Radio Script #888

Little Talks on Common Things
April 11, 1971

Several times on this program I have mentioned various projects launched by Amos Gerald of Fairfield, known as the chief promoter of electric railroads in Maine. Many of Gerald’s schemes concerned the establishment of amusement parks or hotels on his trolley lines. Such was the case with his park on Bunkers Island in Fairfield and with Cascade Park in Oakland. The trolley line north of Skowhegan was originally built to save the amusement center at Lakewood, where there was a vaudeville theater, merry-go-round, and picnic facilities.

One of Amos Gerald’s most ambitious schemes was the building of Casco Castle at South Freeport, and today I want to tell you about that spectacular place. All that is now left is a tall tower of stones, but in the first decade of this century it was a show place of Maine, in some respects more glamorous than Poland Springs.

In 1903, before the common use of automobiles, Amos Gerald decided he could profitably add to his trolley lines and parks by putting up a sumptuous building at the end of a line he would construct in Freeport. Gerald’s tracks to South Freeport were only one of more than a dozen trolley lines that he built and operated in the state. At the South Freeport end of that line Gerald erected what came to be known as Casco Castle because it fronted on Casco Bay. It was a wooden building, three stories high with battlements and turrets of gingerbread style. Except for greater ornamentation, it was much like the Hotel Gerald in Fairfield. The tall, sturdy tower was built of stones gathered from stone walls between Freeport and Portland. Those walls had been laid along both sides of the narrow road over which cattle and sheep had been driven to Portland all through the nineteenth century. When some of them had to be removed to make way for the trolley tracks from Portland to Yarmouth and Freeport, they came in handy to build the tower of Casco Castle with walls three feet thick. Inside the tower were stairs to enable visitors to climb to the platformed top and get a splendid view of the bay.

The local paper, the Freeport Sentinel, told of progress on the Castle in May, 1903 in these words: “A trip to Casco Castle on Wednesday found matters progressing in fine shape. There is nothing like it between Portland and Brunswick, and it may well turn out to be the finest resort between Portland and Bar Harbor. All natural beauty is being preserved. So particular is Mr. Gerald to preserve every tree and shrub, that in one spot where a huge pine that stood right where the wide piazza must go, he ordered that the tree be preserved and the piazza built around it.

“Arriving at the grounds, patrons leave the street cars and walk across a suspension foot bridge to the big lawn in front of the Castle. The bridge is 300 feet long. Children like to set that bridge swinging when they cross, somewhat to the annoyance of adult visitors.”

When the job was done, the owners placed this ad in the Freeport Sentinel: “Casco Castle, South Freeport. J.A. Fuller, proprietor. Maine’s new high class resort. Shore dinners with chicken every day from noon to 8 p.m. Broiled live lobster, steaks, chops, soft shell crabs, and every variety of sea food. Fifty rooms with bath, $1.00 and $1.50 per day.”

At Casco Castle in 1905 a complete shore dinner cost 50¢, and with it one could have a side order of chicken at no extra cost. A big tossed salad was five cents extra.

It was, of course, the automobile that spelled the doom of Casco Castle. People could go to many other places just as easily. Vacation habits changed. No longer did summer visitors come with trunks and stay for two months. The vacationer was now on the go from place to place. So from Casco Castle awnings were taken down and windows were boarded up. The hotel reopened for a brief period in 1914, the year after Amos Gerald died. But in September of that year it burned to the ground, leaving only the tall, fire-scarred tower.

A few weeks ago I had a chance to examine an interesting volume of the first U.S. Census of 1790. This particular volume carries the title “Heads of Families in Maine, Census of 1790”. At that time the town of Winslow was nineteen years old and included what is now Waterville and most of Oakland. Recalling that, many years later, Asa Redington said that, when he came to Waterville in 1792, there were only a few rude cabins clustered around Ticonic Falls, it is amazing to read the names of families that certainly moved from the Winslow side to the Waterville side a few years after 1792, if they were not already in what is now Waterville. The census list had the names of such well known Waterville residents as James and Samuel Stackpole, John Cool, John Clarke, Isaac Temple, James Crommett and Asa Emerson. Two families were already at Ten Lots, those of Lot Sturtevant and Asa Bates. On the Winslow side of the river were Ezekiel and Daniel Pattee, while David Pattee had already married the widow of the pioneer surveyor John McKechnie, and lived in the old McKechnie home near where the Messalonskee now crosses Western Avenue. Also in Winslow were Jonah Hayden, William Bradford, Zimri Haywood and Arthur Lithgow. In what is now Oakland the census listed Manoah Crowell, Jonathan Coombs and Benjamin Runnells.

