The Rockland Security Trust Building is a significant Colonial Revival style bank structure located on Main Street in Downtown Rockland, Maine. Built in 1912 from plans by Boston architect Richard Clipston Sturgis, the brick building is trimmed in marble, to provide a visual representation to the financial wealth and stability the bank could provide its clients. The bank closed and the building is presently occupied by an art gallery. Sadly, the rooftop deck railing takes away so much from the building’s presence.
This stately commercial block is found on Main Street in Rockland, Maine. The block originally housed the local custom house (before a larger, purpose-built custom house was erected nearby in 1873) with other retail and commercial spaces at the ground floor with offices and meeting space above. The block is a great example of the Italianate style with an intricate brick corbeled cornice and cast iron and marble storefronts. The commercial space occupied by the First National Bank also exhibits a stone medallion with deer set within a wreath over the entrance. The detail that stood out to me most was the cast iron lintels over the windows, with the second floor lintels including a man’s face! The building is well preserved and is today occupied by local businesses.
It saddens me to see photos and learn about some of the amazing buildings demolished in the name of “progress”; it is even more disappointing when said building is replaced by a surface parking lot (over 50 years later)! This great stone building was built in Rockland, Maine, in 1876 as the town’s post office and custom house by the Federal government. Relatively unknown architect Alfred B. Mullett is credited with the design as he served from 1866 to 1874 as Supervising Architect of the United States Treasury Department. The building can be classified as Italianate-Second Empire in style and is constructed of massive, rough-faced granite block walls with a shallow mansard roof above. The building was offered for sale by the U.S. Government in 1967, likely due to the upkeep costs and a shrinking local population with the dependency on maritime trade diminished. The building was ultimately razed in late 1969, with a new, uninspiring, post office built next door to this site.
The Rockland Harbor Breakwater and Lighthouse is arguably the most iconic structure in the coastal town of Rockland, Maine. As Rockland was a major port and harbor, relying on the transportation of lime and shipbuilding for its economy, protecting the harbor was of paramount importance. Major storms in the 1850s highlighted the need for improved harbor protection, but federal appropriations for a breakwater were not approved until 1880. Between 1880 and 1900 the United States Army Corps of Engineers, under a series of Congressional appropriations, built the breakwater, a 4,364 foot long wall in the harbor built of locally quarried blocks of granite. It is truly a feat of engineering! The lighthouse standing at its end was added in 1902. The iconic breakwater is accessible by those who brave the crashing waves and distance to the end of the nearly mile-long walk out to the lighthouse. The structure is today maintained by volunteers and the City of Rockland.
The Knox County Courthouse stands in Downtown Rockland, Maine, and is a landmark example of a Civic building constructed in the Italianate style. Knox County was separated from adjacent Lincoln County in 1860, with the coastal city of Rockland established as its county seat. For its first fifteen years, county offices were dispersed amongst buildings until in 1874 when the county retained Boston architect Gridley James Fox Bryant to design the present building. The building was constructed at a cost of $83,000, well over the anticipated $50,000 cost, and opened in 1875. The first floor accommodated all the county offices, with fireproof storage areas for records. The second floor was be taken up by the courtroom, and at either end were rooms for judges, jury and counsel.
Welcome to Rockland, Maine! Originally called Catawamteak by the Abenaki, meaning “great landing place”, Rockland was first settled by European settlers in In 1769 as a camp to produce oak staves and pine lumber. In 1777, when Thomaston was incorporated, present-day Rockland became a district called Shore village. In 1848, it was set off as the town of East Thomaston and renamed Rockland in 1850. The coastal community grew quickly as a shipbuilding and lime production center, with upwards of 300 vessels to transport the mineral to various ports in the country for the building of communities all down the coast. The opening of the Knox and Lincoln Railroad in 1871 brought an influx of tourists and businesses, creating a development boom for the community. The line was leased to the Maine Central Railroad in 1891, which took over ownership in 1901. The Rockland Railroad Station, seen here, was built in 1917, just before the government took over the railroads during World War I. Architects Coolidge and Shattuck designed the station in the Romanesque Revival style with the oversized arched openings at the windows and main entrance. The rise of the automobile industry would further harm rail service and usage, and the Rockland Branch officially closed in 1959. The old Rockland branch station operated as the Rockland Town Hall for decades and is now occupied by a local restaurant, Trackside Station.
