Misplaced Pages

Old Orchard Beach Inn

Article snapshot taken from Wikipedia with creative commons attribution-sharealike license. Give it a read and then ask your questions in the chat. We can research this topic together.
Historic inn in Maine, United States United States historic place
Staples Inn
U.S. National Register of Historic Places
Old Orchard Beach Inn is located in MaineOld Orchard Beach InnShow map of MaineOld Orchard Beach Inn is located in the United StatesOld Orchard Beach InnShow map of the United States
Location6 Portland Ave., Old Orchard Beach, Maine
Coordinates43°31′3″N 70°22′42″W / 43.51750°N 70.37833°W / 43.51750; -70.37833
Area0.5 acres (0.20 ha)
Built1840
NRHP reference No.86002422
Added to NRHPJune 26, 1987

The Staples Inn, now the Old Orchard Beach Inn, is an historic travelers' accommodation at 8 Portland Avenue in Old Orchard Beach, Maine. Located in a building dating to the late 18th century, it is the oldest known property to have regularly had summer boarders, with a documented history of doing so dating to 1840. The building was listed on the National Register of Historic Places in 1987.

Description and history

The Old Orchard Beach Inn is prominently located in the center of Old Orchard Beach, on the west side of Portland Avenue (Maine State Route 8), opposite the town hall. It is a 2+1⁄2-story wood-frame structure, with two large blocks, that on the left offset to the rear. Both have side-gable roofs and are finished in clapboard siding. The right block has a hip-roofed porch extending across its width, and both sections have gabled dormers projecting from the roof. The right block's interior includes 18th-century features such as a narrow winding staircase, low ceiling, and fireplace mantel.

The house's oldest portion was built sometime in the 18th century, possibly as early as 1730. Initially a one-story farmhouse, it was bought by Elisha Staples in 1790 and enlarged by raising the roof. About 1840 his grandson Ebenezer began taking on summer visitors, who began arriving in the area in larger numbers after railroad access to the area increased in the 1840s and 1850s. By the 1870s, the establishment was one of the largest in Old Orchard Beach, with 300 beds. Much of the complex, remarkably sparing the original farmhouse, was destroyed by fire in 1875. A new, larger hotel was built adjacent, that was demolished in the 20th century. The exterior of the surviving house, now the Old Orchard Beach Inn, is much as it might have appeared late in the 19th century, and its upstairs rooms appear as they might have been in the mid-19th century.

See also

References

  1. ^ "National Register Information System". National Register of Historic Places. National Park Service. March 13, 2009.
  2. ^ "NRHP nomination for Staples Inn". National Park Service. Retrieved 2015-09-20.

External links

U.S. National Register of Historic Places
Topics
Lists by state
Lists by insular areas
Lists by associated state
Other areas
Related
Categories: