Higgins Beach is a small
beach located in the State of Maine
in the
United
States
. It is located in the town of Scarborough
in Cumberland County
. The beach is North of Prouts
Neck
and Old Orchard beach
, and South of Crescent Beach State
Park.
This
northeast-southwest trending beach measures approximately .62 miles
(1 km) and is approximately 7 miles (11 km) South of Portland
and 110 miles (177 km) North of Boston
. It
lies between bedrocks at the southwest, sometimes known as Thunder
Cove, and the Spurwink river on the northeastern end. This small
seaside community has about 300
cottages. In
addition, the community has two inns (The Breakers and The Higgins
Beach Inn), which are open during the summer season.
Higgins Beach is most known for four things: good
surf for surfers,
striper fishing, the
beach's quaintness, and the
shipwreck
embedded in the beach's sands.
This is a public beach, but with very little public parking, its
use is mostly restricted to local residents.
Higgins Beach has
managed to retain its small-town characteristics, something that
larger beaches in the area such as Old
Orchard have lost in return for commercialization and tourism. This beach, by contrast, survives on
the small number of visitors who have returned year after year for
decades. Some of its current residents began coming to Higgins
Beach in this way.
History
General History
Higgins Farm in 1910
One of Scarborough’s first sub-divisions in 1897, a boom in
construction took place at Higgins Beach between 1900 and 1910.
Most of
the early cottages were built by businessmen or professionals, many
from Portland, Westbrook
, and the Lewiston
-Auburn
area.
Families came for the season and the men would commute to the beach
on weekends via the inter-urban
trolley
lines.
Through much of the life of Higgins Beach, its main purpose was as
a summer destination for people who lived elsewhere. This
translated into most dwellings being summer cottages with no
insulation for winter. A good number of those properties were
rented out each summer for vacationers looking to enjoy the beach
during its best months.
A different trend began to occur at Higgins Beach throughout the
1990s and 2000s where out-of-staters and retirees began to buy up
Higgins Beach property and either renovate or completely rebuild
houses to accommodate permanent year-around living. This has
altered Higgins Beach into somewhat more of a residential
community, though rental properties still exist. Local surfers
often rent available properties in the winter months.
Bear's General Store
Located half way between Spurwink Road and the beach on Ocean
Avenue, it served various confections, drinks, and snack foods. It
also had a kitchen that served fast-food lunches such as burgers,
hot dogs, and lobster rolls. It closed in the early 2000s and was
re-opened and renamed 'The Higgins Beach General Store' only to
close for good a couple of years later.
Capt. Albin Angell: The Higgins Beach Lobsterman
Higgins Beach has been called home by many interesting people, but
the memory of Al Angell has lived on, even now, some forty years
after his death. He has been called a symbol for Higgins Beach and
has become somewhat of a folk hero.
Albus R.
Angell was born July 13, 1870 on Angell
Avenue in South
Portland
. The street was named for his father who was
one of the first to settle there.
(It is off Shore Road near the Cape
Elizabeth
line.) Al was educated in local schools and as a
young man held a variety of jobs. For a short time he
was the assistant lighthouse
keeper at Spring
Point Light
in South Portland. He worked for the
Cumberland County Power and Light Company and he helped build the
concrete foundations for gun placements at Fort Williams, and
Fort
Preble
. He even worked as a motorman for the local
trolley line. It should be noted that he was a charter member of
the Willard Hose Co. in South Portland. (This was an era when local
fire departments were being
established.)
In 1912 at the age of 42 he answered the call of the sea and
followed in the footsteps of his father and brother deciding to
make a living as a
fisherman. He bought a
small cottage on Vesper Street, which he named "Havachat". His trap
line extended from the mouth of the Spurwink River to Richmond
Island. In his prime he tended 100 traps that extended some . He
rowed his dory and pulled his traps by hand without the aid of a
mechanical winch or motor of any kind. He had a ready market for
his catch from the summer visitors to this community. He lived at
the beach year round, fishing from April to December. He spent the
rest of the year building and repairing traps.
Al had a boat house on the marsh near Kent Street and for many
years this was the only structure in that area. It has been
remodeled into a cottage and is surrounded by other cottages giving
no notice of its former duty. The creek in that area is commonly
known as Angell's Creek.
He was photographed by Eastern Illustrating, and the photos
produced as post cards. These photos are the most common of him and
show up quite regularly at flea markets and antique paper
shows.
Shortly before his death he was featured in an article by the
Portland Newspapers. In that article he stated that the largest
lobster he had ever caught weighed 19 pounds and he had sold it for
$3.
Al Angell had lived at Higgins Beach for forty years, he was laid
to rest in Mount Pleasant Cemetery, South Portland.
Higgins Beach Bird Sanctuary
Located at the far end of the beach next to the Spurwink river,
this fenced-off area of the beach exists to protect a
piping plover nesting area (an endangered
species of bird).
