THE NEW MAINE SUMMER RESORTS

THE NEW MAINE SUMMER RESORTS

On October 28, 1886, the dedication of the Statue of Liberty Enlightening the World took place in New York Harbor.  The statue was a gift from the people of France to salute the friendship between the two nations dating back to the Revolutionary War.  Sculptor Frederic Auguste Bartholdi conceived Lady Liberty in the wake of the Union's victory in the Civil War as a symbol of American ideals of freedom and the end of slavery.  Of course, the statue has also become more commonly associated with welcoming immigrants to America.

President Grover Cleveland, who had been inaugurated in March of 1885, presided over the grand event on Bedloe’s Island.  Cleveland, the former Governor of New York, closed his speech that day by saying:

"The people of the United States accept from their brethren of the French Republic with gratitude to-day this grand and imposing work of art which we here inaugurate… We are not here today to bow before the representative of a fierce and war like god, filled with wrath and vengeance, but, instead, we contemplate our own peaceful deity keeping watch before the open gates of America, and greater than all that have been celebrated in ancient song.”

But in a country where women could not yet vote and where reconstruction had ended only a decade earlier, the event that touted the light of freedom was protested by both suffragettes and African-Americans.  This article from an African-American newspaper in Cleveland expressed the sentiments of many.

America in the late 19th Century was far from a perfect union.  There were still serious racial divides stemming from the Civil War. And although the Statue of Liberty seemed to welcome immigrants, laws limiting the entry of many, most notably the Chinese Exclusion Act, were prevalent.  America was also a country where disparities in wealth were widespread during what Mark Twain had labeled the "Gilded Age."

In a prospectus in the early 1880s for the Milton Mining Company, the town of Sullivan Maine was described as having a number of economic advantages for the company, including the price of wood, coal, and lumber. Another benefit was the cost of labor for men experienced in working in the granite quarries, $1.25 a day for "Surface men" and $1.50 for "Underground men".  Wages in this area of Maine for skilled laborers were less than $400.00 per year.

While never mentioning the weather, the company's materials said that Sullivan lies in one of the "...most productive agricultural districts in New England..." and is served with a "splendid" transportation network of coastal steamers.  Despite numerous attempts to develop a silver mining center in coastal Maine, dozens of these ventures failed.  On its heels, a new tourism industry was about to explode that would become much more successful.

In his 1905 book "Mount Desert - A History," George Street includes a final chapter on the rise of the Summer colonies on the island. He describes the transformation that occurred in the decades between the end of the Civil War and the turn of the century, with land sales to developers, easier access from cities, and the inevitable loss of the rustic environment. From his perspective, the new Summer residents were economically good for the area even "...if they introduced some undesirable luxuries, emphasized some unfortunate class distinctions, and were responsible for some vices formerly unknown."

  

He ends the chapter with some words of caution from Charles W. Eliot concerning overdevelopment, which would guide future preservation efforts on Mount Desert Island.

Access to the coastal areas of Maine exploded after the railroad line from Bangor to Hancock Point was completed, terminating at Mount Desert Ferry.  Construction on the new line by the Maine Shore Line RR began in 1881 and was opened for traffic on June 23, 1884.  The Maine Central RR leased the line beginning in 1888.

The new train line to Mt. Desert Ferry supplemented the coastal steamers which, up until that time, had dominated transportation service to the area.  Steamers that only ran a few times per week now had to compete for customers with a train line that ran more frequently and greatly reduced travel times.

An 1886 guide book on Mount Desert published by the Maine Central RR, describes the new trip by rail to Bar Harbor.  The line ended in Hancock and accommodations could be found at a new hotel at Mount Desert Ferry called "The Bluffs."

The Maine Central guidebook provided details on other guest homes and hotels available on Mount Desert Island and described the many picturesque sites to visit while on vacation.  The book explained that since the opening of the railroad connection, traffic to the island has "more the quadrupled" in only two years.

In addition to a description of Bar Harbor, the island's many attractions, and a detailed history of the area, the guide also prominently featured one of the earliest mentions of a new resort located at Point Harbor, a five-minute ferry ride from the new train depot -- SORRENTO.