Lowell Island House
Encyclopedia
In 1848, Stephen C. Phillips
and associates formed the Salem and Lowell Railroad
Company and by the summer of 1850 the railroad was opened; it terminated at Phillips Wharf in Salem. Their hope was to compete with the Boston and Lowell Railroad
by restoring Salem’s lost commerce. To increase passenger travel on their railroad, they decided to create a seaside resort near Salem. So, in May 1851, the Salem Steamboat Company was formed “to purchase, build, charter or otherwise hold and employ a steamboat to be used in and about the harbor of Salem, as well as to hold real estate to an amount not exceeding $1000” On June 11, 1851 Stephen Phillips purchased Children’s Island (formerly Cat Island) from David Blaney for $1000. The next January he transferred the deed to the Salem Steamboat Company.
The new company immediately advertised trips to the renamed Lowell Island, with the first trip scheduled to leave from Phillips Wharf in Salem on August 15, 1851. The initial day proved to be a huge success, but “at the time of the purchase of the island the only building upon it was one used by fishermen as a fish-house. This was altered and enlarged to serve as a place of resort and entertainment for visitors. It was partitioned off so as to accommodate as many as possible in a given space.” Encouraged by such a strong turnout the owners raised money to build the Lowell Island Hotel. The hotel was built on the Northwest section of the island, opened on June 15, 1852, and "contain[ed] a number of public and private parlors, one hundred sleeping rooms, and a dining hall which will seat two hundred and fifty persons. It is well ventilated and will be neatly furnished. Bowling alleys, conveniences for sea bathing
, fishing apparatus and bait, and boats for sailing and fishing have been or will be provided...no intoxicating liquor will be sold in the boat or at the Hotel." “It possessed a T-shaped floor plan and was 2 ½ stories high under pitched, dormered, intersecting roofs with a central cupola."
Initially the Merrimack, a steamboat, was used until the Argo was purchased for $25,000, and departure points in Beverly and Marblehead Harbors were added. The Hotel was popular and well visited but according to Alfred Gilman “the house did not pay the running expenses. What was gained by the house was swallowed up by the expense of running the steamboat”, and the corporation voted to sell the property. Subsequently, the property was mortgaged and transferred between members of the company until finally in July, 1857 “the establishment, including steamboat, was sold to Gorham L. Pollard,” who immediately sold off the steamboat. Mr. Pollard operated the Island House until August, 1869 when "Cat Island, recently called Lowell Island and sometimes called Pollard’s Island, with all boats, their tackle and furniture, all fishing lines and materials, bathing suits and other articles of personal property including a piano” were sold to Andrew L. Johnson for $10,000.
A Lowell newspaper in the Fall of 1869:
Mr. Johnson ran the hotel for the next three years but was not successful. In 1871 he sold the property, and over the next six years the property was bought and sold several times before being sold to Samuel B. Rindge for $4500 in January, 1878. Apparently, the Island House remained a resort under Mr. Rindge, as an advertisement for “Island House, Lowell Island, Salem Harbor. Open June 10, 1880” with departure and arrival times of the boat appears in an 1880 magazine Eventually Samuel’s son, Frederick H. Rindge of California, donated the property for use as Children's Island Sanitarium
.
Stephen C. Phillips
Stephen Clarendon Phillips was a Representative from Massachusetts.Phillips was born in Salem, Massachusetts, to Stephen and Dorcas Phillips, he graduated from Harvard University in 1819. Phillips' engaged in mercantile pursuits in Salem, and was a member of the Massachusetts House of...
and associates formed the Salem and Lowell Railroad
Salem and Lowell Railroad
The Salem and Lowell Railroad was a branch line of the Boston and Lowell Railroad and ran off the Essex Railroad in Peabody, Massachusetts to Tewksbury, Massachusetts where it met the Lowell and Lawrence Railroad at Tewksbury Jct....
Company and by the summer of 1850 the railroad was opened; it terminated at Phillips Wharf in Salem. Their hope was to compete with the Boston and Lowell Railroad
Boston and Lowell Railroad
The Boston and Lowell Railroad is a historic railroad that operated in Massachusetts. It was one of the first railroads in North America and the first major one in the state...
by restoring Salem’s lost commerce. To increase passenger travel on their railroad, they decided to create a seaside resort near Salem. So, in May 1851, the Salem Steamboat Company was formed “to purchase, build, charter or otherwise hold and employ a steamboat to be used in and about the harbor of Salem, as well as to hold real estate to an amount not exceeding $1000” On June 11, 1851 Stephen Phillips purchased Children’s Island (formerly Cat Island) from David Blaney for $1000. The next January he transferred the deed to the Salem Steamboat Company.
The new company immediately advertised trips to the renamed Lowell Island, with the first trip scheduled to leave from Phillips Wharf in Salem on August 15, 1851. The initial day proved to be a huge success, but “at the time of the purchase of the island the only building upon it was one used by fishermen as a fish-house. This was altered and enlarged to serve as a place of resort and entertainment for visitors. It was partitioned off so as to accommodate as many as possible in a given space.” Encouraged by such a strong turnout the owners raised money to build the Lowell Island Hotel. The hotel was built on the Northwest section of the island, opened on June 15, 1852, and "contain[ed] a number of public and private parlors, one hundred sleeping rooms, and a dining hall which will seat two hundred and fifty persons. It is well ventilated and will be neatly furnished. Bowling alleys, conveniences for sea bathing
Sea bathing
Sea bathing is swimming in the sea or in sea water and a sea bath is a protective enclosure for sea bathing. Unlike bathing in a swimming pool, which is generally done for pleasure or exercise purposes, sea bathing was once thought to have curative or therapeutic value. It arose from the medieval...
, fishing apparatus and bait, and boats for sailing and fishing have been or will be provided...no intoxicating liquor will be sold in the boat or at the Hotel." “It possessed a T-shaped floor plan and was 2 ½ stories high under pitched, dormered, intersecting roofs with a central cupola."
Initially the Merrimack, a steamboat, was used until the Argo was purchased for $25,000, and departure points in Beverly and Marblehead Harbors were added. The Hotel was popular and well visited but according to Alfred Gilman “the house did not pay the running expenses. What was gained by the house was swallowed up by the expense of running the steamboat”, and the corporation voted to sell the property. Subsequently, the property was mortgaged and transferred between members of the company until finally in July, 1857 “the establishment, including steamboat, was sold to Gorham L. Pollard,” who immediately sold off the steamboat. Mr. Pollard operated the Island House until August, 1869 when "Cat Island, recently called Lowell Island and sometimes called Pollard’s Island, with all boats, their tackle and furniture, all fishing lines and materials, bathing suits and other articles of personal property including a piano” were sold to Andrew L. Johnson for $10,000.
A Lowell newspaper in the Fall of 1869:
Mr. Johnson ran the hotel for the next three years but was not successful. In 1871 he sold the property, and over the next six years the property was bought and sold several times before being sold to Samuel B. Rindge for $4500 in January, 1878. Apparently, the Island House remained a resort under Mr. Rindge, as an advertisement for “Island House, Lowell Island, Salem Harbor. Open June 10, 1880” with departure and arrival times of the boat appears in an 1880 magazine Eventually Samuel’s son, Frederick H. Rindge of California, donated the property for use as Children's Island Sanitarium
Children's Island Sanitarium
Children's Island Sanitarium was a sanitarium on Children's Island from 1886 until 1946 where many chronically ill children spent the summer, where the outdoor, ocean air might make them better.-Children's Island Sanitarium:...
.