Historic American Towns along the Atlantic Coast

Abstract

In the tentative early settlements along the Atlantic coast, the ocean meant everything - offering ties to the outside world and yielding an abundance that allowed colonists to establish thriving outposts. With industrialization in the 19th century, some of these coastal communities grew into important cities. Other settlements - the ones which are the focus of this book - fell behind and survived in relative isolation. Bypassed by the transportation and industrial revolutions, the places surveyed by Warren Boeschenstein have remained unspoiled by the usually unstoppable forces of the modern world. These towns have since become cherished landmarks because of their natural settings and cultural legacies. Dotting the coast from Maine to Florida, they exemplify historic America. This volume celebrates the scale and style of these places - over 140 towns - and offers evocative descriptions of each. The book divides into three regional sections: North, South and Mid-Atlantic. In these areas, Boeschenstein focuses on nine places that are among the oldest continuously inhabited settlements in North America, towns which he says still possess a pedestrian scale and sense of community, towns whose physical settings evoke time-honoured qualities, including Edgartown, Massachusetts and Ocean Grove, New Jersey. The book contains almost 200 historic maps, drawings and photographs to illustrate the spectrum of change in these communities, and the author also examines qualities common to all.