There are so many things I wish I could have seen years ago.

Lake Grove is one of them.

I have seen old postcards that picture Lewiston-Auburn folks in late-Victorian dress enjoying picnics or evening plays at this popular park beside Lake Auburn. I have read that it featured a menagerie with monkeys, an Arctic owl, and a variety of wild animals native to this area. The grounds also boasted a bowling area, croquet grounds and a horseshoe court.

Lake Grove’s beginnings coincide with the 1883 extension of the Lewiston Horse Railroad Co.’s lines to East Auburn. There, the company established a lakeside pleasure spot. It was an early “if-you-build-it, they-will-come” concept that led to these mini-theme parks, and it was a common practice in many communities.

What amazes me is the apparent ease with which families flocked to the popular local destination not far from our farm. Many families came “by team” – their own horse-drawn wagons of many styles. Downtown dwellers caught the “horse car,” or later, the “electrics.” These trolleys served L-A and its surrounding areas through summer and winter from the pre-Civil War period until automobiles essentially crowded them off the roads.

“Trips to ‘The Grove’ in open-air cars were festive occasions. Singing passengers packed the cars. More adventurous patrons even rode on the roofs.”

That was the way my aunt, Edith Labbie, described trips to Lake Grove. In her columns in the Lewiston Evening Journal magazine section, she wrote often about Lake Grove. Her extensive accounts were condensed in a section she contributed to a book: “Auburn – 100 Years a City” published by the Auburn History Committee in 1968.

Her vivid accounts came from family recollections, so I also heard bits and pieces of my grandparents’ tales about the long-ago lakeside attraction.

“One weekend, 1,400 passengers made the round-trip,” she wrote. “Car patrons were admitted to Lake Grove without charge. Other visitors bought tickets after they hitched their horses to trees and fence posts.”

You could buy a quart of peanuts for a nickel at J.W. Merrill’s restaurant on the grounds. You could rent a boat or a canoe, and the boathouse walls were covered with tracings of record-size salmon taken from Lake Auburn.

For 15 cents, you could ride the steamer “Lewiston” captained by Frank R. Whitney, according to my aunt’s articles. Excursion rates were only a nickel.

For the more affluent boat passengers, a stop for dinner at the Lake Auburn Mineral Spring Hotel on the west shore of the lake was in order. They returned to Lake Grove for evening band concerts. The day might conclude with a ride on a buckboard driven by S.H. Briggs to the top of nearby Mt. Gile where patrons climbed to the top of a five-story observation platform to watch the sunset.

A year after the opening of Lake Grove, E.T. Gile bought 12 acres on White Oak Hill Road in East Auburn across from today’s municipal beach and park. He renamed the site after himself and cleared an area for the observatory. It offered a spectacular view of the White Mountains, the Poland Spring Hotel, the State Fair trotting park and the Androscoggin River for 25 miles upstream.

“Lake Grove continued to prosper long after the Mt. Gile facilities were closed,” my Aunt Edith wrote.

“As the years went by, the Grove became a popular place for Chatauqua programs, lodge picnics, revivals and political rallies. Skating parties were sponsored in the winter. The ice was scraped and illuminated. Accordion music and hot cocoa added to the pleasures,” she wrote.

The outdoor theater at Lake Grove held 500 people and had a covered stage flanked by dressing rooms. “Patrons sat on backless benches. In the event of showers, the lucky ones raised their umbrellas. Others held newspapers over their heads.”

Tickets for the shows were a dime in the afternoon and 20 cents in the evening, with new shows weekly. The presentations might be the Alabama Troubadours, an impersonation of Harry Lauder, or the Power Puff Review. One intriguing production mentioned by my aunt was a re-enactment of the Havana Harbor sinking of the battleship Maine. It was staged by the trolley company. Was this an extravaganza of explosions and a scuttled barge in the waters of the lake, or was it all done on stage?

The last horse car left the stable on French Street (now Lake Auburn Avenue) in 1895, and “the electric trolley was the new marvel.” It marked the beginning of a changing era when roadsters appeared, flappers danced the Charleston and the Black Bottom – and Lake Grove became a dance hall. On Sundays, when dancing was prohibited, there were free showings of silent movies.

By 1928, Lake Grove had been losing money for some time, in large part because of the coming of the family car. Better roads and cars meant families had more choices for their travels.

Dave Sargent is a freelance writer and an Auburn native. You can e-mail him at [email protected].