Great Web Cams of the Northeastern United States

If you have neither time nor money to travel through the northeastern United States, you may still visit interesting places via web cams and your Internet connection. These four northeastern United States web cams are located within sight of water.

Boothbay Harbor, Maine, WebCams
According to maineguide.com, Boothbay Harbor, Maine, is the biggest of the northeastern United States boat harbors north of Boston. Barbara Rumsey, who wrote a local history of this harbor area, noted it was originally inhabited by the Wawenocks, an Abenaki Native American tribal group. White men settled there during the early 17th century. Its harbor was an attraction for English fishermen. Besides commercial fishing, shipbuilding, lumber, ice-cutting, and tourism have been major industries of Boothbay Harbor. An interactive live streaming web cam, located on the balcony of Brown's Wharf Inn, allows the viewer to zoom in or out and scan the harbor for activity for a minimum of two minutes. A pull down menu gives you preset harbor locations to explore. If someone else is in control of the camera, you can either click to take your turn or you may wish to visit one of the six stationary web cams on the roof of the Inn. Each of these views refresh every fifteen seconds. An especially good time to visit this site is during Windjammer Days in late June when you may see the antique boat parade.

New York City, New York, Web Cams
A visit to the northeastern United States, even if done in cyberspace, would be lacking if New York City was not included on the travel itinerary. One of the main sites for any tourist to visit in the Big Apple is the Empire State Building. Built in 1931, the ESB was at one time one of the world's tallest buildings. As such, the ESB observation decks give a visitor an awesome view of New York City. You can avoid the building security checks, the $19 to $20 adult admission price to get to the 86th floor observatory, and the additional $15 to go to the 102nd floor observatory. The ESB tower cam site has a drop down menu which will allow you to choose from nine different views. Once you find your chosen vantage point, you can zoom in from 1 to 8.5 times. The view of the Statue of Liberty goes from 1 to 12 times magnification. Even at that zoom range, the statue is a recognizable outline but not great detailed. You must manually refresh your screen view to see boats in the harbor and people on the southern observation deck move, but the web cam views of this northeastern United States mega-metropolis are inspiring.

Rehoboth Beach, Delaware, Web Cam
Do you enjoy people watching? The Rehoboth Beach, Delaware,web cam site is one of the best places to do it. English and Dutch settlers were the first white people to reside in this area of the northeastern United States. Rehoboth Beach became better known when a Methodist reverend chose it as the place for his dream, a camp meeting site. Although the camp meetings ended around 1881, Rehoboth Beach was recognized as a municipality in 1891 by the state of Delaware. When travel became easier between Rehoboth Beach and Georgetwon in 1925, the area became a popular vacation destination with the Washington, D. C. crowd. The city's own official web site says Rehoboth Beach is "The Nation's Summer Capitol". The one mile long boardwalk was first built in 1873 and can be seen in some of the waterfront web cam shots. Every 20 seconds you can see one of six alternating views. This web cam is sponsored by McMahon Financial Services, Ltd.

Ocean City, Maryland, Web Cam
Ocean City is situated on a barrier island and was not permanently settled until 1869. Even though its start was as a small fishing village, Ocean City was visited by tourists who had to travel by train and boat to get there. In 1876, a newly constructed railroad bridge from the mainland to the island facilitated the growth of tourism. In the early 1900's an amusement park was built on the beach front by the Trimper brothers. At about the same time, the city fathers decided to construct a portable Boardwalk, one that could be stored during the winter months. Ocean City's current Boardwalk extends about three miles and is permanent. The web cam view at Ocean City's Caroline Street changes every ten seconds. Web cam views include the boardwalk, surf and beach, the amusement park in the distance, and the businesses along Caroline Street. This web cam is sponsored by the Ocean City Department of Tourism and the Convention and Visitors Bureau.

These four selections are not the only web cams of the northeastern United States that may be enjoyed by the Internet traveler. You can search for web cams for your favorite state by typing in the name of the state and the words "web cam". Then sit back and enjoy the sights.