USA > Maine > Waldo County > Belfast > History of the city of Belfast in the state of Maine v.I, 1770-1875 > Part 54
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The first livery-stable distinct from the hotels was opened by David Whittier and Joseph Smith, in 1822.1 It was in the rear of the New England House. Rufus Harwood succeeded them in the same place, in 1822. He advertised "to keep horses, with every attention, for 9s. per week on hay ; to despatch expresses at any moment, and to accommodate with a neat and convenient coach." In 1827, "the price of a saddle horse to Head of Tide, Spa, or Brown's Corner, is fifty cents ; for horse and chaise, seventy- five cents, to be gone a reasonable time. Journeys, as agreed ; not less than 8} cents for horse and 163 cents for horse and chaise per mile."2 Hanson Martin, in 1831, "informs the citizens that he has procured a genteel hack, and a span of prime horses." 8
After the Revolution, travellers occasionally passed through Belfast by the Georges road, which, indicated at first by spotted trees, soon became a well-worn path. When obliged to remain over night, they stopped at the house of John Robinson on the Charles Read lot, at James Miller's, and at Tolford Durham's, on the east side of the river. " At times, the number was so large, they were obliged to sleep on the floor, which was covered with evergreens and fir boughs. As a general thing, nothing was charged for entertainment. New faces being so few and far be- tween, the company of travellers was considered an equivalent." + As the settlement increased, the first tavern was opened by an Irishman, named Owen Kelleran, in a log-cabin, which stood on the site of William B. White's house, on the Northport road.5 The next one was kept in 1791, by Robert Mitchell, on the east side of Goose River, and probably maintained for several years.6 In 1800, Jerome Stephenson opened a public house, where his
1 William Quimby. 2 Gazette and Patriot.
8 Journal.
4 Locke's Sketches.
5 Locke's Note-Book. In James Miller's account-book, under date of 1801, Kelleran is charged "for halling a hogshead of rum, 18. 6d."
6 William Quimby. A town meeting held Nov. 19, 1793, was "adjourned to the Tavern," probably Mitchell's.
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HISTORY OF BELFAST.
grandson, by the same name, now lives, between Ambrose Strout's and Robert Patterson's. The old sign-board, bearing the repre- sentation of a black horse, is still preserved. From 1804 to 1811, the old Cremer house, at the corner of Main and Common Streets, which was destroyed in the great fire of 1865, was kept as a hotel by William Hobbs. In 1808, Simon Watson erected a large two- story building on Hayford's Hill, as it is now called, which he opened as a tavern, and which continued to be occupied as such six or seven years. The same building became afterwards the prop- erty of Mr. Hayford. It was burnt in 1860. It was a notable tavern in its day; the inevitable stopping-place of the yeomanry to and from market, and in winter the terminus of all sleigh-rides from "the Beach."1 For a short time previous to the war of 1812, John Russ kept a hotel in a wooden building on the western side of Main Street, below Washington Street. It was reoccupied for the same purpose in 1847, and known as the " Maine Hotel." It perished in the great fire of 1865, being then occupied as a store. About 1803, Thomas Whittier built the Alfred Johnson house, which he kept as a hotel,2 until his removal to Searsmont, in 1813. His son Benjamin succeeded him. Subsequent land- lords were Samuel Jackson, Manasseh Sleeper, and Thomas Cun- ningham. The latter left it in the fall of 1820 or the spring of 1821, Colonel Daniel Lane having purchased the house for a pri- vate residence. He occupied it as such until 1838, when Judge Alfred Johnson became the owner.
The building on the corner of Main and High Streets, formerly known as the Huse house, and now occupied by the Messrs. Howes, was a hotel from 1813 to 1828. When built, it stood upon a high bank, twelve feet above the level of the street in front. The bank was removed, and a basement story constructed over fifty years ago. The latter remained until 1846, when the build- ing was let down to its present grade. Colonel Cunningham was the first landlord, and after him Samuel Jackson, who was the landlord in 1815, when the British officers, before taking formal possession of the town, held an interview with " the chief magis- trate " in the bar-room. John Huse, who died in 1820, succeeded Jackson. Manasseh Sleeper took possession of the premises the following year, raising his sign on the Fourth of July, bearing the
1 Crosby's Annals.
2 Mr. Quimby says that "Whittier's Tavern" was called by strangers the best public house in Maine. The bar-room was in the south corner.
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coat-of-arms of the new State. The house was thenceforth known as the " Maine Hotel" until 1825, when Mr. Sleeper removed to the house on Church Street, now occupied by Dr. Flanders. Colo- nel N. Stanley became lessee in 1827, followed by Thomas H. Carr, who was the last landlord, the house being converted to other purposes the following year.