Higgins Beach Clubhouse
The main meeting place for the community. It serves various
functions such as for community meals, poker night's, doughnut
breakfasts, and entertainment functions.
Higgins Beach Grill
The first store at the beach was called the Higgins Beach Grill.
Located on the corner of Greenwood and Ocean Avenue, it included a
bowling alley,
barber shop, store, and restaurant. It burned in
1902.
Higgins Beach Inn
After the death of Hiram Higgins in 1892 his three children
capitalized on their inheritance by selling or developing the
property now known as Higgins Beach. Brothers Walter and Edward
Higgins both built new homes on Ocean Avenue. Edward's was an eight
room house on the corner of Greenwood that would become the Higgins
Beach Inn.
These brothers had learned from an early age that there was an
opportunity to make money from people who liked to come to the
beach and they were pleased to have the business. Their development
plans had been slow due to the lack of a good water supply, In time
the water problems were resolved and more and more people came to
the growing
summer colony.
Early in this century there was only one hotel at the beach, the
Lawson House on Pearl Street (known today as the Oceanside
Apartments), but years ago it was a rooming house and had a dining
room open to the public. When the Lawson House was full it was
common practice for people with cottages to rent rooms, and Ed
Higgins found a steady source of income from accommodating people
in his home. As time passed Ed saw the potential for a second hotel
at the beach. In the winter of 1922/23 he built The Higgins Inn.
The hotel structure was actually an addition to his home, which was
initially built in 1903. The design of the hotel was an extension
of the architectural style of the house. The hotel had 30 guest
rooms and the dining room seated eighty people. The rooms were
furnished with wool blankets that had "Higgins Inn" woven into the
fabric. A few of these blankets survive as treasured mementos. Ed
acted as
innkeeper and his wife Ora did
the cooking.
Ed and Ora continued to operate the hotel through the war years
finally selling to Maurice Warner in 1945. Retirement did not suit
Ed and Ora for they went on the establish the Conora Restaurant, on
Ocean Avenue. Maurice Warner operated the hotel for ten years,
through the summer season of 1954. The only significant aspect of
his tenure was that when he sold the property he retained the
building next door which was used as helps quarters.
For the period 1955 to 1964, the owners were Kenneth and Dorothy
Laughton. In 1957 Kenneth and Dorothy purchased The Breakers on
Bayview Avenue as an annex. They operated both properties serving
all the meals at the Inn. On an average night they served dinner to
100 people. After the season of 1964 they sold the Inn to
concentrate all their efforts at The Breakers. John Derry purchased
the hotel and operated it for three seasons. It was during his
tenure that
liquor was first served. John M.
"Jack" Harrison purchased the Inn in 1968 and with his wife Carlene
operated the business for twenty eight seasons, longer than any of
their predecessors. They changed the name from Higgins Inn to
Higgins Beach Inn, and had a sprinkler system installed. In 1997
the Harrisons sold to Bob Westburg and Diane Garofalo. The first
year of their ownership seemed like a rebirth at the Inn. Bob and
Diane have invested time, money and their talent to restore the
property.
Higgins Beach Market
Located at the intersection of Spurwink Rd and Ocean Avenue, this
small market primarily serves fresh fruits & vegetables to
residents of Higgins Beach.
Higgins Homestead
In the eighteenth-century, a large farmhouse stood at the end of
Pearl Street extension.
Howard W. Middleton Shipwreck
The Howard W. Middleton wrecked at Higgins Beach on August 11,
1897. A coastal
schooner, the Middleton was
behind schedule and was sailing at night. In dense fog, the vessel,
bound for Portland with a load of
coal, strayed
off course and struck a ledge in the mouth of the Spurwink River.
The fog
was so thick that the crew didn’t realize there was a community at
Higgins Beach and went ashore at Cape Elizabeth
. The Next day the fog lifted and it was
discovered that the ledge had ripped a hole in the vessel below the
waterline.
Tug boats came from Portland and tried in
vain to pull the Middleton off. A dew days later, filled with
water, the keel broke with the action of the tides, and the vessel
was declared a total loss. The Middleton was stripped for salvage,
and most of the coal was saved. It has been said that the
legitimate salvage crew worked by day and a clandestine group
worked by night. The group of locals put up enough coal to last
three winters. In September of that year, a storm drove the
Middleton further inland. The remains are still visible on the
beach near the bank of the Spurwink River.
As told by Emma Bray David (December, 1967):
"The old wreck down by the river has been a part of the scenery
here at Higgins Beach so long that most folks just take it for
granted. But there are some of us who can remember when it
wasn't there and when it came. Way back in 1897, August
11, that was a bad, bad night-foggy! It was so thick it
looked as if the space between earth and sky was stuffed with
gray-white cotton.
"A bunch of "us kids" rode over to Bowery Beach on our bicycles
to a square dance that evening.
