Changes

What perhaps changed the perception of the vacation was the railroad. In the 1830s, the United States began to build railroads, initially just outside of cities such as New York and Boston, that people began to use on their days off from work to venture beyond confines of their towns. Perhaps among the earliest destinations were coastal beaches on the East Coast and soon in the South. Coney Island, just outside of New York, became among the first places that catered to vacationing individuals. The railroad, powered by steam engines, helped to vacationers usually for very short stays, perhaps no more than a few days, and sometimes even shorter. Nevertheless, this became the fist first form of mass vacationing in the United States. By the mid-19th century, Americans began to see Florida, and then later California, as popular areas for longer vacations. Places such as Silver Springs in Florida offered rowing and became among the first resort-style places to attract mass tourism. In addition to beach holidays, boating and rowing were popular leisure activities in rivers and lakes around the country. The railroad had begun to increase its spread in the United States, but the Civil War brought leisure activities to a standstill until after the war.