During the war of 1812, Colonel Thomas Cunningham, Jr., kept the "Sun Tavern,"] sometimes called the "Pumpkin Tavern," in the house at the corner of High and Pearl Streets, occupied by the late Captain James Miller, at the time of his decease. Soon after, he occupied a house west of the New England House, built by Benjamin Joy in 1806, where he remained until his death.2 It was burnt in 1855. The last sign-board had a picture of Washington. For a long time, "Cunningham's Hotel" had a high and deserved reputation. Many eminent persons were among its guests. Until the separation, the judges and officers of the Su- preme Court of Massachusetts, when travelling the eastern circuit, were accustomed to leave their carriages here, and proceed by water to Castine. Long after it ceased to be a public house, the judges of our own courts found a warm welcome within its hos- pitable walls.
On the 25th of February, 1825, John W. Appleton, from Port- land, opened the Eagle Hotel, now the American House, which had been erected the previous year by Thomas Pickard, of this place, and Otis Little, of Castine. It has been so much en- larged and modified, especially in its interior construction, that a brief description of it, as it was originally, may not be uninterest- ing. The westerly front room on Main Street was the parlor;
1 The first number of the earliest newspaper published here (July 6, 1820) contains the following advertisement : "Old Establishment. Cunningham's Hotel. - Thos. Cun- ningham, Jr., informs his friends and the public that he continues to keep the HOTEL at the sign of the SUN, in Belfast, where his unremitting exertions shall not be wanting to make his house an agreeable place of resort and entertainment. Convenient rooms, clean beds, the best viands and liquors the place affords, and willing and obedient at- tendants are constantly at the service of those ladies and gentlemen who may please to honor him as guests."
2 Colonel Cunningham died suddenly, Dec. 1, 1822, aged forty-three. He came here in 1803, from Peterboro', N. H., of which he was a native. He was a gentleman of fine personal address, a prompt and energetic officer, an exceedingly affable and popular landlord. He was thoroughly identified with the movements of the day which had for their object the advancement of our local interests, and the general feeling pervading the community on the occasion of his death was that we had lost one of our most active, genial, gentlemanly fellow-townsmen. He left a son and several daughters, all of whom who are now living reside in Baltimore. - Crosby's Annals.
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HISTORY OF BELFAST.
the room in rear of it, twenty-three feet in length, was the "spa- cious dining-room ; " the two were thrown into one on great occa-
.
"EAGLE HOTEL." BUILT 1824.
sions by means of folding-doors between them. The easterly front room was the bar-room; the room in rear of it, the sitting- room ; the bar was on the side of the bar-room fronting the door on the easterly end of the building, which opens on the drive-way leading from Main Street to the stable. On the second floor were a hall over the parlor and dining-room, and five sleeping-rooms; the hall was used for balls and dancing-schools, and occasionally for lectures. On the third floor there were twelve sleeping-rooms, in four of which there were fire-places. Above these, there were, to use the language of the proprietors, "many apartments of circum- ambient construction, where may be placed ten or twelve beds." There was a "projection," or ell, from the main building, eighteen by twenty feet, containing two kitchens and two bed-rooms over them. There was no piazza in front as there now is. When the
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ridge-pole was put in place, a swivel made fast to it was dis- charged to announce the important event.1
The present piazza was added in 1845, and the brick ell two years later ; both by H. N. Lancaster, who purchased the prem- ises at auction in 1843. The third story of the ell contained a hall, which was dedicated by a public ball, July 4, 1847. It was con- verted into rooms in 1863. The name of the house was changed to that which it now bears in 1838. The gilded eagle, which served as a sign, did not lose its position for several years after. Since Mr. Appleton, the successive landlords have been Thomas Pickard, from January, 1828, to April, 1829; David and Asa Eastman, from April, 1829, to 1830; David Eastman and Charles Rogers,2 from that year to October, 1833; Bailey Peirce, from October, 1833, to September, 1838; Pickard and Sawyer, to Dec. 7, 1839; Thomas Pickard, from that date until 1843; H. N. and George R. Lancaster, and James M. Torrey, from 1843 to 1852; Nathaniel W. Holmes and George Baker, Edwin R. Ellis, John C. Robbins, Benjamin F. Tucker, H. N. Lancaster, and Messrs. H. A. and E. C. Clark.
