The late '20s and '30s were known as the "Golden Age" for hotels and the larger sporting camps. Families escaped the heat and dirt of the big cities to "summer" at their favorite resort in Rangeley, a tradition which often spanned several generations. Rangeley eagerly met its visitors' sophistication by providing chefs, orchestras, ballroom dancing and silent movies. Simultaneously, the railroads obliged by extending their lines to convenient in-town ports and a bus service transported vacationers from Farmington and Phillips and beginning in 1934 one could even arrive via seaplane.

Unfortunately, World War II would change Rangeley's course of history by not only taking its young men, but also by halting the summer vacations of many who were devoting their days to less frivolous activities to aid the war effort. With the end of the war came a noticeable change in previous trends. Reportedly, the "vacationing public was becoming more mobile and would no longer be content to stay in one place for an extended period." Larger hotels quickly lost popularity to motels, and the cabins of public sporting camps and cottage communities were sold off
to individual owners for use as summer homes. By 1958, the famed and historic Rangeley Lake House was razed. Other resorts were...more >>