The Ottawa House
Where inside this vanished hotel's grounds did people actually lose things?
A grand Victorian resort operated on Cushing Island until it burned in 1917. Foundations and path networks survive under the leaf litter.
Old carriage routes, path edges, shade-tree gathering points, and beach approaches remain legible on foot.
- A large Victorian resort hotel operated on the island and burned in 1917.
- It is shown in photographs, in an oil painting from the Ship Channel, and referenced in Sargent's 1886 prospectus.
- Guests arrived by Casco Bay Line steamer at a west-shore landing.
- [DOC]DocumentedOttawa House, Cushing Island →
Photograph of the hotel with porches, twin towers and flag.
- [DOC]DocumentedCushing Island, Portland Harbor →
Oil painting showing the hotel's position on the western bluff.
- [DOC]DocumentedMap of Cushing Island →
1888 lot map showing the resort-era island and the government reservation.
- [DOC]DocumentedOn the ground →
This site's map position for the hotel is approximate and has not been georeferenced against the 1888 map.
Everyday objects were lost where people stopped, changed footwear, set luggage down and leaned on rails — beach approach, gathering trees, porch edge.
- + This is the standard distribution at resort sites of the period.
- + Path edges and worn gathering points are still legible on the ground.
- − Post-fire cleanup may have stripped the surface at the building footprint itself.
The hotel's existence and end are documented; its footprint is not fixed here. Field value on the grounds is high, but any recovery should be treated as untethered until the 1888 map is properly georeferenced.
- ·A georeferenced overlay of the 1888 map showing the hotel outline.
- ·A fire-insurance plan or a post-fire photograph of the site.
- ·Georeference the 1888 map against the modern shoreline.
- ·Search Portland newspapers for the 1917 fire.
- ·Look for steamer timetables and hotel advertising.
- ·Map path edges and gathering trees.
- ·Sweep beach-approach terminuses and overlooks.
- ·Photograph any bottle hardware and drawer pulls in place.
- ·Late-19th and early-20th century coins, buttons, buckles.
- ·Resort service hardware near the former kitchen wing.
- ·Post-fire cleanup may have removed surface material at the hotel footprint.
- ·Which walk was the promenade to the water?
- ·Where were the porches — the true drop lines?
- [1] Maine Memory Network — Ottawa House images.
- [2] mainememory.net/record/12157
- 01Stand at Ottawa House GroundsPlace · Ottawa House Grounds — Resort · 1858–1917
- 02Look at the evidence: Map of Cushing IslandSource · Map of Cushing Island — ca. 1888 · Maine Memory Network / Maine Historical Society
- 03Read the whole layer: The Summer IslandLayer · The Summer Island — Layer 03 · 1858 → 1917
- 04Stand at Calumet & Whitehead AvenuesPlace · Calumet & Whitehead Avenues — All eras
- 05Look at the evidence: Ottawa House, Cushing IslandSource · Ottawa House, Cushing Island — ca. 1900 · Maine Memory Network / Maine Historical Society