Burlington weekly free press. [volume] (Burlington, Vt.) 1866-1928, 1882-09-01

All About the Famous watering place.
"a Rendnble and comprehensive
Letter.
OLD ORCHARD BEACH, Maine,


OLD ORCHARD BEACH, Maine,
August 20, 1882.
To the Editor Of the Free Press anu Times:
AS sit this bright morning on the piazza
of the Lawrence House and look out upon
the waves as they come rolling in from the
ocean, till they beat their foam crests
on the shore, almost at my feet, and
gaze at the crowds from the score aud
more hotels, who are driving, walking
or playing games along the smooth, hard
beach which slopes gently to the water
and extends from Pine Point on the north to
Bay View and the mouth of the Saco River
on the south, distance of nearly nine
miles, or watch the bathers in their various
colored costumts, enjoying with the
keenest relish their dips in the surf, which
ripples around the feet of the tmid ones
near the shore, or washes over the heads of
the more venturesomc as they tempt its
depths at a greater distance out I am CRATE
full for the building of those highways which
connect your beautiful city with one of the
most picturesque and as fine and safe as any
one of the seaside resorts upon our Eastern
coast-Old Orchard Beach. The grandeur
of the ever-restless ocean, the charm of the
walks and drives, the appetzng tables, the
coil nights, with their sound, refreshing
slumbers, are all far better for those wear
led with the ills that flesh is heir to-" or
the harassing duties of daily life, than the
best of medicine prescribed by the mos,
skilful of physicians. 1t is the one tonic
which,;s best adapted to those dwelling
amid the green hills of Vermont, and it has
occurred to me that little description of
this important suburb of Burlington" may
be of interest, even though much OF it may
be well known to many who have already
appreciated its attractions.
| Old Orchard,
which takes its name from an extensive fruit
orchard, said to have been planted by
Thomas Rogers, in the vicinity Of Goose
Fan Brook, little stream which empties
into the bay near midway of the beach, is
crescent shaped beach lying between the
Dunstan and Saco Rivers, which empty at
either end of Saco Bay. This bay lies
about twelve miles west of Portland and is
semi-circular in form, extending inland
about three miles Prout's Neck also a
favorte resort, forms its northern boundary,
and Fletcher's neck, on which is the little
village Of Bddeford Pool the oldest of our
once famous sea ports, constitutes its south.
/ limit Lat
points is five miles On the left, as you
look out upon the bay, are two islands,
Strattans and Bluff the former is about half
mile long and has group OF houses near
| its southern end On the right, and lying
off the mouth of the Saco, are six small
islands called Wood Negro, Stage, Basket,
Ram and Eagle. On the first stands II light
house, the never weared sentinel Of the bay,
its revolving red light, at height of sxty-two
feet above the water, flashes forth each min
ute of the night friendly warning which
can be seen for thirteen miles A keepers
house and fog bell stand near by. On Stage
island is Il gray stone monument forty feet
| high 10 mark the entrance into Winter Har.
Dor which lies under the lee of Wood Island.
Along the north shore of the mouth Of Saco
River, Il brtakwatcr of Bddeford granite
nearly four thousand feet in length, was
built by the government in 1862 to keep
the channel into the river cleared of shifting
sands. Aside from its many natural attrac.
| tons the historic associations of
Saeo Hay
are numerous and worthy of special note
To those familiar with the early history OF
the colonies, it will be remembered as the
site of the earliest English settlement ON the
shores of America save that of jamestown
| W "a ttls IL I'm "a ia In
an exploring vessel was sent ont by King
James !, commanded by Captain George
Weymouth He found the primitive forests
along this coast occupied by rowing bands of
Indians, existing in the rldest way.
Capturing five OF their chiefs he took them
back to England where they were objects of
great curiosity and admiration. They soon
attracted he attention of Sir Fernando
Gorges, u nobleman of wealth who taught
them the English language. Becoming in
terested N their account of their wild home
In the uncSplored West, he organized the
| Plymouth Company and obtained grant
from King James of all the lands between
the Hudson River and Cape Breton, with
adjacent islands. In the subsequent division
of this tract, what is now the State of Maine
| fell TO him, and he fitted out vessel under
Captain Richard Vines, which arrived at the
mouth of the Saco River in September 1916
Wintering in what is know US Biddeford
Pool, the vessel returned TO England the
following Spring, richly laden with the
results of bartcring with the Indians and
carrying most favorable reports of the coun-
try. Prompted by the spirit OF enterprise
settlements were male along the Saco and
Scarborough rivers, Prout's Neck, Casco
Portland, York, Portsmouth, and the
Massachusetts, colonies. Those in Maine
were under grants rom Gorges-that Of
Captain Vines bearing date February II,
1929, which is now in possession of the
Maine Historical Society. In 1877 the heirs
of Gorges sold their grant to Massachusetts
for twelve hundred md fifty pounds, under
whose jurisdiction il remained till 1890, |
when it became an independent state. find
the Oldest town records in the city of Biddc-
ford, which is on the opposite side of the
river from Saco They are dated 1853. One |
is well repaid for the Time spent in looking
through these old and valuable volumes, |
giving as they do the brief history # their
town affairs, told in the quaint, homely |
style characteristic of the times espo cally |
is this so with the story of the efforts of the
early settlers to reconcile their views upon |
the rights of the Church of England, the |
petty prosecutions of her minister's the at |
tention paid to Sabbath observanc,s, social
and family differences, slauderous remarks
etc. But the peaceful and prosperous days
OF the early colonists were not destined to
a long continuance. The ire of the Western
Indians led by Philip Of Mt. Hope and
melted by the jealousi,s Of the French,
finally eliminated in savage warfare, filled |
with thrilling incidents and cruel hostiries,
and from the burning of Saco, September,
1875, till the reduction of LouisburI in 1745,
when the French power became weakened, |
period OF more than sixty years, Indian
depredations and massacres and bloody re-
taliatlons on the part OF the colonlsts,
threatened humiliation 10 the nearly cx-
hausted settlements. At Old Orchard the
house of Thomas Rogers WAS destroyed, and
"a la oil Of