USA > Maine > Knox County > Camden > History of Camden and Rockport, Maine > Part 47
USA > Maine > Knox County > Rockport > History of Camden and Rockport, Maine > Part 47
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HISTORY OF CAMDEN AND ROCKPORT
CHAPTER LXVI.
AS SUMMER RESORTS.
" Ye who love the haunts of nature, Love the sunshine of the meadow, Love the shadow of the forest, Love the wind among the branches, * * * * *
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And the thunder in the mountains, Whose innumerable echoes Flap. like eagles in their eyries : Listen !"
There is no spot where Nature has distributed her gifts with a more lavish hand ; there is no region that she has endowed with a more potent scenic charm, than "Picturesque Camden " and its neighboring territory and adjacent waters. And there is no place the equal of this region in possessing all the characteristics that go to make up an ideal summer resort. Some places have be- come famous for their situation by the sea, some for the beauty of their hills and the grandeur of their mountains, some for the gentle charm of field and forest, "river and fountain, brook and rill," some for rugged wave-dashed islands, some for lovely lakes, some for their fine facilities for rowing, sailing and yachting and some for their cool, salubrious and health inspiring climate. Others have become famous for a combination of two or more of these characteristics. None but Camden and vicinity has them all. All of these and more are here.
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" Thou who would'st see the lovely and the wild Mingled in harmony on Nature's face, Ascend our rocky mountains. Let thy foot Fail not with weariness, for on their tops The beauty and the majesty of earth Spread wide beneath, shall make thee to forget The steep and toilsome way."
The mountains arise from the sea and reach far back into the country and from their summits the eye takes in a scene of un- surpassed loveliness and grandeur. Toward the west are hills with lakes everywhere sparkling in their deep valleys,
" A most living landscape, and the wave Of woods and cornfields, and the abode of men."
Below are the calm harbors, unruffled by the winds. To the east is the broad expanse of water than which there is no finer place for sailing and yacht-racing. Beyond lies the great archipelago of Penobscot Bay, while toward the south, unobstructed, stretches the vast, shimmering surface of,
" The sea ! the sea ! the open sea ! The blue, the fresh, the ever free!"
Amid this scenery are drives innumerable, the most famous one being over the "Turnpike."
From the mountains into the houses and cottages flows an inexhaustible supply of the marvelously pure Mirror Lake water 1 and the breezes from the sea and mountains reduce the heat of summer to an even, invigorating and delightful temperature.
1. The following statement of Prof. Robinson who analyzed the water of Mirror Lake is of interest :
" BOWDOIN COLLEGE, BRUNSWICK, ME.
HON. A. F. CROCKETT, PRESIDENT OF CAMDEN & ROCKLAND WATER CO .:
My analysis of your mountain spring water, taken from Mirror Lake, justifies me in certifying that it is a water of extraordinary purity. There are, in fact, abso- lutely no injurious ingredients in it ; it is almost as pure as the purest spring water I ever analyzed, and I think it would be hard to match it anywhere.
FRANKLIN C. ROBINSON,
Professor of Chemistry and Assayer, State of Maine."
Other analyses have corroborated the foregoing.
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HISTORY OF CAMDEN AND ROCKPORT
Camden Mountains
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From the earliest days people have been drawn to Camden by its picturesque scenery. For almost a century and a half men and women, coming here as sojourners, have fallen under the spell of its beauty, and have here remained. Those who have come and gone away have carried with them a lasting mental picture of its land and water scenes, which many have celebrated in prose and verse and preserved on canvas.
