For more than 100 years summers in western Maine have brought tourists who hike in the wilderness mountains or boat in the clear cool lakes.

Modern tourists stay in campgrounds, state parks or highway motels, living simply and moving from place to place each night. However, in the early 1900s, visitors to Maine did not come to “rough it.”

At the turn of the century, vacations were the privilege of the upper class who stayed in grand hotels where staff nearly outnumbered guests. Others enjoyed sprawling waterfront summer “cottages” where they had ample room to house their servants. The elite, like General J.W. Kearney of Washington, D.C., transported the family’s elegant lifestyle to the woods of Maine. When the general and his family stayed in Rangeley for the summer, their retinue of black servants included coachmen to handle his fine carriage and magnificent horses.

Despite their refinement, many of these summer residents were drawn to outdoor activities. For them, the Rangeley area meant fishing, and catching fish meant hiring a Maine guide. One of the biggest hotels in the area, the Rangeley Lake House, would post the best catches each day. A.R. Whitney or Orangetown, N.J., was thrilled to catch an 8.5 pound salmon from Rangeley Lake, with the help of his native guide, Ebenezer Hinkley. How much of the finding, hooking, and netting was done by Whitney and how much by Hinkley, was not reported.

When the Rangeley Lake House was in its prime, the hotel was full in July and August, catering to 300 guests. Judge Enoch Foster of Portland, surveying the elegant facilities at the turn of the century, commented: “This is a beautiful place. It is second only to Poland Springs.”

When it came to fine furnishings and exquisite decor, Poland Springs was second to none. Run by the Ricker family for well over 100 years, the resort treated wealthy patrons from around the world to oriental carpets laid on polished parquet floors, Moorish arabesque wood carvings and antique Damascus tapestries. Vibrant hot house flowers and ferns graced every room.

Poland Springs served every need of the 450 guests with more than 300 staff. Workers lived in separate, more spartan, quarters. Guests lounged on pristine private beaches which were off-limits to staff who spent their precious few hours off at a more humble patch of sand.

Remodeling and new construction were constant at the grand hotels until the advent of World War I. Then American lifestyles began to change. As the economy picked up, the manpower needed to sustain such facilities become less plentiful and more expensive. After World War II, the Ricker family sold the resort that had been in their family for generations, and the place began to deteriorate.

The Rangeley Lake House was closed during the Second World War and changed hands several times afterward. Then in 1958, it vanished when the furnishings were auctioned off, the buildings demolished and the property subdivided.

The Poland Spring House suffered a more dramatic fate in 1975 when fire destroyed the rambling five-story symbol of a lost era.

Additional research for this column by David Farady.

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