Hotel Stonington Me. 54.

Hotel Stonington Me. 54.

Hotel Stonington, Stonington, Me. When the Hotel Stonington was built, the town was called Green's Landing and it was part of Deer Isle. On February 18, 1897, the Maine Legislature incorporated the town as Stonington. The Hotel Stonington was one of several lodging facilities in town in the early 1900s. Some of them housed granite workers, and others had a more varied clientele, including businessmen and visitors who arrived by steamboat. Hotel Stonington had 16 "sleeping rooms," parlors, a lounging room, and a dining hall seating up to 40 people. Its amenities included bathrooms, steam heat, hot and cold water, electric lights, and long-distance telephones. Proprietor Joshua H. Sweetser met all boats with his automobile. Hotel Stonington burned in 1919. Flanking the hotel are the Charles Russ Skyscraper, on the left in the photo, and J. F. West's grocery store, on the right. Signs here read: "Groceries...Meats...Coffee...Country Produce Exchanged for Goods". The grocery store had previously been owned by John K. Richardson. Charles B. Russ was a local quarry owner and entrepreneur. The Skyscraper was razed before 1920 and the lumber used to build the interior of a cabin at the Firs in Sunset. The Mansard architectural style was popular in Stonington; there are three buildings in a row here bearing the style. In addition to the Hotel Stonington, the Sunset House (now the Harbor Café), American Legion (formerly a boardinghouse), and Stonington Town Hall (formerly a school) were built in the style also known as Second Empire.