So I recently saw posted a link to a story about how before the advent of AC people would sleep in Central Park and on fire escapes to escape the heat. My question is, was there any other option which might of been too expensive for most people?
They had summer homes by the water - Rye, Newport, Cape Cod, the North Shore of Long Island, the Hudson Valley - which were engineered for maximum cooling.
Take a look at plantation houses in the south sometime. They were build with the heat in mind. Wrap around porches and wide hallways. Windows were placed to allow for maximum airflow. I'm on my tablet right now but I can find more later.