Old postcards  and photographs provide a very good insight into the way of life in Gorski kotar throughout the past.
Back in the Roman times, the region was a limes, i.e. a fortified frontier of a part of the Roman Empire. The remains of a Roman fortifying wall, vallium romanum, have been found near Prezid. Since those remote times up to the present days, Gorski kotar has always been a border area, important in terms of transit and a place of frequent contacts. The mountains and thick forests made the countryside forbidding and inhibited settlement, so the area was long unpopulated. A number of places in Gorski kotar were first mentioned in a court decision from the 15th century (dated 22 February 1481). The document forbid the Frankopan counts to collect taxes at their estates in Moravice, Delnice, Lokve and Brod from Zagreb merchants. The places were situated along the old Frankopan road leading through what is now Gorski kotar to place in the littoral part of Croatia (Primorje). The Frankopan family, then the rulers of Krk and Vinodol, expanded in the 14th century their territories to include what is today Gorski kotar. Under the 16th century inheritance agreement (dated 1544), all the Frankopan estates in the region came into the hands of the Zrinski counts. The new feudal lords made much better use of the rich potentials of Gorski kotar. Transit and trade were better organised, so the region's economic importance grew, especially under the brothers Petar and Nikola Zrinski. In the period from 1649 to 1670, Petar Zrinski ruled all the estates in Gorski kotar. Following the execution of the Zrinskis, the territory fell apart and remained crumbled until authority of the Austro-Hungarian Empire was established. It was under Empress Maria Theresa that the area was united again in order to promote trading activities. So, between the Primorski and Kupski Districts of the then Severinska County, a new territorial unit was established in 1778 under the name of Processus montanus, meaning a mountainous district, i.e. Gorski kotar, and the name has been preserved until today. The region has traditionally relied on trade and transport, forest management, operation of sawmills and wood processing. Throughout the past, however, these activities have been through various stages of development. The construction of the Caroline road in 1728 and the Louisian road later on (1809) boosted trade, i.e. exchange of commodities. Transportation by (horse-drawn) carriages was in its bloom: the maize and grains from the inland, and the wood from Gorski kotar, were taken to Primorje to be sold or exchanged for salt, fish, etc. In parallel with vivid commercial activities, inns and boarding houses sprouted. The construction of the railway in 1873 displaced the transportation by carriages and marked the beginning of a new, modern era. This was also the outset of hospitality business and tourism. Having experienced their ups and downs, these activities have continued into the present days.