As New England farmers left the area for Midwest farmlands, the White Mountains grew increasingly popular. Fabyans, the Lafayette House, the Flume House, and many other increasingly comfortable hotels sprang up throughout the region.
Tourists clutching their guidebooks traveled by railroads to the Whites beginning in the early 1850s and more followed. Popular among urbanized New Englanders and New Yorkers, the tourist industry promoted the Whites as a place for quiet rejuvenation and contemplation.
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Deserted Farmhouse Larrabee Collection, Photographs, Special Collections, New Hampshire Historical Society, Concord, NH