The Criterion Theatre is a cinema, performance theatre, and venue located on Cottage Street in Bar Harbor, Maine. It opened in June 1932 featuring vaudeville performances and movies during a time when Bar Harbor's summer scene was at its height. Today it is one of only two Art Deco theaters in the state of Maine and is listed on the National Register of Historic Places. The 760 seat theatre was built for a convicted bootlegger named George McKay. After his release from federal prison, McKay solicited bids for constructions of a glamorous movie palace. The high bid of $95,206 was beat by Bunker & Savage Architects of Augusta, Maine who built the theatre in just six months for a contract price of $58,000. That's about $900,000 in today's dollars, a surprisingly low figure for such a magnificent structure. A $2 million dollar contribution from an anonymous donor in 2014 made possible the purchase and restoration of the Criterion which now operates as a 501(c)(3) nonprofit organization committed to safeguarding this historic space for stories, storytellers, and audiences. Today, almost everything in the building is original or as close as possible to it, including the light fixtures, curtains, seats, and stencils on the ceiling.
Description: The Criterion Theatre is a cinema, performance theatre, and venue located on Cottage Street in Bar Harbor, Maine. It opened in June 1932 featuring vaudeville performances and movies during a time when Bar Harbor's summer scene was at its height. Today it is one of only two Art Deco theaters in the state of Maine and is listed on the National Register of Historic Places. The 760 seat theatre was built for a convicted bootlegger named George McKay. After his release from federal prison, McKay solicited bids for constructions of a glamorous movie palace. The high bid of $95,206 was beat by Bunker & Savage Architects of Augusta, Maine who built the theatre in just six months for a contract price of $58,000. That's about $900,000 in today's dollars, a surprisingly low figure for such a magnificent structure. A $2 million dollar contribution from an anonymous donor in 2014 made possible the purchase and restoration of the Criterion which now operates as a 501(c)(3) nonprofit organization committed to safeguarding this historic space for stories, storytellers, and audiences. Today, almost everything in the building is original or as close as possible to it, including the light fixtures, curtains, seats, and stencils on the ceiling. [show more]
"A. Bird Cough [Adoniram Bird Cough] has opened a most attractive store at 26 Cottage Street. The store is stocked with a fine line of groceries and the usual vegetable lines." - The Bar Harbor Record, June 16, 1909 - quoted in The Bar Harbor Times, June 18, 2009, p. 34. A. Bird Cough was Daniel and Elvira's son Adoniram Bird Cough (1872-1949) who opened his store in Bar Harbor in the 6th building from Main Street on the south side of Cottage Street, a site occupied by Cadillac Mt. Sports in 2013.
Description: "A. Bird Cough [Adoniram Bird Cough] has opened a most attractive store at 26 Cottage Street. The store is stocked with a fine line of groceries and the usual vegetable lines." - The Bar Harbor Record, June 16, 1909 - quoted in The Bar Harbor Times, June 18, 2009, p. 34. A. Bird Cough was Daniel and Elvira's son Adoniram Bird Cough (1872-1949) who opened his store in Bar Harbor in the 6th building from Main Street on the south side of Cottage Street, a site occupied by Cadillac Mt. Sports in 2013. [show more]
Henry R. Abel moved his lobster pound from Tremont to Mt. Desert in 1938. Abel’s Lobster Pound still exists in 2017 where Henry built it in 1938 at the edge of Somes Sound on Route 198.
Description: Henry R. Abel moved his lobster pound from Tremont to Mt. Desert in 1938. Abel’s Lobster Pound still exists in 2017 where Henry built it in 1938 at the edge of Somes Sound on Route 198.
The aerial photograph above appears to have been taken in the mid 1970s, but no earlier than 1974 because of the presence of a 1974 Pontiac Trans Am and what looks like a 1974 VW Super Beetle in the parking areas. The other photo is older, possibly late 1950s, as is evidenced by the cars and the absence of some of the newer building in the first photograph. In the older image, The Moorings is clearly visible in the upper right portion of the photo.
