Courtesy of the Tukey family
Plowing the Horse Point Road in 1934
Courtesy of the Tukey family
Getting the job done without a plow. The Horse Point Road, 1934
Photo courtesy of Paul Stacy Yeaton
The old Yeaton homestead on the West Road was built by Paul Yeaton (1762-1856), a soldier in the Continental Army in the Revolutionary War who was awarded land in Belgrade for his service. He walked to Belgrade from Somersworth, NH in 1794, the first of many Yeatons to live in Belgrade.
Photo courtesy of Stuart Gerald
Everett Gerald’s 1936 Buick 7-passenger limo was used to run a taxi/limo service in Belgrade. It served the Belgrade Hotel and Maine Chance Farm patrons as well as the general public. It was big and black, with a transom window between the driver and the passengers in the rear. The car also had jump seats that folded into the back of the front seat for additional seating.
From the Lawrence M. Sturtevant Collection from the Belgrade Historical Society Collection
Alva Watson and Will Withers (front seat) returning from a successful hunting trip.
From the Pope Collection of the Belgrade Historical Society
Having a lake tour on one of the kerosene steam-powered boats on Great Pond was a popular entertainment during the “Golden Age of Tourism.”
From the Lawrence M. Sturtevant Collection of the Belgrade Historical Society Collections
Young campers arriving at the North Belgrade railroad station.
From the Lawrence M. Sturtevant Collections of the Belgrade Historical Society Collections
A summer’s worth of luggage came off the train with the campers.
Images courtesy of the Maine Historic Preservation Commission
Hersom’s Point Camp on Great Pond became Camp Abena, a girl’s camp partly staffed by summering Middlebury College professors. From the Waterville Sentinel of March 9, 1905:
Hersom’s Point Camp, a summer camp for girls at Belgrade Lakes, will be a new institution at this well-known resort this summer. A former Belgrade girl, Miss Hortense Hersom, now a teacher in the Friends’ Select School in Washington, D.C., will be in charge of the camp. She will be assisted by her sister, a graduate nurse of the Maine General Hospital, and by Miss Hughes, the director of physical training at the Friends’ Select School. The camp season will be from July 1 – August 26.
Courtesy of Penobscot Marine Museum – Eastern Illustrating & Publishing Company Collection
The Central House in Belgrade Lakes was for many years a favorite tourist destination.
From the Lawrence G. Sturtevant Collection of the Belgrade Historical Society
In 1923, the Central House was enlarged and renamed the Lakeshore Hotel.
Courtesy of Retha Stevens Libby
In 1967 the hotel was torn down, leaving many with only wonderful memories of its glory days.
From the Lawrence M. Sturtevant Collection of the Belgrade Historical Society
Camp Kennebec operated as a boys camp on the western side of Salmon Lake from 1907 – 1991.
Photo courtesy of Retha Stevens Libby
Ground Observer Corp volunteers, 1957
Front row, l. to r.: Helen Bailey Tilton, Maggie Yeaton, Pat Cook, Nancy Bickford, Shirley Damren
Back row, l. to r.: Jack Cook, Edith Abbott, Bertha Rideout Stevens, Dorothy Sturtevant, Eleanor Clark, Annie Rideout
Photo courtesy of Joanne Cattley
Whisperwood, with cottages located on the southern end of Salmon Lake, was one of many American Plan establishments in the Belgrades during the heyday of tourism. Currently under the management of Doug & Candy McCafferty, it is one of the few to continue in operation.
Photo courtesy of Joanne Cattley
Whisperwood was operated from 1927-1943 by Millard and Mae Gleason.
Photo courtesy of Joanne Cattley
Camp Belgrade
Photos courtesy of Jane Eiseman Sharf
Photos courtesy of Jane Eiseman Sharf
Photos courtesy of Jane Eiseman Sharf
Photos courtesy of Jane Eiseman Sharf
Camp Belgrade was a boys camp operated by Mort and Vera Eiseman from 1937 – 1976. Located on the east shore of Great Pond in North Belgrade, the camp was formerly a girls camp, Camp Jo Lee, and prior to that, a boys camp also named Camp Belgrade.
From the collections of the Belgrade Historical Society
A 19th century photograph of Frank E. Bunker’s blacksmith shop in Belgrade Depot
Courtesy of the Maine Historic Preservation Commission
Occasionally patrons of the Belgrade Hotel would prefer to stay in one of the cottages associated with the popular summer resort. This cottage, The Birches, is listed on the National Register of Historic Places, and is a year round residence belonging to Adelaide LaLime.
Courtesy of the Maine Historic Preservation Commission
This view of the Belgrade Hotel and the village of Belgrade Lakes from Smith’s Hill illustrates how much the landscape has changed from what it was a century ago.
Courtesy of the Tukey family
Mock weddings were a popular form of entertainment in Belgrade in an earlier time. In this photograph taken in the 1950s at the Salmon Lake Grange Hall in North Belgrade, Mary Ann Tukey and Edward Ellis play the roles of bride and groom.
Photo from the collection of the Belgrade Historical Society
Salmon Lake House guests departing after a fun-filled vacation