From collection Eastern Illustrating & Publishing Company Collection
Chapel, Maple Grove, Searsport, Me
Christian camp meetings had a huge following from the mid-1800s to the early 1900s. Some were small and transient, while others, like Bayside in Northport, were large and well established. The August 7, 1879 Republican Journal, quoting from the Philadelphia Times, described the origins of the camp meeting as "the desire of godly people to go to the woods for calm meditation and worship." The wooded Maple Grove Campground on Mt. Ephraim Road in Searsport had the right setting as well as a hotel, meeting hall, and several family-size buildings. People came from all around to hear local or traveling preachers. This crowd may have gathered on a "Big Sunday," in the 1920s, when people were baptized in Cain's Pond. In 1928 the campground succumbed to fire, and what was not burned fell into disrepair. There is no evidence left of Maple Grove. ARTICLE: The Old Maple Grove Hotel and Grounds Hold Many Memories SEARSPORT - an old-fashioned revival, spiritual awakenings and camp meetings are words that are heard less frequently than they used to be but they do bring to mind words that once were closely associated with Maple Grove Camp Ground and for some Maple Grove Camp Ground immediately sets the scene. Maple Grove campground, located some five miles from Searsport Village, in the direction of North Searsport and Swanville, was established before the turn-of-the-century by a group of shareholders, known as the church of God, for the purpose of Christian teaching. The property included 20 cottages, owned by individual shareholders, a wooden hotel known as Forest Home, a chapel, a standpipe, stables and a grove of large beech, maple and birch trees and an outdoor pavilion. The cottages lined both sides of a 100 foot road which ran the entire length of the built-up area of the camp ground site. As one entered the Grove they face the two-story wooden hotel which would accommodate 25 or 30 people, while the chapel was located at the entrance to the campground at the opposite end of the road from the hotel. About midway from the hotel to the chapel the large standpipe was kept filled with water, pumped from a large spring located near the road. In the earlier days a windmill was used to pump the water to the standpipe but later a gasoline engine was used. Cottagers carried the water from standpipe into their cottages. Gas torches shaped like a banjo and suspended from the trees or lighted the Grove and special police were provided to patrol the grounds. On Sundays, the cost of admission was 10 cents and a small ticket house was located near the entrance to the campground. Stables courses located at the rear for a ten cent fee and 15 cents extra if the animal had to be fed. Those who wish to attend but did not own a cottage might rent a cottage if one was available or could live at the hotel usually operated by a husband and wife, hired by the Association, assisted by a cook and maid. Meals were served family style in the dining room. The fair was simple but nourishing and of good quality. New England Boiled Dinners and baked beans were a weekly fair. Hot biscuits were another favorite of the diners. One cottage owner did not let the fact that he owned a cow keep him from attending camp meetings, for he took his cow long, hitched her in the Grove in back of his cottage and sold fresh milk daily to his cottage neighbors. The Association was responsible for hiring the ministers and often fiery messages from the pulpit and alter call found many trying to begin a better life. Before the construction of the chapel a large stone pulpit was built in one of the fields which was part of this property and open air services were at times attended by 1000 or 1500 people, according to some of the older people whose families own cottages. Some cottage owners say today that some of the sermons were of the fire and brimstone type with the fiery speaker usually stripping off his coat. Edgar Hansen, former mayor of Belfast president of Belfast and Moosehead Lake Railroad Company, a bank director and an officer in Dana's Sarsaparilla Company, was the principal shareholder in the early days. Later Percy severance held the ruling shares. Other cottage owners or families of owners included Albion Kinney, Warren Gordon, Chris Moody, Michael Andrews, Pearley Andrews Sr., Atwood Brown, Wilbur Braley, Mark Ward, Mrs. Louella Curtis, Charles Walker, David Mitchell, Mrs. Alice Strout, Mrs. Laura Brown, Mrs. Fernald Troy, Mrs. Susan Dawson, James Moore, Mantor and Ella Bartlett, J. R. Davis, Henry Fernald, Fred Maurice Moody, A. E. Norton, Elmer Gould, George Bolan, Mrs. George Parker, Fred Small, William Newcomb, Lou Dillingham and Mrs. Mabel Ames. This favorite spot of more than three quarters of a century ago was located on a breezy hilltop which overlooked 27 other hills. Baptisms on the shores of Cane Pond were a feature of Big Sunday, so-called, the Sunday just before the annual campmeeting came to a close. Throngs of people would gather on the shores of this small pond, located at the campground property, to witness the baptism in the wilderness as early Christians did at the river of Jordan, and to participate by singing well-known hymns including that old favorite "Shall We Gather At the River." Among the ministers who spoke in the chapel was the Rev. William Vaughn then of Belfast who was one of the most popular according is some of the people who can remember many of the annual campground meetings. Activity at the campground came to an abrupt and in the fall of 1928 when fire destroyed all cottages except to and a bucket brigade was credited with saving the hotel and chapel. The large beech, maple and birch trees were practically destroyed. Even though there was no insurance there was talk for a time of rebuilding but this never was done. Loss at that time was estimated to be $10,000 considered to be a major loss for the owners. A second fire in 1950 destroyed the hotel and later the chapel was torn down. For the person who knew the campground as it used to be there are still traces of building sites, for those who can remember sharing the Christian atmosphere that prevailed, Maple Grove Camp Ground will never cease to be.