The Phoenix House, opposite the North Church, was built for a store in 1816, by Ralph C. Johnson. It was opened as a hotel, July 27, 1837, by Ebenezer W. Hilton, being then only two stories high. In 1857, a third story was added, the walls enclosed in brick, and other improvements made by Josiah N. White, who became the owner in 1850. For a short time after the latter year, it was called the Belfast Hotel. Mr. Hilton died from the ef- fects of an accidental gun-shot wound, in 1838. Thomas W. Lothrop succeeded him as landlord, followed by Daniel Ring, in 1844; by James M. Torrey, in 1845; by Martin Cross, in 1848; by Josiah N. White, in 1850; and afterwards by Jesse Black, Joel F. Berry, Nathaniel W. Holmes, Josiah N. White, and Roscoe H. Mitchell. The premises were purchased by the latter in 1874.
A building on High Street, erected for a dwelling-house in 1806 by Benjamin Eells, was converted into the hotel called the New England House in 1848, and opened as such by Luther Coombs on the Fourth of July of that year. It was remodelled and enlarged, with the addition of a third story, in 1860. Messrs.
Croshy's Annals.
2 After leaving here, Mr. Rogers was interested in several hotels, among them the St. Nicholas, in New York. On the morning of Dec. 31, 1868, he was murdered by an assassin who was never detected.
38
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HISTORY OF BELFAST.
Baker & Edwards succeeded Mr. Coombs in 1853. Subsequent occupants have been Colonel John D. Rust, now of Rockport, Gen- eral Henry W. Cunningham, Edwin R. Ellis, and N. W. Holmes, the present landlord. The premises are owned by Mrs. Mary M. Hall.
Among recent public houses which have maintained a brief existence are the " Maine Hotel," at the Head of the Tide, kept previous to 1840 by Henry Colburn, and afterwards by Moses Woods ; the " Sun Tavern," on Belmont Avenue, now occupied as a house by Rufus P. Hill, which was kept by N. Stanley, and afterwards by Joseph P. Ladd, under whose dispensation it was called " The Spa," and became a famous place for shooting matches ; the " Belfast Hotel," opened in 1840, at City Point, by George U. Russ, and in 1849 by Gordon G. Clark ; and the " Farmer's Inn," otherwise called the " Farmer's House," from 1841 to 1850. The latter stood at the foot of Main Street, on the site of the store now occupied by L. A. Knowlton & Co. It was built by John Milliken about 1804, and was the bake-house of Herbert R. Sargent. The first landlord was Hiram Littlefield, in 1841, who opened it on temperance principles. Bradford S. Foster succeeded him in March, 1843, followed by John Hussey, and in 1849 by Josiah N. White and Jesse Black.
The " Sanborn House," at the corner of Main and Pleasant Streets, opened by Joseph Sanborn, Jr., May 31, 1870, was kept by him until succeeded by William R. Mathews, the present occu- pant, in October, 1873.
The institution of expresses in this country has existed but little over a quarter of a century. Before that time, small packages were conveyed by stage, packet, and private hands. Great diffi- culty attended the transportation of money, and remittances for Boston were frequently long delayed for safe carriage. In June, 1842, John N. Winslow, of Portland, commenced running the first express from Penobscot Bay and River, connecting with Harnden & Co., for the south and west. He was succeeded two years after by John J. Jerome and Henry Gilman, each of whom went twice a week to and from Boston, while the steamboats ran, and once a week by stage during the remainder of the year. H. N. Lancaster was the first agent at Belfast. The business rapidly in- creased, and in 1846 it is mentioned as remarkable that five weekly trips were made between Bangor and Boston. Joseph H. Bryant, Frank W. Carr, Frederick H. Hodgman, and others, con-
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tinued the route for several years. Subsequently, the two latter formed a copartnership with John R. Hall, of Boston, under the style of Hodgman, Carr, & Co. In 1856, this firm united with others in Maine, forming the Eastern Express Company. For several years they have been without competitors, and have met with great success. With the opening of the Moosehead Lake Railroad in 1871, they established a daily connection with their different branches, which is still maintained. Messengers are em- ployed on all the steamboats.
During the first few years after the introduction of the mag- netic telegraph, its progress was slow ; and it was not until 1848 that a line was built through Maine. Hiram O. Alden,1 of Belfast, was one of the earliest friends of the enterprise. Aided by his exertions, the Maine Telegraph Company was incorporated in 1848, and put in operation from Portland to Calais the following year. The line through Belfast was constructed during the sum- mer of 1848. The undertaking was so novel and precarious that great difficulty took place in raising a subscription sufficient to warrant a station here, and it was only after several public meet- ings that the required sum of three thousand dollars was raised. The first despatch received here was from Bangor, Nov. 23, 1848.2 A week later, communication was had with East Thomaston, and before the year closed the line between Portland and Bangor was completed. The office of this line was first in the Telegraph Block, at the corner of Main and High Streets. In 1873, it was removed to its present more commodious quarters in the City Block. William H. Simpson was the first operator. The line at first crossed the lower bridge. When a vessel passed through the draw, the wire was disconnected. Interruptions from this cause became so frequent, as the business increased, that the wire was laid in 1852 by the way of City Point, crossing the river there, and connecting with the old line at Mason's Mills. The former route was afterwards resumed, the wire being carried under the draw by a submarine cable. In September, 1873, the line via North Searsport was discontinued.
