Mt. Desert Reading Rooms, Bar Harbor Me. 252.

"Mt. Desert Reading Rooms, Bar Harbor Me. "Mount Desert Reading Room, where most of the reading was done through the bottom of drinking glasses. Designed by W. R. Emerson in 1881, it is now the Bar Harbor Motor Inn." --WG, 2011 In the 1880s the Oasis Club, a social club organized in 1874, incorporated as the Mount Desert Reading Room and in 1886-87 built this shingle-style cottage, designed by William Randolph Emerson, on the site of "the Kedge," which was moved to West Street. The Mount Desert Reading Room was a private men's club with the avowed purpose of promoting "literary and social culture." One resident said, however, that the only reading done was on the bottom of a glass. Yachtsmen, Naval officers, and "rusticators" enjoyed the club's amenities. Ladies were allowed in the Reading Room on special occasions, by invitation only. Not until 1921, when the club was facing financial challenges, did women enjoy equal status and privileges with the men. In 1922 the Maine Central Railroad purchased the Reading Room. In 1933 a group of local hotel owners opened the property as the Shore Club so guests at hotels could use the club facilities. The U.S. Navy used the building as an observation quarters during World War II. The devastating 1947 Mount Desert fire destroyed all of Bar Harbor's hotels, 67 summer homes, and 170 year-round homes. Through the efforts of a group of local people, Hotel Bar Harbor opened in 1950. It is now the much-expanded Bar Harbor Inn, and its Reading Room Restaurant recreates the elegance of the old private club. The pier led to the dock where Curtis's Flying Boat was tied. Next door is the Newport House, now gone.