"The Blake House 1797 - Open All Year - Castine, Maine" F30

LB2010.9.117863

[included in the "Hancock County Through Eastern's Eye" exhibit] LB2010.9.117863 The Blake House - 1797 Open All Year - Castine, Maine ? Local builder Doty Little built this house on Main Street at the corner of Court Street in 1797 for William Mason, Castine's first settled minister. Rev. Mason lived in the house with his family until he retired and moved to Bangor in 1834. The house was the boyhood home of Colonel Charles Tilden, a Civil War hero whose 16th Maine Regiment fought at the Battle of Gettysburg. The Tildens added the two-story ell to the house. Captain William G. Blake bought the house around 1900. His wife and daughter kept rooms for rent in the ell for Eastern State Normal School students and later ran the Blake House. The Maine Register 1944-1960 listed the Blake House, bed and breakfast. Its business card boasted "Famous for Home Cooked Food, Comfort and Service" and "Open All Year" and named Sarita Blake Porter, Captain Blake's daughter, as manager. The house was sold in 1961 and converted back to a private residence. In the 1980s James and Leila Day bought the house and restored it to its original appearance. Credit: Paige Lilly, Castine Historical Society