Intelligence of the success of the Atlantic cable reached here during the afternoon of Aug. 5, 1858, and was immediately given to the public in an extra from the "Journal " office. The same paper
1 Mr. Alden has been president of the Maine Telegraph Company, since its organi- zation.
2 Journal.
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HISTORY OF BELFAST.
published an extra containing the congratulatory despatches which passed between President Buchanan and Queen Victoria. The church bells were rung during the transmission of these messages.
Telegraphic communication was opened with Castine in Novem- ber, 1855; with Searsport, July 3, 1863; and with Stockton, Sept. 27,1866.
In 1867, the International Telegraph line was extended through Belfast. The office was first in the Eastern Express office, on High Street, and afterwards in the bookstore of M. P. Woodcock, opposite the American House. It was discontinued July 1, 1872, the line having been leased to the Western Union Company.
597
ROADS.
CHAPTER XXXVI.
ROADS.
First Highway. - Georges Road. - Davistown Road. - Roads in 1805. - Road to Unity. - Sheriff Ulmer's Letter to Selectmen. - Broad-rimmed Wheels. - New System of repairing Roads. - List of all the Roads, excepting Streets, which have been located, accepted, or discontinued.
A T the first town meeting, Nov. 11, 1773, a vote was passed "that the selectmen be a committee to lay out all neces- sary highways through the town, and be allowed for their time as highway work." There was a similar vote the following year, but nothing practical resulted until 1775, when "thirty pounds lawful for repairing roads and bridges " was raised, day wages for men being fixed at "twenty-five shillings, old tenor ; and for oxen work, eighteen shillings, lyke money." Four surveyors were chosen, three of them on the east side. It was also voted " to lay out the highway from Half-way Creek to the saw-mill, and on the westerly side of the harbor from Little River to Sandy Beach." At that time, the only road was one which Richard Stimson had surveyed from Thomaston to Fort Pownall, several years before. Although called the Georges road, it was simply a bridle-path, its course through the wilderness being indicated by spotted trees. At suitable points, trees were. gapped with a single notch. As the traveller reached one, another appeared in sight. On this side of the river, the path followed about the original course of Main and High Streets as far as lot No. 46, and then diverged in a south- westerly direction to Ducktrap. In 1775, it was laid out to near the mouth of Little River. The road from Half-way Creek to the saw-mill on Wescott stream may be regarded as the first actual high- way within our limits. One from Nesmith's Corner to the Narrows, where the upper bridge now stands, was located in 1802. The Davistown road, now Belmont Avenue, soon followed. It con- nected us with Davistown Plantation, now Montville. These were the only roads leading to the village, as late as 1805. Their courses, as given in another part of this chapter, seem unneces-
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HISTORY OF BELFAST.
sarily circuitous. But, in those days, the accommodation of the owners of the land, instead of the convenience of travellers, was regarded; and the right of every householder to have a road directly to his door seemed paramount to every other considera- tion. As an illustration, Northport Avenue, which now runs in a direct line, made at least six deflections both east and west, as late as 1809; and several buildings were removed in order to render it straight.
Joseph Roberts, the pioneer settler of Brooks, in 1803, was probably the first person who went from there direct to Belfast. With a compass, he marked a course nearly where the road now runs. There was then only one opening on the route. Previous to that time, those living north came here by the way of Swan- ville or Knox. The first through road to Brooks and Unity was built in 1809, by Thorndike, Sears, and Prescott, to enhance the value of their lands.
That the main thoroughfares were not without fault in 1811 is evident from the following communication, found among the town papers : -
LINCOLNVILLE, April 14, 1811.
THE SELECTMEN OF BELFAST:
GENTLEMEN, - I am requested by the Solicitor-general of this Commonwealth to inform you that Chief Justice Parsons, with the rest of the members of the Supreme Court, will travel to Castine, in June next, by land, in their carriages. Their wishes are that the road should be in good order, otherwise the fines will be levied to their extent. It is certainly an object to labor a little on the road to make it agreeable to the Honorable Court.
