The Eureka House, or Katahdin House as it was sometimes called, was located on Katahdi
n Avenue. It was one of many rooming houses/boarding houses and small hotels that sprung up in Millinocket’s early days when housing was desperately needed. The Eureka House was a three-story building with an attic and porches/verandas for the first two floors. Advertisements in The Millinocket Journal, 1903, state the Eureka offered “home comforts” with J.W. Clifford as proprietor. There was barn set back from the house where Arthur Russell ran a livery stable and also a local taxi or hack as then called. The ad says, “Hack to all trains.”
Other rooming houses along Katahdin Avenue were the Windsor, the Brunswick House and the Little Northern. The Windsor was on the corner of Katahdin Avenue and Pine Street (later Eugene Rush house site, also burned). The Windsor was built by Mr. Crandlemire. A brief Republican Journal article (Belfast, Maine) dated February 21, 1904 states “The Windsor Hotel was destroyed by fire today. The loss is estimated at $8000; insurance $3000. The cause of the fire is not known.” The Little Northern was at the corner of Katahdin Avenue and Poplar Streets. This burned on July 3, 1901. The Brunswick House, a bit further up Katahdin Avenue also burned, but was rebuilt (later called Whitehall Apts.). A Millinocket firefighter, Joseph Perry, lost his life in this fire. It seems that fires were the major danger of that time.
The museum has a photo of the Eureka House and one of the Little Northern after the fire, both in the Laverty Collection. This large collection was donated to the museum in 2013 by Dorothy Laverty Carlson. The collection contains GNP photos from Dorothy Bowler Laverty’s father and husband, plus many personal photos of Millinocket, people and more. In the collection are local newspapers from 1901-1904 and other paper items. Little by little, this huge collection is being sorted, cataloged and accessioned as we also have many other donations to process as well.
Other rooming houses near the park were Bossie’s, Levasseur’s and Mrs. Atherton’s. The Riverside was at the head of Tin Can Alley. The Laverty book also mentions boarding houses run by the Hanleys and the Moores on Pine Street. The museum is seeking more information and photos on any of these.
Museum open Thursday, Friday, Saturday Noon-3PM, weather permitting! In the Museum Store! *** Get your 2021 Calendars! Theme: Millinocket, Oh! How We’ve Changed! $12 each, mail orders add $5 SH each calendar. Each page has several photos from different areas of town (Society Hill, park area, Medway Rd., Outer Bates St., Across Tracks, Aroostook Ave., and more). *** Preowned yearbooks - $10.00 each. *** Matted photos, various prices – GNP mill, Little Italy, river drives, Mt. Katahdin. *** DVD’s, Little Italy Part 1 and Part 2 available at the museum ($15 each) or mail order ($15 each). ***Books: “Within Katahdin’s Realm, Log Drives and Sporting Camps” (Bill Geller) $30.00; “Logging Towboats & Boom Jumpers” (Moody) $18.00; “Tanglefoot,” (Edwards) $15.00; “Millinocket” (D. Duplisea) $20.00; “A Little Taste of History” cookbooks - $15.00; both Laverty books, $25 history & $10 architecture; “Our Real World,” (M. Murphy); “No Time for Moss (McKeen) $15.00 and several preowned books (out of print) by local authors. *** All items may be mailed – add $5 SH each item. *** For information, groups or appointments, contact Curator Trudy Wyman, 723-5477 or trudy18@beeline-online.net or the Millinocket Historical Society, P. O. Box 11, on the web at www.millinockethistoricalsociety.org or on Facebook.
Comments