It was not until less than fifty years ago, however, that Cam- den began to be recognized by city people as an ideal spot in which to pass the sultry days of the heated term. So far as we are able to learn the first "summer visitors" to Camden, were Mrs. A. P. Guild and her two daughters, and three daughters of Mr. Frederick Dillingham, all of Bangor, who in the summer of 1857, boarded with Mrs. Amasa Hosmer who at that time lived on the "Kent Farm " on Belfast Road. Mrs. Hosmer con- tinued to take boarders there for three summers when she and her family moved to the house on the corner of High street and Ocean avenue, now owned by her son, Errold E. Hosmer, and known as the "Hosmer House," where she continued to take summer boarders for many years. The most of them for a long time were prominent Bangor people, among them, in the early days, being Mrs. Guild and family, Arad Thompson and family, Edwin F. Dillingham and family, Dr. Sanger and family, Dr. Laughton, Mrs. Veazie and A. L. Boyd. Later summer boarders began to come from other cities,- Boston, New York and else- where - and in the eighties they flocked here from all parts of the country. After Mrs. Hosmer's death the business was continued and enlarged by Mr. E. E. Hosmer who has had one of the most successful summer boarding houses in this locality. As visitors increased others began taking boarders for the summer, among them being Joseph Eaton, the Misses Allen, Mrs. J. A. McKay and others, some of whom have continued the business most successfully until the present time. Up into the nineties the principal "summer business " consisted in taking boarders and
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HISTORY OF CAMDEN AND ROCKPORT
the visitors were principally a well to do class of people who wanted to spend a few weeks in the country and while many came but few remained as permanent summer residents. Be- ginning early in the nineties, however, the character of the summer visitors began to change with the advent of a wealthier class, who built cottages, and while taking boarders has continued, Camden has never become a great summer hotel place, the Mountain View House built by John Porter in 1882, and after- wards purchased by F. O. Martin, being the only distinctive summer hotel in town, although the Ocean House, burned in 1903 was for a time run as such and the Bay View House has always entertained a large number of summer people.
The first "summer cottage " was built by Caleb Holyoke of Brewer, on a lot of land on Ogier's Point, purchased by him in 1871. In May, 1881, A. M. Judson, whose wife is a descendant of Lewis Ogier, purchased his original lot on Ogier's Hill and erected his fine summer home, known as "Stonyhurst." At about the same time Edwin F. Dillingham purchased his original lot on Ogier's (now Dillingham's) Point and erected his summer home "Arequipa." A little later Manly Hardy of Brewer built a small cottage on an adjoining lot on the Point, and in 1882, William H. Gardiner, then of Philadelphia, purchased the lot. on the western side of the harbor and erected the cottage known as " Edgewater." Mr. Dillingham and his sons afterwards purchased large tracts of adjoining land on the Point and have erected several fine cottages thereon, the principal ones being "Gray Lodge " the property of Dr. F. H. Dillingham, "The Birches " belonging to E. L. Dillingham, and the "Pointed Firs."
In 1888, Wm. A. French of Boston purchased the Melvin Farm and made of it a summer home now known as "Hillcrest " and in 1890, Camden began to have a "boom" in real estate, several farms being sold to wealthy men for summer homes and a number of large cottages being erected. These places were the Abbott farm on "Melvin Heights " purchased by James A. Wright of
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Philadelphia and the Watson place in the same neighborhood by Mr. Wright's daughter, now Mrs. Timothy Walsh, and a part of the Rodney Beverage farm on Belfast Road, purchased in 1891 by Dr. George Strawbridge of Philadelphia. After Mr. Wright's death his place was purchased by Wm. W. Justice of Philadelphia, who has since made his summer home there, the place being known as "Blueberry Farm." Dr. Strawbridge's fine place on the bay is called " Rockledge."
The business depression of 1893 put an end to the "boom" for a time but in 1896 it started again and since that time Cam- den has seen a vast increase in the value of shore property and many expensive and elegant summer residences have been erected. In addition to those already mentioned and Mr. Stearns' "Norum- bega," "Sagamore Farm" and "Selbourne, " the following are the principal summer residences that have been erected in Cam- den : In Belfast Road region : "Grey Rocks," E. J. Wardwell, Cambridge ; "Woodclyffe," H. F. Amsden, Boston, (now owned by Mr. Wardwell; ) "Mountain Arrow," Appleton R. Hillyer, Hart- ford, Conn .; "Mecaddacut," George B. Phelps, New York ; "Timbercliffe," Chauncey Keep, Chicago; "Nodoneyo," Mrs. Harriet B. Borland, Chicago; "Edgemont," Miss M. O. Hill, Brookline ; "Wildacre," Mrs. B. M. Plummer, Philadelphia ;
together with "Hilltop," " Upland," "Anchorage," "Idle Hours," "Fairlawn " and "Orchardside," cottages owned by John R. Prescott of Newtonville. "Baymount" at the foot of Mt. Battie is the home of Edward Baxter Perry, the blind pianist. At Melvin Heights : "Summerfold," Mrs. Timothy Walsh, Brookline; "Crabtree Farm," Justus C. Strawbridge, Philadelphia. On Ogier's Hill and vicinity : "Red Cottage," Mrs. E. J. Parker, Quincy, Ill .; "Cedar Crest," Mrs. Clara E. Palmer, Lawrence ; "Breeze Hill," built by Lawrence F. Abbott of New York now owned by Otto Kirschner of Detroit, Mich .; "Belvedere," W. F. Hooper, Fall River, Mass .; Prudden Cottage, Theodore H. Prudden, West Newton ; "Pine-
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HISTORY OF CAMDEN AND ROCKPORT
crest," Myron M. Parker, Washington ; "Portlow," W. J. Curtis, Summit, N. J .; "The Rock," Mrs. Cornelius Stevenson, Phila- delphia ; " Grey Lodge," C. F. Hofer, Cincinnati; "The Home- stead," Charles T. Gallagher, Boston ; "Blythewood," Joseph D. Snell, Boston ; "Borden Cottage," the late William Borden, Chicago ; "Undercliff," A. M. Judson, New York ; "Boulder ". and "Thayercroft," Miss Mary S. Smart, Geneva, N. Y. The
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A Typical Camden Cottage Summer Residence of Col. Myron M. Parker of Washington, D. C.
