Newspapers have been a source of information for historians and have played an important role in the life of Americans since the “Publick Occurrences,” the first newspaper printed by Benjamin Harris in 1690.

Former Editor of the Washington Post, Philip Graham, once called newspapers the first rough draft of history. Local newspapers historically tell the stories important to the community and are often used as a source of information for further generations.

An example of that is an issue of the “The Bath Independent” September 10, 1903,  which gave a detailed report of the Hilton House fire in Wiscasset. The remains of that fire is the town’s Sunken Garden on the corner of Main and Federal Street.

The story of the Hilton House fire has been told for many years; however, the details of the fire reported in the old newspaper is certainly part of Wiscasset’s history.

According to the article,  on Thursday afternoon, September 8, 1903 about 3 p.m., Mrs. Dodge, who lived next door to the Hilton House – the only hotel in the village – saw smoke coming from the attic windows.

She immediately got the attention of the hotel’s proprietor, William Hubbard, who was busy placing the winter's wood in the basement.

According to the account of the fire, “Mr. Hubbard at once rushed up the stairs to investigate and when he opened the door which led to the attic stairway, he was met by a cloud of dense black smoke and bright flames which nearly knocked him off his feet.”

“Knowing that it was too much for one man to handle, Hubbard gave the alarm. It didn’t take long for the crowd to gather but by the time the populace had assembled, the upper floors of the hotel were one mass of flames.

“West of the hotel was a windmill and water tower which was used for supplying the house and stable with water, a hose was connected with it but the stream was too weak to be of much service.

“The town is the possessor of two hand engines bearing the names of Amazon and the Nile. Water for the machines was a scare article indeed and one was located on the long bridge leading to Edgecomb, while the other occupied a position on Main Street in front of Gibbs & Co’s news depot. By this arrangement of pumping with one machine from the river into the other, water was secured but as the tide was dropping it was necessary often to change the position of the machines.

“A breeze of considerable strength was blowing from the east and sending the flames up the street in a manner which threatened the destruction of other property. The air was full of smoke and sparks. Luckily for the town a giant elm tree stood in front of and a little west of the hotel and this tree with its branches laden with leaves served as a barrier and stopped the sparks in a great measure from securing lodgement on neighboring roofs.

“Finding that the hotel couldn’t be saved and other property was threatened it was decided to telephone Bath for aid and Mayor Hyde was soon reached and directed what whatever help could be given should at once sent to the distressed town. Arrangements were at once made for a special train which was made up and waiting when steamer NO 3 with the hose wagon of Long Beach, 2 arrived and they were soon loaded on a flat car while a box car was shacked on behind for the firemen. Of course the train couldn’t start until one from Portland and Boston got along, but a very few minutes elapsed after that train pulled into the station before the special started out.

“It was eight minutes after four when the train left Bath, at 4:33 it was in Woolwich; at 4:20 it was leaving Woolwich under a good head of steam and at 4:43 was at Wiscasset, it was a fast ride.

“When the Bath firemen arrived the hotel was in ruins, the roof having fallen in, and all that was standing was the shell of the first floor, while the tall chimneys towered high in the air like monuments.

“The large summer house made of lattice work, which was situated near the northwest corner of the house was pulled into the street. The Bath steam machine was up and it took but a few minutes work to stretch the long snake like hose and send a stream of water on the blazing building.

“The home of Charles E. Knight, the grocer, which was next to the hotel, was several times in great danger but the water was thrown on from the hose connected with a force pump in his house and no great damage resulted. The house of Fred Dana, on the opposite side,.   caught on fire several times but the bucket brigade kept it wet down and no damage was done.”

The article went on to say the Bath firefighters were treated to baked beans and sandwiches at the brick house across the street from the fire, before returning back to Bath by train.

At the time of this fire, Wiscasset lost its only hotel, and historic building.  According The Bath Independent, “For 125 years a hotel has stood on that corner and been conducted by Mr. Hubbard or his ancestors. The first hotel innkeeper there was Hilton Hubbard, a grandfather of the present Mr. Hubbard.”

The hotel was well known and did a prosperous business especially during the summer, according to the article. There were 20 guests’ rooms in house all were well furnished. Hubbard considered the lost of the hotel at $10,000, however, the property was insured for not over $5,000. It is not known for sure what caused the fire, however, according to the report, printed in 1903; it is believed to have started in the attic from the chimney. It was reported that Hubbard had been in attic shortly before the fire was noticed, and there was no signs of a fire.

The Whittier Tavern, the first house built on this piece of land, was built in 1766. It was destroyed by fire on Sunday, July 16, 1843. The Hilton house was built in 1845 and destroyed by fire in 1903. At the time of the fire in 1903, Hubbard told the “The Bath Independent “he would properly rebuild.  

Hubbard never did rebuild; a few years later, Frances Sortwell, whose family owned the Nickels-Sortwell House across the street, purchased the property and asked her friend Rose Greely, a respected landscape designer and the first female graduate of Harvard’s landscape architecture program, to help her design a garden in the old foundation. It then became the Sunken Garden. Sortwell later gave the garden over to the town of Wiscasset.

Charlotte Boynton can be reached at 207-844-4632 or cboynton@wiscassetnewspaper.com.