The Republican journal., 1899-07-27
Hints for Owners of Shore Property

The following letter by n. V. Tibbetts
of Brooklin appeared in the Ellsworth
American OF July Goth, and contains
suggestions worthy of consideration by
those to whom it is addressed:
When the summer season of 1899 closes,
the people Of Maine will say that never
before in the history of summer travel
was there such a rush of visitors to our
shores; not alone to the fashionable sum
mer resorts, but to every available town,
farm house and cottage that nestle in
shady hooks by the sea. The people liv-
ing on the coast, who own the land, are
beginning to see that in the summer trav-
ell lies one of their chief sources of
wealth for the future.
Maine can be justly proud OF the class
of people that visit her shores year by
year. The rougher element are sure to
stay near large cities, where beer and
wine flow day and night, but it is the sub
stantial men of means and families who
seek the cool climate and quiet peaceful
rest that Maine affords.
That every man who has the interest of
his town and State at heart should en-
courage such people to come to our shores
goes without saying. But do they do 50?
l have in Brooklin a little summer resort
that | have built up, cottage by cottage,
as the yeals went by, until now | have
quite a little settlement for summer visit
ors While the townspeople have never
given any encouragement in the way of
street improvements, they have not taxed
my cottages beyond reason. The town
officers, especially the first selectman, has
pointed out the attractive features of our
town to each visitor, and | have no doubt
encouraged them to invest their money in
a summer home ia Brookln.
There is room in BROOKLYN for thousands
of visitors, and they are anxious to come
when the attractive places are provided
for them, but what they want are cottages,
the nearer the shore the better. Capt
Babson's success at Little Deer Isle has
shown that to be fact. He cannot supply
the demand for cottages, although he has
nearly forty buildings.
Brooklin has a high, rocky, bold shore
there are but few places where the sea
drains out leaving bad smelling flats.
There are plenty of attractive places
along Eggemoggin reach that are now
| used for calf pastures, where but little
grows on the Lodges except trees, and
they are usually cut down for tirewood as
soon as they attain any growth. If the
trees were lett to grow, few acres OF tn Sc
rocky pastures near the shore might be
worth more in few years than any farm
| in the county, but such land cannot be
made valuable by simply holding it and
using it for pasture.
Some of the most attractive places
along the coast are owned by men who dc
a little farming and manage to make q
! hot l,n
acre of land for cottage unless they got
as much as the whole farm was worth.
Those people will continue to own theil
farms, and their sons, and grandsons, per-
haps for thousand years, and the farms
will never increase in value one penny.
While they may be good citizens, honest
but poor farmers tor who ever heard o
a wealthy farmer IN our part of the State
they will not help build up the town o
any great extent.
| The way to make these farms valuable
is to advertise them, and when it is known
what the people want, what better way is
| there to advertise them than by building
cottages? If the farmer has not the ready
money, it would pay him in the end tc
give away good slice of his land to some
one who would build. There are two es-
sential things to be considered: the cot
tages must be near the shore and have
some shade trees near them, or any adj
/ vertisement will be valuable but for one
season.
The only advertising have done for the
past two years is 10 write hundreds of let
tiers in answer to inquiries, stating that
| my cottages are all engaged nearly year
ahead, and thai there are no other cot
tages in Brooklin.