Over the past couple of months I have been doing research about the history and heritage of Delmarva, the Counties and the Towns.
The the common elements I have been able to see for many of the places that populate the maps of Delmarva stems from work with the water (fishermen and harvesting the water) and farmers. Delmarva has over the years feed ourselves as well as many others on the East Coast.
Some of the towns sprang up as seaports, others developed as stops on the railroad. The Railroad transported many tons of those food products.
A couple of places, the Atlantic Beaches in particular as well as the port towns of Tolchester and Betterton in Kent County Maryland, started as tourist attractions. Tolchester had one of the most visited amusement park in the area during the first quarter of the 20th century.
Even today most of the economy of the region comes from agriculture, aquaculture and tourism. However it seems as if in some ways these three noble industries are the least welcomed in the area.
Maybe it’s time to rethink this narrow minded view, of some, and embrace the concepts. Especially as it comes to tourism.
For many things, “Build it and they will come” doesn’t always work. However, if we fund invest in our Museums and other attractions so that they can be open everyday and build places where visitors can stay, I think they will come.
There still is plenty of natural beauty in the area and we should work to both keep it that way as well as to invite visitors to come see it.
For more of my research on Delmarva goto ShoreToBeFun.com. Information about Events, History and the Places of Delmarva.
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I have mixed feelings about this.
While I do believe that tourism is great for the economy, I also find it a nuisance as well. Now this is coming from someone who lives in Rehoboth on a year round basis. For 9 months out of the year the entire town is basically dead. There’s hardly any traffic, hardly any lines to get in anywhere and you don’t have out-of-towner’s zipping through the complex not following any kind of speed limits set for the community.
There’s more of a sense of community when the year-rounders are here than when the tourists are. Going down to Rehoboth Ave to watch the tree lighting in the winter, for example. There’s a sense of family there.
Now you have people running a muck causing all kinds of trouble on their summer vacation and a once beautiful street is now covered in garbage and loud-mouthed children who are out way too late.
I agree that if the museums and places with more history and less sand were given more of a chance then it probably wouldn’t be as bad as it is.
My apologies for the rant.