Description: Francis Hector Clergue built the Green Mountain House in 1883, adjacent to the old Mountain House on the summit of Green Mountain, now Cadillac Mountain, to, serve patrons of his Green Mountain Railway, a cog railroad, which chugged up the mountain from Eagle Lake. Both the old and new structures burned to the ground on August 2, 1884. “1884, August 2. The burning of a hotel on Green Mountain, Mount Desert, in the evening, was plainly seen from Belfast, at a distance of fifty miles.” – “History of the City of Belfast in the State of Maine: From Its First Settlement in 1770 to 1875” by Joseph Williamson, p. 241 – 1913. Frank Clergue immediately replaced this structure with a smaller hotel and his business continued as noted in the review below. "...A Good Hotel Is At The Summit, where persons desiring it can find pleasant accomodations for a longer or shorter stay. Round trip tickets can be had of the company's agent, on Main Street, Bar Harbor. F.H. Clergue, President." - Part of an advertisement appearing in Bar Harbor and Mount Desert Island by William Berry Lapham - 1887. [show more]
Description: The grey shingled building to the left of center, on the shore, with a sign on its peak is Albert Bartlett's sail loft. "…there was a good deal of shipbuilding going on, the sail loft owned and operated by Albert Bartlett made the sails for the new ships and there was considerable traffic in fish." - Traditions and Records of Southwest Harbor and Somesville, Mount Desert Island, Maine by Mrs. Seth S. Thornton, p. 103 - 1938.
Description: This photograph shows the original hotel decorated with flags and bunting, probably for the Fourth of July. One of the turrets from the Durgain house is visible.