most recent cottage to be built is now in process of construction on the Russell Farm, overlooking Megunticook Lake, by Charles H. McKee of St. Louis.
In 1901, Sherman's Point was sold by the heirs of Ignatius Sherman to George B. Wilson of Philadelphia. Mr. Wilson has cleared it of underbrush and supurfluous growth and has built to
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it a macadamized road from the Belfast Road. He also divided the property into fine cottage lots, several of which he has sold. No summer cottages have been erected there, but the Point is destined soon to become one of the finest summer residence sections in this locality.
Megunticook Lake began to be a summer resort in 1884 when Mr. George H. Cleveland and Mr. A. H. Knight and later Capt. Isaac Coombs, Mr. Geo. Burd and other citizens of Camden village built cottages there and started the summer settlement known as "Lake City." Others followed and in 1892, “Lake City Inn " was built near the south shore of the lake and conducted as a summer hotel until the fall of 1895, when, with its contents it was totally destroyed by fire. Cottages continued to spring up at "Lake City" and all around the lake and on the islands, built by Camden people and many from other states until at the present time there are some forty cottages in that locality. Among the principal Lake cottages are "Sunset Cottage," George H. Hill, Boston ; "Land's End," E. E. Richards, Boston ; Stone Cottage, Prof. Alaric Stone, Boston and the cottages of Judge H. W. Kelley, Rockland, Mass., G. E. Gookin, Indianapolis, Ind., Mrs. Ella C. Fenderson, Boston and Hon. E. L. Freeman, Central Falls, R. I. There are also a few cottages at Lake Hosmer.
While a few summer boarders came to Rockport, that town did not come into any prominence as a summer resort until 1899 when Charles W. Henry purchased the McIntire Farm on Beauchamp Point and erected his summer home there known as "Orchard Farm." Shortly afterwards he purchased the Calder- wood, John McIntire and Jere McIntire farms and other property in the same neighborhood and began selling therefrom cottage lots to others, principally Philadelphians. This resulted in the building up of a summer colony on the Point. Among the first to follow Mr. Henry was Wm. J. Latta of Philadelphia who owns "White Cedars." Other cottages are "Lyndon," Cyrus H. K. Curtis, Philadelphia; "Weatherend," built by F. H.
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Dougherty of Philadelphia and now owned by John Gribbel of the same city. In the same vicinity are "Overlook," "Balsams " and the "Wister Cottage," owned by Mrs. Henry. In 1899, A. H. Chatfield of Cincinnati purchased the John Barrett farm also on Beauchamp Point and erected his summer residence, "Alder- mere." Later he purchased the adjoining Amos Barrett place and now has a fine estate there. The other cottages near Mr. Chat-
A Typical Rockport Cottage
Summer Residence of Mr. Wm. J. Latta of Philadelphia, Pa.
field's are those of Frederick Gilbert of Utica, N. Y., Dr.F.Forch- heimer of Cincinnati and "Wawenock," Prof. E. Hershey Sneath of New Haven. Below Rockport village on the road to Rock- land are "Roxmont," the fine cottage of F. O.Havener of Wheel- ing, W. Va., and the new cottage of Mrs. Ada B. Tremaine of Providence, R. I. In addition to those already mentioned are
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several small cottages, mostly owned by local people, at Ballard Park and the new cottage of H. L. Shepherd, between the Park and Rockport village. There are also a few small cottages at Mirror Lake.
