City/Town

Bridgton (1888)

Map Title

1888. Bridgton, Maine. U.S.A.

Artist

Preview

Publication Date

1888

County

Cumberland

Artist

Unknown

Lithographer

Burleigh Litho.

Publisher

Fred C. Gibbs, Bridgton, Me.

Dimensions

55.9 x 73.7 cm

Owner

Maine Historic Preservation Commission

Additional Institutional Copies

Norman B. Leventhal Map & Education Center at the Boston Public Library
Library of Congress

Population of City/Town at Time of Publication

2,863

Description of City/Town

The principal streams are Steven’s Brook, the outlet of Crotched Pond and Willett’s and Martin Brooks. The first furnishes the power at Bridgton Village, where are situated the Cumberland, Pondicherry and Forest woolen-mills, two grist-mills, two saw-mills, a shovel-handle and sash and blind factory, a foundry machine-shop, hammer and cabinet-shops….The village is busy, thrifty and intelligent. The houses are neat, and generally have spacious grounds which are often ornamented with trees, shrubbery and flowers.

A Gazetteer of the State of Maine, George J. Varney, 1881, 1886

Historic Newspaper References

Bridgton News, December 2, 1887

L. R. Burleigh of Troy, New York, who was in town this week, proposes to publish a large lithograph of this village, showing a bird’s eye view of every street and building, provided he obtain sufficient financial inducement.

Bridgton News, December 9, 1887

A Valuable Local Souvenir – Brief mention was made last week of the fact that Mr. L. R. Burleigh was proposing to publish a fine lithographic view of Bridgton Centre Village. Yesterday Mr. B. submitted to us his pencil sketch – a marvelous production it seems to us – which includes the entire village, from the Forest Mills on the east to the extreme western portion of the village, showing every dwelling-house and building of every description, — every street, lane or drive-way, the numerous little stretches of water, etc. The railroad, with an approaching train, appears on the left-hand end of the sketch, and in the back-ground is seen Pleasant Mountain, and beyond “Old Kearsarge.” The size of the picture inside is about 14 – 24 inches. It is a wonderfully faithful representation of the village and its surroundings as they now are, and the enterprise cannot fail to awaken a lively interest among present and past residents of “dear old Bridgton.” Mr. Burleigh proposes to re-produce his fine sketch in the form of a steel-grey lithograph, provided he can place a sufficient number of orders for copies – at $2.50 each – to warrant the expense of the undertaking. He is now taking orders for copies, and will endeavor to give all residents of the village an opportunity to examine the drawing, which is certainly a most credible work, and will well repay a careful examination.

Now we assume that every family interested in Bridgton, whether at home or abroad, will desire to possess this fine pictorial illustration of one of the loveliest villages on the Creator’s domain; and as the edition must necessarily be limited, and that former residents who are regular patrons of The News may not be omitted in the canvass, we have consented to receive subscriptions by mail, and will forward pictures thus subscribed for, upon completion, to any address. No money should be forwarded, however, until notice is received of the success of the enterprise.

Bridgton News, April 13, 1888

The splendid lithographic view of Bridgton, sketched last fall by Mr. L. R. Burleigh of the Burleigh Lithographic Co., Troy, N.Y., has been printed, and subscribers’ copies have just been received by their special agent, Fred C. Gibbs of this village. He also has extra copies which will be furnished to all who wish, by mail or otherwise, at the regular subscription price $2.50 each. The engraving is all that could be expected in the way of truthful representation and artistic finish. It is 24 x 17 inches, and embraces every building, street, stream, &c., from the Forest Mills and Dillingno Place on the east to the “Minister Page” house and the line of the Burnham Neighborhood on the west, with fine views of Mt. Pleasant, Kearsarge, &c., and an admirable representation of the topography of the entire territory embraced within the village limits. Of the hundreds of buildings shown,—every one is in the village—even the smallest may be easily identified, and every street and avenue clearly traced. The special views of the railroad depot and grounds with a train of cars just arriving, and the handsome block of stores at Pondicherry Corner are valuable additions to the picture. Every Bridgtonian—especially the absent ones—will desire a copy.

Bridgton News, April 13, 1888

Among the prominent objects of interest shown and referred to in the fine lithograph of this village is Mr. C. B. Kneeland’s mineral spring.

Bridgton News, April 20, 1888

Our ex-townsman, John H. Murdock of Welchville dropped in upon his old friends in this place the first of the week. Mr. M. is still in the grocery business at Welchville. Like all who have gone from here, he is much attached to Bridgton; so when he went home he took with him a copy of the new lithograph of the place.

Bridgton News, April 27, 1888

That Boston is the “hub of the universe” and Lewis Smith’s new store the “hub” of Bridgton Centre village, seems now established beyond peradventure. If one were to drive a tack in the back attic third-story window of Smith’s Building on the new lithographic picture of the village just published, it would be found to be exactly in the centre, and around this all other interests and industries will of course harmoniously revolve. This measurement strikingly confirms a random remark thrown out last December by Col. Perley, “That store is the hub.”

Bridgton News, October 5, 1888

Some of our good citizens were very neatly “taken in” by a young scapegrace calling himself H. W. Hayes, last week. Hayes contracted to have the business cards of about twenty-five Bridgton merchants and traders, printed on the margin of the large lithograph of the village, and put up in the post offices and depots, along the line of the R.R. Friday night the cards were all printed, and fixing up a sample picture, he collected the most of his money. Saturday morning he walked down to Sandy Creek and took the train there, since which time he has not been seen. He left one picture in the Post Office, the extent of his advertising. The young swindler leaves about $40 in unpaid bills. It is apparent that our community rather enjoy being swindled by tramps, as they are quite eager to “catch on” to any dodge of this nature.

Usage Rights

As a publicly supported institution, the Maine Historic Preservation Commission generally does not own rights to material in its collections. Therefore, it does not charge permission fees for the use of such material and cannot give or deny permission to publish or otherwise distribute material in its collections. The copyright and related rights status of the items in this collection have not been evaluated. While many of these images may be in the public domain, it is up to you to determine and satisfy copyright or other use restrictions when publishing or otherwise distributing materials found in this collection. You are free to use an item in any way that is permitted by the copyright and related rights legislation that applies to your use.

Recommended Citation

Courtesy of the Maine Historic Preservation Commission.