Contributed by Penobscot Marine Museum
Description
“Alf” Perkins, his brother, James M. Perkins, and John H. Stacey built the Eureka House, later the Riverside Hotel, in 1878 for Mr. Peleg O. Vickery. “Alf” was the manager.
The hotel was a short walk along the Kennebec River from Fort Popham, which was constructed in 1861 on the site of a battery dating from the Revolutionary War. Visitors inspected a Civil War-era cannon on the hotel lawn.
The Riverside opened each year in early June and hosted visitors until shortly after Labor Day. An important summer event was the July 4th celebration, which included a fireworks display in the dark in front of the hotel.
Hotel guests went horseback riding. played croquet, enjoyed bonfires, fished, dug for artifacts, and played baseball. They took trips to nearby islands and to communities such as Georgetown, Wiscasset, and Harpswell. From the piazza, visitors viewed many vessels on the Kennebec River, some making daily runs from Popham to Bath.
Timothy Small kept the horses for his mail route in the hotel stable. He made two trips a day between Bath and Popham in the winter and three trips each day in summer.
In 2018 Percy’s Store occupied the site of the Riverside Hotel.
About This Item
- Title: Riverside Hotel, at Popham Beach, Phippsburg, ca. 1910
- Creator: Eastern Illustrating & Publishing Co.
- Creation Date: circa 1910
- Subject Date: circa 1910
- Location: Popham Beach, Phippsburg, Sagadahoc County, ME
- Media: Glass Plate Negative
- Dimensions: 12.7 cm x 17.8 cm
- Local Code: LB2007.1.102070
- Collection: Eastern Illustrating & Publishing Co.
- Object Type: Image
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For more information about this item, contact:
Penobscot Marine MuseumPO Box 498, 5 Church Street, Searsport, ME 04974
(207) 548-2529
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