Nearly all of the summer residences here mentioned are fine cottages, some magnificent in their size and luxurious in their appointments costing many thousands of dollars to erect and furnish. In addition there are many others in the two towns, particularly in Camden, less pretentious and expensive, too numerous to be specifically mentioned here, many of which are annually rented by their owners. The supplying of these cottages and the many hundreds of people who visit Camden and Rockport during the summer has become an exceedingly important and prosperous industry of the two towns, especially of Camden.1
Among the things promoted principally by the summer residents is the Mt. Battie Association, of which A. M. Judson is President, a corporation organized in 1899, which pur- chased the top of Mt. Battie and the toll road and Summit House owned by Columbus Buswell, and had the building remodeled. It is known as the Mt. Battie Club-house and is annually opened to the public as a summer hotel. The principal object of this Association is to hold the mountain perpetually as a park and preserve it from being used for objectionable purposes. The Megunticook Golf Club, of which Chauncey Keep is President, was organized in 1899 and incorporated in 1901, and in 1902, the Calderwood Improvement Company, of which J. C. Strawbridge is President was incorporated to hold the property composing the golf links and build the golf club-house. These Links and Club-house are located on Beauchamp Point, princi- pally on what was the Calderwood Farm. The club-house is a
1. The excellent books that have been published descriptive of Camden and Rockport scenery are: "Picturesque Camden" (two editions) by T. R. Simonton. "The Camden Mountains" and "Glimpses of Camden" (two editions) by J. R. Prescott, "Camden by the Sea," by G. W. Morris, and "Where Sweet Winds Blow," a booklet of poems by Camden's well-known author, Gilbert Patten.
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fine structure and is a favorite place of resort for all the summer residents in this vicinity. The Camden Yacht Club, of which Chauncey B. Borland is Commodore, was organized in the summer of 1906, principally through the efforts of Geo. B. Phelps. This Club has leased the property of M. C. Whitmore & Co. near the lime kilns as a wharf and club-house.
During the summer season the population of Camden is in- creased by some fifteen hundred people, and that of Rockport is also largely increased, which added to the usual large native population of the villages, makes our streets scenes of bustle, stir and activity.
The summer residents of Camden and Rockport are a magnificent class of people. Possessed of great wealth though the most of them are, they are as a rule, unassuming, cultured and gracious ladies and gentlemen, who are interested in the welfare of the towns, careful of the rights of others and are held in the highest regard and respect by the native population. In fact several of them, notably Mr. E. J. Wardwell, Dr. George B. Phelps, Col. Myron M. Parker, Mr. Edward Baxter Perry and Mr. C. F. Hofer, have made Camden their permanent residence, voting and paying their taxes in that town.
No account of the summer people of Camden and vicinity would be complete without mention of the venerable and courtly William R. Porter, the dean of the summer colony, who, for many years, with his family, has spent a large portion of each year in Camden, living at the home of his sister, Mrs. Alexander Buchanan. Mr. Porter is the son of the late Stephen Porter, a former resident of Camden, and is not only a great admirer of the Camden scenery but a strong friend of the town and its people among whom he has passed so large a portion of his life.
Camden and Rockport are now too far on the road to success and popularity as summer resorts to warrant any doubt that they are destined to stand among the very first of the great watering places of the country in the years to come.
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LAST VIEW
CHAPTER LXVII.
LAST VIEW.
When Capt. Waymouth and the other ancient voyagers first viewed Camden, they beheld an Hercynian region of forest clad mountains. When the first settlers came here to establish their homes the character of the country had not changed. But the years that have elapsed since James Richards built his cabin home amid the tall timber at "Negunticook Harbour " and the other pioneers followed to make the new settlement, have wrought vast changes in the country and the people. Then the forests, now the fields ; then the cabin of the humble trapper, now the palace of the rich, the solid mansion of the well-to-do and the neat cottage of the thrifty laborer ; then the scattered homes, now the compact and teeming villages ; then the tow path with its horseman, now the trolley and motor car ; then the little mill, now the great factory ; then the tiny shops, now the brick blocks with plate glass fronts ; then the perforated tin lanthorn of the pedestrian, now the arc and in- candescent light; then the rough unlettered pioneer, now the college bred scholar and well informed citizen conversant of all the world's events. Strange and marvellous indeed would Cam- den and Rockport seem to the early settlers could they look upon them now. But great as have been the changes many things are much the same. Three centuries have not changed those majestic piles, reared by the Almighty's hand, and when the eyes of the wind-tossed mariner seek those land marks, and
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"-the mountain's misty top Swells on the sight and brightens with the dawn,"
