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Amusement Park at Manitou Beach, with its Poplar-lined entrance, grand old hotels reached by an open-air trolley that slowly crossed the bay and ponds. The Manitou Beach resort area offered dining, dancing, picnic groves and water activities to visitors at the turn of the century.

In the early 1900s, the Manitou Trolley carried summer vacationers to the many resort hotels contained within eight scenic miles along the shore of Lake Ontario. It only cost a nickel to go from Charlotte to Manitou Beach, crossing Braddocks Bay on a wooden trestle.

The Rochester, Charlotte and Manitou Beach Railroad went into bankruptcy and was foreclosed after the winter storms of 1907 destroyed the Braddock Bay trestle. In 1908, it was reorganized as the Rochester Manitou Railroad Co. and the new trestle was built in 1909. In 1913, the New York State Railways began to furnish the power for the line, and the line was abandoned in 1924.

The Manitou Hotel at Manitou Beach, which opened in 1889, and still operated as the Manitou Beach Hotel in the 1950s. The trolley line brought visitors from Charlotte to Manitou.

Summer resorts, Ontario Beach, Sea Breeze. Glen Haven, Manitou, Windsor Beach, Sodus Bay. Quickly and easily reached by steam railways or electric cars.

SUMMER RESORTS. The proximity of Rochester to Lake Ontario has given rise to many charming summer resorts, the favorite ones being Ontario Beach, Windsor Beach, Summerville, Glen Haven, and Sea Breeze. The recent extension of the electric railway system has brought Rochester in close touch with more distant points, including Sodus Bay, famous for its picturesque scenery and convenient yachting waters. It is 39 miles from the city, the route being through a most lovely and charming country. The shipping facilities at Charlotte, Rochester's port of entry, offer the best accommodation for all who wish to visit Canada and the Thousand Islands.

CREDITS: Excerpts from the Rochester, New York Public Library