Description: The aerial photograph above appears to have been taken in the mid 1970s, but no earlier than 1974 because of the presence of a 1974 Pontiac Trans Am and what looks like a 1974 VW Super Beetle in the parking areas. The other photo is older, possibly late 1950s, as is evidenced by the cars and the absence of some of the newer building in the first photograph. In the older image, The Moorings is clearly visible in the upper right portion of the photo. [show more]
“Returning now to the village comer and going toward the wharf at Clark Point—the building owned and occupied by the Jackson Market was originally A. L. [Arthur A.] Gilley's barber shop ; a small building which forms but a fraction of the present structure. It has been owned by several who have made changes and additions and greatly increased its size.” - “Traditions and Records of Southwest Harbor and Somesville, Mount Desert Island, Maine” by Mrs. Seth S. Thornton, p. 156 - 1938 Arthur Alonzo Gilley inherited this barber shop property in 1922 from his mother, Julia I. (Moore) Gilley Marson. Arthur was practicing as a barber in Bath, Maine in 1920 and in 1930.
Description: “Returning now to the village comer and going toward the wharf at Clark Point—the building owned and occupied by the Jackson Market was originally A. L. [Arthur A.] Gilley's barber shop ; a small building which forms but a fraction of the present structure. It has been owned by several who have made changes and additions and greatly increased its size.” - “Traditions and Records of Southwest Harbor and Somesville, Mount Desert Island, Maine” by Mrs. Seth S. Thornton, p. 156 - 1938 Arthur Alonzo Gilley inherited this barber shop property in 1922 from his mother, Julia I. (Moore) Gilley Marson. Arthur was practicing as a barber in Bath, Maine in 1920 and in 1930. [show more]
The well known Main Street shop which Albert Wilson Bee II conducted for more than 40 years. <br /><br />Albert W. Bee II was a newspaper agent in Boston, who established a branch store offering newspapers, stationary, fruit, and confections in Bar Harbor during the summer months at least as early as 1876. <br /><br />“I shall open my stores at Bar Harbor, with my usual line of summer goods, early in June; and at Southwest Harbor, July 1st.” – The bottom lines of a front page ad that Albert ran in many issues of the Bar Harbor Record; this one on March 17, 1887.
Description: The well known Main Street shop which Albert Wilson Bee II conducted for more than 40 years. <br /><br />Albert W. Bee II was a newspaper agent in Boston, who established a branch store offering newspapers, stationary, fruit, and confections in Bar Harbor during the summer months at least as early as 1876. <br /><br />“I shall open my stores at Bar Harbor, with my usual line of summer goods, early in June; and at Southwest Harbor, July 1st.” – The bottom lines of a front page ad that Albert ran in many issues of the Bar Harbor Record; this one on March 17, 1887. [show more]
The blacksmith shop was across the street from the Jonathan M. Rich house. "In addition to the house [in SWHPL 6022], Jonathan wanted the land across the road that went with it so that he could build a blacksmith shop for his son, Alvah Dalton Rich Sr., (1872-1908). Charles Edwin Hamblen married Alvah Rich's widow, Evelyn Frances (Pomroy) Rich. Their son, Alvah Dalton Rich, Jr. (1909-2002) was born after his father's death."
Description: The blacksmith shop was across the street from the Jonathan M. Rich house. "In addition to the house [in SWHPL 6022], Jonathan wanted the land across the road that went with it so that he could build a blacksmith shop for his son, Alvah Dalton Rich Sr., (1872-1908). Charles Edwin Hamblen married Alvah Rich's widow, Evelyn Frances (Pomroy) Rich. Their son, Alvah Dalton Rich, Jr. (1909-2002) was born after his father's death." [show more]
"A publisher of black & white collotypes, and tinted halftone view-cards. They used the trade name Photolux on many cards. Most of their white border cards were contracted out to Curt Teich. These cards are often recognizable by their blocky titles and numbers." Information from “Publishers,” Metropolitan Postcard Club of New York, Accessed online 02/15/2014; http://www.metropostcard.com/publishersa1.html
Description: "A publisher of black & white collotypes, and tinted halftone view-cards. They used the trade name Photolux on many cards. Most of their white border cards were contracted out to Curt Teich. These cards are often recognizable by their blocky titles and numbers." Information from “Publishers,” Metropolitan Postcard Club of New York, Accessed online 02/15/2014; http://www.metropostcard.com/publishersa1.html