they behold the same unvarying landfall seen by the eyes of Waymouth, Strachey, Pring and all the other mariners who have sailed along our coast from their day to ours. The ocean too, unchanged and unchangeable, dashes against our rocks exactly as it did a century ago. The landscape's contour is unchanged and its embelishments are of the same material. When spring adorns it with her fire-tipped maples, or summer decks it with the heavy and varied foliage of curving elm, enameled oak, twinkling poplar, ghostly birch, towering pine, "pointed " fir and dark boughed spruce ; when autumn pours her wine upon its foliage or winter throws over it her robe of ermine ; when lakes sparkle in emerald settings or ice-clad hillsides scintillate with prismatic splendor ; when gentle shadows lie over mountain forests and zephyrs play on woodland harps ; when the storm king rages o'er crag and headland and Aeolus lashes the sea to wrath ; in all their phases, Camden and Rockport are beautiful and grand with the same beauty and grandeur that our forefathers beheld and loved. And as their landscape has changed and yet not changed, so have their people changed and yet not changed. In external habit, in wealth, in material prosperity, in learning, in broadened views, they may have changed, but in the more essential things of life,in honesty,in pertinacity, in patriotism, in strength of character, they have not changed. The spirit that led the pioneers to resist the raids of the British marauders in Revolutionary times, led their sons to man the war-ship and privateer in the "war for seamen's right" in 1812, their grandsons to give their lives for the preserva- tion of the Union in 1861 and their great grandsons to strike a blow for the rights of humanity in 1898. In every case it was a principle for which they fought, and like all men of New England stock when a principle has been at stake they have contended with a most tenacious spirit, and this spirit accounts for the many strong contests they have waged with their neighbors and among
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themselves in religious, social, municipal, political and other local affairs. They have not always been right in their conten- tions, but they have always believed they were right, and there- fore whatever the issue they have fought it out like men. Their history is one of which the present generation may well be proud. The generations that have gone have produced their full share of strong and able men. Looking backward we see them towering above their fellows like our mountain peaks, - eloquent men, brainy men, brilliant men, honorable men, good men, the con- sumate flowers of the sturdy yeoman citizenship from which they sprang. The past generations too, have produced gentle and noble women, less conspicuous, historically, than the men but equally typical of the New England character and equally a source of pride to their descendants and successors.
What the future history of these fair towns will be the future alone can show, but as we take a last view of them, with their grand scenery, their thriving industries, their noble institutions, their growing wealth, their abundant resources, their splendid prospects and their intelligent population, we cannot doubt that in growth, in prosperity and in the power and influence that they shall wield, their future will be greater than their past. Whatever may be their growth in wealth and population ; whatever power they may wield and whatever influence exert may the people of these two most favored communities grow in good morals and increase in good works, may they be stronger in virtue and more in- fluential for right and justice, until their towns shall stand fore- most among those splendid municipalities, that will in the future, even more than in the past, make our imperial state to stand for a shining example to the Republic of sturdy manhood and noble womanhood, of intelligent citizenship, of obedience to law, of sobriety, of benevolence, of morality and of righteousness, for "righteousness exalteth a nation."
THE END.
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ERRATA
ERRATA.
Page 10. Last line. "500 acres" as surface of Megunticook Lake should be about 1500 acres.
Page 31. Sixth line. Knox Mansion was of wood except basement which was of brick.
Page 88. Seventh line. Camden was incorporated as the seventy-second town instead of "twenty-second."
Page 215. Sixth line. Capt. Noah Brooks removed to South Boston, instead of "East Boston."
Page 234. Sixteenth line. Robert Jameson's wife was the sister, instead of "daughter" of Wm. Porterfield.
Page 269. Foot note. Mansfield family : Under DANIEL, fifth line: Josephine M., fifth child of Elisha, omitted. Under THOMAS, third line: Joel had four children instead of "five;" and he himself died in Worcester, Mass. Also the name of his second child should be Nathaniel, instead of "Nathan." NEWELL. He married once instead of "twice," his wife being Hannah Savage. Alfred D. had but four children: Emma A,Ella M., Walter H. and Edward C. The last four names at the bottom of Page 270, viz: Harriet A., Ermina A., (who married Horace W. Cham- berlain) and George H. were the sisters and brother of Alfred D., the 9th, 10th and 11th children of NEWELL.
Page 308. Fourth line. "Albert K. Parris" should be Albion K. Parris.
Page 351. Sixth line. Date of Battle of Seven Pines should be May 31, instead of "March 31."
Page 361. Second line from bottom. The name. "Ephrain M. Knight" should be Cyphrian M. Knight.
Page 489. In sketch of James Perry, the names of two of his children were omitted, viz: James O. Nellie S. (who married John R. Prescott.)
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