FRENCHMAN'S BAY AND MOUNT DESERT LAND AND WATER COMPANY

FRENCHMAN'S BAY AND MOUNT DESERT

LAND AND WATER COMPANY

On May 24, 1883, the Brooklyn Bridge opened to traffic with ceremonies attended by President Chester Arthur, Gov. Grover Cleveland of New York, and Emily Roebling.  Emily Roebling took over as chief engineer on the bridge after Washington Roebling, her father-in-law, died during construction.  The longest suspension bridge in the world had taken thirteen years to build and claimed the lives of at least twenty men during construction.

Construction on the world's first steel-wire suspension bridge had begun a decade earlier, and Downeast Maine had played a role in the newest wonder of the world. Granite quarried from the shores of Vinalhaven, Deer Isle, and Somes Sound was brought by schooner down the coast of Maine to Brooklyn to build the support piers for the bridge's towers.

At the same time, Downeast Maine was beginning to be known as a place for city dwellers to escape the oppressive summer heat and other urban ills of  East Coast cities.  Artists of the period and later "rusticators" began visiting Maine in larger numbers each year, drawn to its majestic scenery and cool climate.  By the 1880s, Bar Harbor had become a bigger town. Larger hotels began to be built to cater to the growing waves of Summer visitors.

These new Summer vacationers were hosted by the local communities who had spent generations on the land making a living by farming, timbering, and fishing.  In the latter half of the 19th Century, new capitalists in the area also began to develop the land for more industrial operations such as lime production, granite quarrying, and mineral mining.

Despite these draws, Maine remained relatively isolated, and getting goods to market required networks of local schooner fleets and steamship companies.  This isolation changed dramatically in the 1880s when railroad companies expanded their reach into Maine.  The rail lines not only helped to deliver Maine's products to out-of-state markets but made visiting in the Summer far easier and more affordable.

When the map below was printed in the early 1880s, the only way to travel to the Sullivan mines from Boston was via railroad or steamship to Rockland and then by boat through Penobscot and Frenchman Bays.  The steamship route was served by the Stanford Steam Ship Company. In the 1840s, Captain Menemon Sanford of New York City established this steamship line that ran from Bangor to Boston. Following his death in 1852, his son James would run the company for the next 30 years.

In 1882, ownership of the company passed from the Sanford family to new owners, and the corporate name of the Sanford Steamship Company was changed to the Boston and Bangor Steamship Company.  The officers of the new company included William Hill Sr. and his son William Hill Jr.  Also involved in this new endeavor were John R. Mason  – a lawyer from Bangor – and two others, Arthur M. Mason & Frank H. C. Reynolds, insurance brokers and stock traders from Bangor.

In addition to the ships, the assets of the company included wharves along the various routes.  The larger steamships that plied the waters between Boston to Rockland, three times a week during the Summer, were named the Cambridge and the Katahdin.

After arriving in Rockland, passengers would transfer to smaller sidewheelers owned by the company, the Mount Desert and the Rockland, for trips Downeast.

King's 1882 Handbook of Boston Harbor describes the trip from Rockland to Sullivan, that included a description of stops at "...the strange little maritime villages..." that "...have great attractions for all who delight in out-of-the-way localities, and civilization growing under difficulties of topography and climate; and form a wonderful contrast to the modern palaces and huge hotels, fashionable companies, and ceaseless festivities of Bar Harbor."

With access to the coast open to Summer visitors, land development also became a major activity near Bar Harbor. Cottage lots on Hancock Point were laid out in 1883 by investors from Bangor and Ellsworth.  Similar developments with hotels and cottages sprouted up all over Mount Desert Island and in other places along the coast, including Camden and Blue Hill.

Their steamship company was not the Hills only business. They were also principals in the Boston banking house of Richardson Hill Co. and promoted stocks in a range of companies in many industries. The new owners of the Boston and Bangor Steamship Company must have recognized the opportunity to expand into land development along the route of their new company. 

A biography of the younger William Hill written in 1910 is found below:

With activity in mining activities near Sullivan nearing its end in the early 1880s and with the well-capitalized new ownership of the steamship line, land development opportunities in the Frenchman's Bay area were of interest to many.  The owners of the Waukeag House in Sullivan had for many years attempted to lure visitors from Mount Desert Island across the bay to see the sites of Sullivan Harbor.  Others in Bangor and Ellsworth, including Hannibal E. Hamlin (the son of President Lincoln's Vice President) had purchased land and established cottage lots on Hancock Point.

The land on Waukeag Neck, with its beautiful harbor and views back toward Mount Desert, was seemingly another choice spot for development.  Remember, that the Eliot family had once tried and failed to buy land in the area before decamping to Northeast Harbor.  It was inevitable that more and more tempting offers would be made to local residents to purchase the land in this desirable location, to be subdivided for sale to Summer tourists.