It is amazing that two names do not appear on the list of household heads in either Winslow or Vassalboro. Those names are Obadiah Williams and Asa Redington. Redington’s father-in-law, Nehemiah Getchell, is listed among the Vassalboro names. It is true that the big influx of early Waterville settlers appeared on this side of the river between 1795 and 1810, but to find unlisted in 1790 such names as Williams, Bacon, Sherwin, Moor, Mathews and Gilman is surprising.

Some interesting documents concerning old Waterville were recently shown me by Stanley Crowell of the maintenance staff at Colby College. One paper is a marriage return signed in 1807 by Asa Redington in his capacity as Justice of the Peace. It reads: “I certify that on April 19, 1807 I joined in marriage Mr. Asa Faunce and Miss Marian Burrell, both of Waterville, and that I have married no others since one year before this date.”

Another paper is the return made by the Skowhegan Bank to the Assessors of the town of Waterville in 1852, showing that five shares of stock in that bank were held by Walter Boardman and 30 shares by James Stackpole as trustee of Waterville College.

Another item in Mr. Crowell’s collection does not concern Waterville directly, but does cast light on certain conditions in the United States before the Civil War. It is an 1858 issue of a trade paper called “The New York Price Current”. It shows there was still a demand for wood ashes, especially when they were reduced to potash. The New York market was paying $6.25 a barrel for good pearl ash, and in the previous week, 821 barrels had been shipped to England. Beeswax was bringing 35 cents a pound; sperm oil candles 20 cents a box; and feathers 50 cents a pound.

Concerning a major American crop – cotton – the report said: “There are large receipts at all our ports. Holding off of frost in the growing regions and some decreases in demand have depressed prices slightly. Good cotton now brings 10 cents a pound.”

Of the old earthenware dishes and jugs the paper said: “Earthenware is in such strong demand that several arrivals last week were entirely sold from shipboard. Dealers who purchased at recent auctions in London will soon receive their crates.”

It is astounding to note that coal was being imported into the U.S. as late as 1858. The only quotations for coal in this old paper were Newcastle 5.40 a ton, Liverpool 5.25, and Cornwall 7.25.

“The market in copper”, said the paper, “is well supplied, with limited demand. With the exception of ten tons from Peru, we have no sales to report.”

Now note what was said about fruits: “Raisins have declined to 8 cents a pound. New Turkey figs are 14 cents. Malaya lemons 3.25 a box, and Lisbon paper shell almonds 11 cents a pound.” Now observe how oranges were quoted: “Baracoa oranges 6 dollars a barrel”. About furs the comment was: “From Leipzig we are advised that at the recent fair sales of furs were very slow.”

As for soap, the only kind mentioned was Castile at 75 cents a pound. Tallow was ten cents. As for coffee and tea, Rio coffee brought at wholesale 10 cents a pound; Santos 12 cents; and Java 15 cents. There had been large arrivals of both black and green tea, the blacks being chiefly Oolong from Canton, China. The report said: “These lack the freshness of Foo Chow teas, but bring 28 cents a pound.”

Another article much in demand in the middle of the 19th century was whalebone. The report tells us: “Late advices from the whaling fleet are not favorable for a good catch. New Bedford reports recent receipts of 73,000 pounds from the South Seas, 110,000 from the Northernmost Coast, 295,000 from the polar regions.”

There was a brisk trade in wool, with the finest Saxony at 55 cents a pound, South American at 20 cents, and coarse California cheapest of all at 17 cents.

It is interesting to note how sugar was listed: “Hard white 9 cents, soft white 8 cents, soft yellow 7 cents.” Then came the comment: “Porto Rican sugar brings a bit more than Cuban.”

And with that sweet touch on commodity demands and prices 113 years ago, one must say goodbye until next week.

Year: 1971