Canadian History Commons^™

Waters Of Labor, Waters Of Leisure: An Environmental History Of Lake Memphremagog, Katherine Tucker

Honors Theses

This thesis seeks to examine the transition from traditional resource extractive industry to seasonal tourism industry around Lake Memphremagog, a mid-sized freshwater lake that is situated across the USA/ Canada border in northern Vermont and southern Quebec. Reading sources primarily from the decades 1860-1890, this research examines changing conceptualizations of nature that link to specific land use trends. Northern Vermont was left with a decimated landscape following the decline of the logging and agricultural industries by the mid-nineteenth century. Meanwhile, nature centered tourism began to emerge in the same area. The new tourism economy catered to the wealthy urban elite, …