Listen: Victoria Hotel - BBC Radio Wales reporter Anna Owen talks to local historian Harry.
Prestatyn is thought to be the oldest resort along the North Wales coast bringing in tourists since the 1800s due to its supposed health benefits from 'sea bathing' and fresh air.
They first came following the building of the Chester to Holyhead railway, lured by the descriptions of the 'air being like wine and honey', a far cry from the grime and smog of the cities, and they flocked to the town to enjoy its 'abundant sunshine ideal for arthritis and nervous disorders'.
Wealthy families bought houses and set up bathing huts that could be wheeled to the seafront to cover people's modesty and TB huts were established along the coast as people believed the fresh air could aid people's recovery.
Among the many visitors were fashionable ladies from mansion houses in the Vale of Clwyd who set aside their tours of Europe to explore the countryside and shore-line closer to home.
The most distinguished of these was poet Hester Thrale of Bryn Bella, Tremeirchion, who was a close friend of Doctor Johnson, the celebrated diarist with whom she travelled all over North Wales.
When sea bathing at Prestatyn Mrs Thrale stayed at the Cross Foxes, the town's oldest pub.
On her stay in 1790 she wrote: "For me though there's no breadth or length, no room to swing a cat in, when I'm distressed for health or strength, pray send me to Prestatyn."
Before tourism the town's staple industries were agriculture, mining for silver and lead as well as limestone quarrying.
But it was the completion of the Chester to Holyhead railway line in 1848 that changed the face of the town.
To accommodate the growing numbers who came in the Victorian era, entrepreneurs built hotels, many using the Ruabon red brick from the Wrexham brickmakers.
And among the striking buildings which still stand is the impressive Victoria Hotel. Plans were approved for the building for a Mr Martyn O'Connor of Liverpool in August 1897.
This was a perfect location for the beach was much closer to the town than it is today before being pushed back and the land reclaimed by a millionaire businessman.
Today Prestatyn's economy is mixed but its location and natural amenities still make it a haunt for tourists.
Info courtesy www.prestatyn.org.uk and local historian Harry Thomas.
