Seal Harbor Yacht Club, Seal Harbor, Maine 25k

Seal Harbor Yacht Club, Seal Harbor, Maine 25k

Seal Harbor Yacht Club, Seal Harbor, Maine Before the establishment of the Seal Harbor Yacht Club in 1912, yachtsmen and other sailors had to share the busy steamboat wharf with large passenger steamers and the commercial fishing fleet. Seeking a more appropriate place for yachts to embark on a pleasure cruise, Charlotte Rhodes Hanna, the Dunham family and the Hoe family, all enthusiastic sailors, commissioned Duncan Candler, a prominent New York architect, to draw up plans for a modest shingle-style building for their own use just north of the wharf. Mrs. Hanna had persuaded President William Howard Taft to visit Seal Harbor early in the summer of 1912, and he agreed. When the Presidential launch pulled in to the town, Taft, who weighed over 300 lbs., stepped onto the float, which dipped noticeably under his weight. The Welcoming Committee surged forward to greet the President, whereupon the entire end of the float sank several inches into the water, soaking the Presidential party's shoes and trouser bottoms. The Yacht Club building was completed that year. It had an elevator, essentially a large "dumb waiter" housed in a tower, which facilitated access to yachts. As membership grew, an addition with a wrap-around porch was built. The row of rocking chairs on the porch were for the Porch Membership, who can no longer sail but want to be close to their beloved harbor. The interior remains in its original "unfinished state." Socially the Seal Harbor Yacht Club is considerably less formal than many, and year-round residents may become members at reduced rates.