CAMDEN — Since October, contractors have been going full tilt rehabilitating 57 Bay View Street, a 136-year old house that has been used commercially for the last decade or more, most recently as restaurants. They have replaced its failing fieldstone foundation, hung new clapboards, and ripped down deteriorating outbuildings. And in the process, just before laying a new concrete wall, they were startled to discover a World War I machine gun buried 16 inches in the mud near a corner of the building close to the road.

“Perhaps it is Grandpa’s war trophy he brought home from Europe, or who knows, it may have been used for rum-running,” said Matt Sutton, who along with his wife, Karen, purchased 57 Bay View Street last fall as the spot to establish their second Maine confectionery. They intend to open the doors of their Camden store by this coming Valentine’s Day.

The two operate the original Uncle Willy’s Candy Shoppe which Karen started in an old pharmacy in downtown Houlton in 2008. There, they make much of the candy, as well as stock their shelves with novelty and rare candy that many people have not seen in years. 

They decided Camden would be the ideal location for their second store, after spending many vacations in town.

“We love it, and see an unfilled niche here,” said Karen, on a cold December afternoon, as she and Matt made their weekly visit from Houlton to check on construction progress. “You can’t go wrong. Candy makes people happy.”

They purchased 57 Bay View, when it came on the market late last summer.

“It was a good price to be had,” she said.

The building, however, needed much work, and included a crumbling foundation that had been patched together over the years. Some sections of the floor were just floating.

“That’s when we switched gears and decided to re do it,” said Matt. 

Smiling, they declined to comment on just how much they were putting into the project, other than to say, “it’s a major investment.”

“We revived it,” said Brian Fitzpatrick, whose company, Fitzy LLC, is the general contractor. “You can easily get another 100 years out of it.”

Fitzy LLC has subcontracted with a number of other local companies, including ACE Construction, Tom Hedstrom Electric, Brookside Plumbing, and Jeff Bowman for the cabinetry work. Joe Russillo, of Maple Street Design, did the architectural work, and Sawyer Brothers poured the concrete for the new foundation.

Those are the guys who also stumbled across the Hotchkiss Model 1914, buried and encrusted with dirt, but very much an intact machine gun.

The Hotchkiss was a standard issue heavy French machine gun used in World War I, and to some extent, in World War II and during Colonial expansions. By 1918, there were 47,000 Hotchkiss machine guns in use by the French Army alone. When the U.S. troops arrived in France in 1917-1918, they were equipped with 7,000 Model 1914s.

How one of those guns arrived in Camden is a mystery; however, despite its age, it is a machine gun, and therefore falls under the National Firearms Act of 1934 and the Gun Control Act of 1968.

The 1934 NFA was passed in response to gangster crimes (e.g., John Dillinger), Prohibition violence and interstate bank robberies.

“This required that all machine guns, silencers, and destructive devices be registered with the federal government,” said federal Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco and Firearms Assistant Special Agent Dale Armstrong, who leads the agency’s Boston Field Division. “That federal registry is maintained by ATF.”

The contractors found the gun in November, a month after the Suttons acquired the place, and after they filled up dumpsters with old restaurant detritus and removed the rotten deck.

After the interior work is completed and the outside walls freshened, the store will resemble a beach cottage, said Karen, “in keeping with the seaside community and local appeal.”

Uncle Willy’s Candy Shoppe in Camden will be two floors of candy — chocolate, lollipop trees, caramel, cotton candy, jelly beans (60 flavors) — filling shelves and cabinets. In other words, said Matt, “the whole nine yards.”

They are enthusiastic about the store, and the integrity of the building’s future.

“If it’s worth doing, it is worth doing right,” said Sutton.

While no other weaponry or artifacts were discovered during the renovation, the Suttons are not ruling out that more history might emerge from the building’s walls and floors.

“These items are found from time to time in attics, barns, etc., and often during the handling of an estate for someone who served in World War I or World War II,” said ATF agent Armstrong. “They are considered war trophies. Following the passage of the NFA of 1934 there was a grace period for people to bring these items forward and register them. Today, there is a proper way for service members to bring such items back to the U.S.”

As for the 57 Bay View Street machine gun, it was transferred via Maine State Police to the Maine ATF field office after Matt, a former law officer himself, realized what was in his hands.

With this particular gun, the ATF will examine “the markings and determine if the firearm was ever properly registered,” said Armstrong. “If it was registered, then attempts will be made to find the rightful owner. The owner will be asked to provide information about the firearm’s origin and other pertinent details.  If the firearm was not registered, then it will likely be registered and transferred to law enforcement agencies or approved federal museums for display purposes.”

In the past, the ATF Portland Field Office has transferred items to the Maine Military Historical Society.

The real question is how the Hotchkiss made its way from France to Camden.

“Maybe we should do more digging,” said Karen.

Reach Editorial Director Lynda Clancy at lyndaclancy@penbaypilot.com; 207-706-6657