Sawyers' Island from Isle of Springs Me. 4.

Sawyers' Island from Isle of Springs Me. 4.

Sawyers' Island from Isle of Springs, Maine View of Sawyers Island, Maine looking north east across the Sheepscot River from the Isle of Springs, Maine circa 1915. Sawyers Island Landing and the Sawyers House hotel are in view. The Sawyer's Island House was a favorite summer resort in the late 1800s and early 1900s. The resort advertised "pleasant rooms and good board for 15 or 20 ladies and gentlemen...on reasonable terms." Visitors could enjoy fine sailing, fishing and bathing. The Bath and Boothbay steamers stopped there regularly, good roads with bridges connected to the mainland and other Islands, and mail arrived daily. Summer people began coming to the island about 1870 when Zina Hodgdon took boarders into the house he had built in 1847. Over the next decade he converted his home into a hotel. The adjacent building was originally Hodgdon’s shoemaking shop. He expanded it into a general store in 1870 and later made it into guest rooms. In the 1930s a single sink with running water and toilet upstairs and a bathroom near the kitchen on the first floor served guests. They required appointments to use the bathtub. In the early 1900s Elton H. Lewis operated the resort. Fire destroyed it in 1964. Sawyers Island House in the early 1900s Seen here is the Sawyers Island House (hotel) and a barn to its right beyond the group of large leaf trees. The trees still stand to this day. The Sawyers Island House burned in 1965. The barn fell down in the 1970s. It is best viewed from the photo taken from theIsle of Springs looking over at Sawyers (PMM# LB2007.1.114301). To the right of the old barn and at the top of the hill is a central chimney Cape with Victorian dormer -- known as Mrs. Sims place pre-1980s. The house was given an ill-advised makeover in 1984 when the feather edged clapboarding, original beaded interior trim, windows, etc., were all thrown out. Behind this house is a large barn that was always in good shape. Local lore says it was used to store bootleg booze during Prohibition which was discretely hauled up from the Sawyers Island Landing at night from a motorboat. "A pleasant and favorite Summer Resort is at Sawyer's Island, N. Boothbay, Me. The Bath and Boothbay steamers touch there regularly. There are bridges to the main and other Islands, daily mails, good roads, fine sailing, fishing and bathing. Pleasant rooms and good board for 15 or 20 ladies and gentlemen at Sawyer's Island House can be had on reasonable terms." 1881 The people here may well have been guests enjoying the amenities of Zina Hodgdon's hotel. About 1870 Hodgdon began taking a few summer boarders into the house he'd built in 1847 and by 1880 had made it into a hotel. The adjacent building was originally Hodgdon's shoemaking shop, which became a general store in 1870 and then guest rooms. In the 1930s a single sink with running water and toilet upstairs and a bathroom near the kitchen on the first floor served guests. Appointments were required to use the bathtub. The steamboat SPRAY began running from Boothbay Harbor to Bath in 1865, with a stop at Sawyer's Landing. Zina Hodgdon became a steamboat agent about that time. A July 1877 ad in the Boothbay Register announced three weekly stops. Elton H. Lewis was operating the Sawyer's Island House (and perhaps renting billboard space) when this photo was taken. Fire destroyed it in 1964.