I am, gentlemen, your humble servant,
GEORGE ULMER, Sheriff.
In 1831, the town voted to allow a discount on highway taxes to all persons using broad-rimmed wheels.
In 1848, it was voted " that James White and Hiram O. Alden be a committee to report to the town, at the next annual meeting, some new and improved mode to be adopted for making and repairing highways." They accordingly submitted an elabo -. rate report, showing that for ten years previous the average cost per mile of keeping the roads in repair had been $100 annually, and attributing the cause to a great waste of labor, or the want of skill or fidelity in its application. Their recommendation that
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ROADS.
future appropriations be made in money alone, and that the re- pairs be let out by the year to some person for a specified sum, received due consideration ; and, in 1849 a contract was entered into with Isaac Allard, to keep in repair all the highways, except- ing in the village district, for five years, at an annual compensation of $2,250. At the expiration of Mr. Allard's term, Joshua Towle became the contractor for five years, at $2,000 per year. The system not proving satisfactory, in 1859 the citizens voted at a general meeting to return to the old one, which remains un- changed up to the present time.
The following pages exhibit all the town and city roads or ways except streets, or roads which have been named as streets, the locations of which have been duly accepted, altered, or dis- continued. Particulars concerning streets form the subject of another chapter : -
1775, October 27. Voted, that the Road is Accepted By the Inhabitants from Halfway Creek Brook as fare as Cross William Patterson's Pitched Lott. And Cross George Mitchell's Pitched Lott, North Eighty-five Degrees west, thence Northerly untill it Coms to a Brook at the Head of the Long Cove, so Caled, and said George Mitchell is to make the Said Northerly Road so good as their can be as much Load Caried with the same Strength of Cattle as there Can be taken Down to Dk" Tufft's from the West Side of said Mitchell's Lott, as the Road is now Laid out. N. B. that george mitchell's five Days' work at the Highways is to be worked on the aforesaid northerly Road.
The Courses of Said Road from Half Way Creek Brook to the West Side of Said Patterson's Pitched Lott is as followeth : -
The transcript of a Road Begining at Halfway Creek Brook about one Chain to South of an old Beaver Dam, thence Runing South, Sixty-five Degrees west, to the Lott number one ; thence South, forty-five Degrees west, to No. two ; thence South, twenty Degrees west, to No. three ; thence South, forty-five Degrees west, a cross No. three and No. four ; thence South, twenty-five Rods, on the Road between No. four and No. five; thence South, forty- five Degrees west, a Cross No. five, Six, Seven, and eight ; thence Sonth, twenty Rods, on the Road between No. Eight and Nine; thence South, Seventy Degrees west, a Cross No. nine and ten ; thence Sonth, eighty Degrees west, a Cross No. Eleven; thence North, Eighty-five Degrees West, A cross, No. twelve ; thence South, Eighty Degrees west, a Cross No. thirteen ; thence South,
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HISTORY OF BELFAST.
Seventy-five Degrees west, a cross No. forteen and No. fifteen ; thence West, a Cross No. Sixteen ; thence South, Eighty-five Degrees west, a Cross No. seventeen ; thence West, a Cross No. Eighteen, nineteen, and twenty ; thence north, Eighty-Seven De- grees west, A cross No. twenty-one, twenty-two, twenty-three, and twenty-four ; thence North, Seventy-five Degrees west, a Cross No. twenty-five; thence north, forty-five Degrees west, a Cross No. twenty-six ; thence North, Eighty-two Degrees West, a Cross No. twenty-seven and goos River ; thence North, Eighty-one De- grees west, twelve Rods; thence north, Seventy-one Degrees west, a Cross No. twenty-eight ; thence North, fifty Rods, on the Road Between No. twenty-eight and No. twenty-nine ; thence North, Seventy-eight Degrees, a Cross No. twenty-nine ; thence north, forty-seven Degrees west, twenty Rods; thence North, Seventy- Six Degrees west, a Cross No. thirty ; thence north, fifty-eight Degrees west, a Cros No. thirty-one; thence north, One hundred twenty and three Rods on the Road Between No. thirty-one and thirty-two; thence North, Seventy Degrees west, a Cros No. thirty-two, thence North, twenty-eight Degrees west, a Cros No. thirty-three ; thence North, fifty-five Degrees west, a Cross a Pitched Lott Settled by William Patterson ; and then, Agreable to the vote of the Inhabitents, the Cours a Cross the Pitched Lott Settled by George Mitchell is North, Eighty-five Degrees west, thence Northerly untill it Comes to a Brook at the Head of Long Cove, so Caled.
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