The Maine State Building is a one-of-a-kind landmark located in the Poland Springs Historic District of Poland, Maine, though it was not originally built in this location! The Victorian structure was built in 1893 at the Columbian Exposition in Chicago (aka the Chicago World’s Fair) as one of the State Buildings constructed by each U.S. state to highlight their history. Designed by Chicago architect Charles Sumner Frost, a Lewiston, Maine native and MIT graduate, the building was constructed of granite with a slate roof. After the close of the fair, the Ricker family of Poland Spring, purchased the building from the state. They had it dismantled, moved to Maine, and rebuilt on their resort, which brought even more visitors to their property. In Maine, it reopened in 1895 as a library and art gallery for their hotel guests. Along with the Norway Building in Norway, The Dutch House in Brookline (a personal favorite), the Palace of Fine Arts (now the Museum of Science and Industry) and World Congress Auxiliary Building (now the Art Institute of Chicago) in Chicago, the Maine State Building is one of the few remaining buildings from the 1893 World’s Fair, and the only State Building remaining. It has been lovingly preserved and operated by the Poland Spring Historical Society, who operate the building as a museum.
As part of the ever-growing Poland Springs Resort in Poland, Maine, the operators of the Poland Springs Hotel sought to erect a house of worship for guests and local community members. In 1909, fundraising had risen to total of $15,000 and that, along with a matching contribution by the Ricker Family, who owned the Poland Springs Resort, allowed for the hiring of an architect and the project to commence. Boston-area architect George Henri Desmond furnished the plans for the chapel, and were also hired by the Ricker family to complete plans for alterations to the Mt. Kineo House on Moosehead Lake during the same time period. All Souls Chapel is a Neo-Gothic Revival building constructed of irregular granite blocks with a gable roof covered with slate. It has a central tower with a flat parapet roof and a belfry with ornate louvered openings. The tower is square in plan and contains the principal entrance to the chapel. When the chapel was opened in 1912, it was opened as an interdenominational place of worship for use by Catholics and Protestants. Guests contributed much of the interior furnishings and all of the memorial hand-painted windows placed in the chapel were sponsored by guests or relatives of longtime guests. Today, the chapel hosts weddings, baptisms, and other similar events.
The Poland Springs Bottling Plant and Spring House contribute to the rich history of what was once a major American spa resort. In as early as 1797, Jabez Ricker founded a hostelry at the springs on his property in Poland, Maine, and later claimed that drinking the water saved him from a serious illness, a claim that was expanded by other members of his family for generations. In 1876, Hiram Ricker, Jabez’s grandson, opened the Poland Spring House, a “watering place” or spa, acclaimed for its health-giving environment. While the grand hotel burned in 1975, the bottling plant and spring house designed and built in 1907, still remains on the grounds. In 1903 Hiram Ricker’s son, Edward P. Ricker, wrote to architect Harry C. Wilkinson, a native of Poland, Maine, to solicit a design for his proposed bottling plant and Spring House to allow visitors to drink the natural spring water. His idea of bottling the spring waters for transport and sale, which would eventually be the main catalyst for Poland Spring water today! The extravagant Italian Renaissance Revival style buildings sit side-by-side and are of a high-style despite the relatively utilitarian purpose of the facility. Both structures are very well-preserved and are operated as museums, to learn more about the history of the spring water and resort here.
The Poland Springs Resort in Poland, Maine, brought thousands of visitors to the once sleepy community to take in the clean air and healing spring waters on the grounds, and eventually built recreational facilities to keep guests entertained for summers. An 18-hole golf course on the grounds was originally designed by Arthur Fenn in 1896 and redesigned by Donald Ross in 1915; and the Ricker family who owned and operated the resort, sought to take advantage of the nearby Middle Range Pond for guests. In 1909, this 1909 eclectic Queen Anne beach house was built on the northwest edge of Middle Range Pond. For twenty-four years, it was set over the water, supported on piers, but in 1932, it was moved to the east and was set on land. In 1982, the building was remodeled to a private home, now available for rent.
Buildings of New England 