In September of 1883, John R. Mason of Bangor acquired a large portion of Waukeak Neck called Bean Point from the daughter and granddaughter of Melatiah Bean -- Nancy Bean, and her daughter Louisa Urann (See book 192 / page 43).  The Hancock County deed records indicate that Melatiah and Joseph Bean had acquired the land from his father John Bean in 1834 (see book 162 / page 357).  John Bean was one of the original settlers in Sullivan and had acquired his acreage at "Point Harbor" from the Massachusetts land grants.

Mason in turn sold the Bean Point land to William H. Hill Jr. of Boston, and several other partners, for $3,168.00 in October of 1883 (see book 190 / page 248). The land is described as containing 60 acres and was one-half of the original 121 acres of Lot # 1 from the original Peter's Plan of Sullivan.

William H. Hill Jr. was named as the trustee for the new owners and the deed indicates that he had full power and authority to sell or convey the land "...for summer residences or as cottage lots."

Interestingly, an article in 1884 announced that land on Waukeag Neck had been sold for development, but does not say who the new owners were, other than that they were from Boston and Bangor.

The article says this purchase would be "rather bad" for the proprietor of the St. John - which was the new name of the Waukeag House hotel.  The Waukeag House in Sullivan had been sold to John Shoenbar, who had been involved in operating silver mines in Sullivan.  Would the purchase be rather bad for Shoenbar because he also had eyes on developing land on Waukeag Neck?

An article in the Belfast Republican Journal told a bit more about the land on Waukeag Neck and the plans Mason, Reynolds, and Hill had for developing what the paper called Waukeag Point.  A wharf had been built and cottage lots were available for purchase.

The same day, the Ellsworth American had a piece talking about the various excursions the reporter had taken to visit the new Summer places in the area.  While impressed with Waukeag Point, he felt that Lamoine Point had far greater potential because of its deep harbor. He predicted that a new railway terminal would be located there and the port would become a major shipping center for transatlantic traffic. 

The year after the advertisement for his Waukeag House hotel appeared, Shoenbar became associated with two new companies.  In the Spring of 1885, he incorporated the Long Pond Water Company in Sullivan with partners Charles P. Simpson and Stanislaus Wilson.

In the Fall of 1885, the Frenchman’s Bay & Mount Desert Land and Water Company was registered with the State of Maine (see Hancock County Deeds, Book 9002 / page 57).  Capital stock in the amount of $500,000 was authorized with three individuals listed as officers.  In addition to Shoenbar, the owners of this new venture were brothers William D. Lewis and Charles H. Lewis.  All three were previously associated with various Sullivan mining companies, including the Milton Mine.

The new land and water company's charter was drafted in Ellsworth by the firm of Hale & Hamlin.  The charter indicated that the company would focus on "...buying, selling improving, exchanging and dealing generally in real estate in the State of Maine, erecting, maintaining, carrying on operating, improving, buying, selling, exchanging, leasing hotels, wharves and buildings...and purchasing holding and selling any and all stock in any water or aqueduct company." 

The Frenchman’s Bay & Mount Desert Land and Water Company took over ownership of the Waukeag House in Sullivan Harbor and promoted it as a Summer resort. An advertisement from the Summer of 1886 publicized the rates to stay at its hotel. The new land company also established a sales office on Milk St. in Boston. 

Earlier in the Spring of 1886, another article in the Mount Desert Herald announced that the land on Waukeag Neck -- originally purchased by William Hill Jr. of Boston and his partners in the Boston and Bangor Steamship Company -- had been resold to another group of "Boston capitalists."  It went on to explain that this party was rumored to be planning "...extensive improvements there and will erect a hotel."

Hill no doubt recognized the potential to establish a new stop on his steamship route where he would own the pier and the nearby land near the harbor. However, before Hill and his partners could sell any cottage lots, a buyer came along with an irresistible proposal.  The county deeds records indicate that Hill was offered $50,000.00 for land on Bean Point he bought three years earlier for less than $4,000.  On May 8, 1886, (see book 205 / page 378), Charles H. Lewis purchased Bean Point on behalf of the Frenchman’s Bay and Mount Desert Land & Water Co. for what today would equal around $1.3 million.

Col. Charles H. Lewis, a Civil War veteran, not only spent time in the late 1800s developing silver mines in Sullivan but also on Wall Street as a member of the NY Stock Exchange.  He spent some of those years living with his family in Brooklyn and witnessed how the opening of the bridge from Manhattan had sparked a land rush in the City of Brooklyn.

With the newly completed railroad depot in Hancock, he apparently also recognized the potential to transform a nearby group of saltwater farms along the bay into a Maine Summer resort.  After making a considerable investment to purchase the land, his Frenchman's Bay and Mount Desert Land and Water Company would market Waukeag Neck with a romantic name reminiscent of the Bay of Naples - SORRENTO.