston ''The White Moun- 

 tain and Lake Winnepissiogee Guide Book" ; and from 1849 to 

 1859 there was an average of a new guide book a year for 

 White Mountain travelers. One published in Concord, N. H., 

 in 1850 makes mention of the Mount Washington House, kept 

 by Horace Fabyan, as containing about 100 rooms, "new, 

 light, and airy, the majority erected during the last two years." 

 At Littleton, the White Mountain House, "one of the most 

 pleasant and convenient stopping places to be found any- 

 where on the route," is "fitted up in the most modern style 

 regardless of expense, and everything desirable or usual in 

 hotels is there found." Between such points of resort stages 

 ran regularly for the tourists. Even though the encomiums 

 of the guide books are liberally discounted, they show how 

 the summer visitors were coming in. 



In the period of prosperity and expansion which came 

 in the seventies the number of persons in the East seeking 

 summer recreation increased apace. The vacation habit was 

 forming. By 1880 the commercial value to the State of the 

 yearly influx of visitors and tourists had become fully recog- 

 nized as of very great importance. At the same time, the 

 development of private lumbering operations and the ravages 

 of forest fires after lumbering were producing results that 

 called forth vigorous protests against the despoliation of the 

 forests and the marring of scenic beauty. 



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