Camden Yacht Club
The lime industry was one that went for about 200 years, mostly in Thomaston and Rockland; but, there were some businesses in Camden. There were 10 lime kilns, in which they burned the rock to make the lime, on the west side of Camden Harbor. I don’t write that they were on Bay View Street, because I am not sure Bay View was built at that time. The last two kilns, owned by the Rockland-Rockport Lime Company, were on the prime property of one and a half acres that Cyrus H. K. Curtis purchased in 1911.
Five years before that, Dr. George B. Phelps and Chauncey Borland leased some land and a cottage for a wharf and clubhouse. In 1912, Cyrus H. K. Curtis had built the shingle style yacht club and he hired one of Maine best architects, John Calvin Stevens, to design it. It is the only public building in Camden that he designed.
Mr. Curtis owned one of the largest yachts, Lyndonia, that graced Camden harbor and wanted a clubhouse and another building for the captain and crew of about 38 men to spend their time at when the yacht was docked.
Headlines in the Camden Herald, dated Aug. 26, 1926 read:
“Cyrus H. K. Curtis Makes Princely Gift to the Town of Camden.” It continues to read: “Entire Plant of the Camden Yacht Club, Which Cost in the Neighborhood of $100,000.00, To Be Used as a Community House for the People of Camden.”
In 1922, Mr. Curtis replaced the wooden dock with one of granite. The selectmen of Camden accepted the wonderful gift. A deed was drawn up and recorded in Book 209, page 579 with a detailed description. It was furnished with India rugs and mission chairs and table.
The Select Board still hold one meeting a year, usually in August, in the Camden Yacht Club.
In the 1930s, the Camden Yacht Club regattas were held with speedboat racing. Many years ago, the St. Thomas Episcopal Church held its fair there. Also, the Camden High School Alumni Banquet was held there many years ago.
It is one of Camden’s most beautiful spots.
Barbara F. Dyer has lived in Camden all her life, so far.
More Barbara Dyer
The humble beginnings of the Lobster Festival
Demise of the Camden steamboat wharf
Curtis Island Lighthouse — the sentinel of Camden Harbor
Camden Harbor: As old as the last glacier
