English explorers sailed by these shores in the early 1600s but did not tarry. The barren sands had little to offer. Two-hundred years later, the arrival of the trolley and the passenger steamer and the growth of the middle class brought thousands to Plum Island and Salisbury and turned both into summertime communities and tourist destinations. The story is told in a collection of more than 200 vintage photos, many of them never before published.