It was clear when we started; but when the dance was over and
we set out for home, it was so foggy we were afraid of running into
each other on the river coming down Meeting House Hill and across
Spurwink. However, we made it without a mishap.
About two o'clock my mother was awakened by loud curdling
noises out towards the water, but she could see nothing.
When morning came and the fog cleared, we saw a three-masted
schooner stationed well inshore near the first point in the
river. It was a beautiful ship-majestic-setting there as
if at anchor. She didn't look at all like a wreck with a
big hole in her hull.
"It was the Howard W. Middleton, strongly built of white oak and yellow pine in 1882 at Camden, New
Jersey
-a really noble ship. It had left
Philadelphia
on August 2 with 894 tons of coal for Peter
Nickerson and Company in Portland. Captain Shaw was
trying to make Richmond Island Harbor inside the breakwater to lay
over till morning. Instead, he ran onto that rock near the
mouth of the Spurwink. On our geodetic map that rock is charted simply as
"obstruction" and it is only about deep there. If you
stand at the foot of Champion Street at a very low tide, you may
see the top of the rock beneath a breaker. You can always
see a breaker there a couple of hours before and after dead low
water.
"Well, there was lots of excitement! The crew came
ashore and talked with the residents. Tugs from Portland
Harbor plied the water for days taking off coal. She had
soft coal in her lower hold and hard coal between decks.
On August 12th, she was declared a total loss and was placed in
the hands of the underwriters.
People began to pick up coal on the beach by the buckets and
barrels. Mrs. Kenney remembers that her father drove over
from Westbrook with a cart and got two tons of coal for
winter.
"People were eager for souvenirs, of course, and many of us
remember when some big boys stole the ship's
bell. But the Captain or the Sheriff made them return
it to the Captain.
"There she stayed on the rocks, pretty as a picture (although
she was really broken in two), all the rest of August and was there
when we left in September. Sometime that following winter
a storm broke her up and washed her ashore where she now lies.
There is a piece of it in the river, too, which can be seen at
low tide. There are always changes around the old
wreck. Years ago there was quite a big swimming pool
around the ocean end of it with water as deep as eight feet near
the boat. A twelve year old boy was drowned there one
summer.
"Some years the ribs of the hull stand up head high above the
beach and perhaps the next year they will be buried in the
sand. For years we picked up beautiful iridescent pieces
of coal showing red, green, and blue; and even now you may find a
lone piece from the old Howard W. Middleton. A
few people have a picture of this boat on paper weight. These pictures were taken
from the beach and showed this proud, three-masted vessel in her
last days of beauty.
"P.S. In talking with several people, I found that my
memory did not agree with theirs. I had the date wrong and
I couldn 't think of the name, but I did remember the number of
tons of coal. However all the facts herein have been
verified by the old newspaper records of August 11 and 12,
1897."
Len Libby's Candy Store
Located minutes from Higgins Beach on Spurwink Road, it served
homemade candies to residents for years until its closure in the
1990s. Len Libby was born at Prouts Neck. He was the son of the
proprietor of the West Point Hotel. His family moved to Portland
when he was twelve. At thirteen, Len began his candy making career.
He learned the trade by working for several different firms, but
had to quit for health reasons. Around this time, he bought a one
hundred, thirty-five acre farm at Spurwink and set out the be a
market gardener. Shortly after, he re-entered the candy-making
trade, building his candy shop across from his residence.
Oceanside Hotel
Built in 1897, the Oceanside was the first hotel at Higgins Beach.
Located on Pearl Street, it was originally called the Lawson House,
after the proprietor. It stands today as an apartment house.
Silver Sands Hotel
The Silver Sands was built as a summer cottage by Dr. Loring S.
Lombard, c. 1907. Originally much smaller, it evolved into a summer
hotel, renting rooms and serving meals. Eventually it was converted
to efficiency units. There were six individual cottages also on the
property.
The
Blizzard
of 1978 along with another
Nor'easter
less than a month earlier ultimately forced the demolition of this
Higgins Beach landmark. Located at the bottom of Ashton Street,
this hotel was located right on the water's edge with very little
defense against
storm surge. The water
destroyed the
sea wall protecting the hotel
and washed out the bottom floor of the hotel. After 70 years in
business, it had to be ripped down. A vacant lot now sits where the
Silver Sands Hotel once stood.
The Breakers Inn
The Breakers was built on Bayview Avenue in 1900 by Portland
businessman Frank P. Cummings as a summer home in the first decade
of the 1900s. In the early 1930’s, it became a guest house and has
accommodated summer visitors at Higgins Beach ever since. The
porches were enclosed in the 1940’s, and major additions were made
in 1964 and 1985. The Breakers Inn has been operated by the
Laughton family since 1956. There are 16 guest rooms, each with a
private bath.
The Conora Restaurant
The Conora Restaurant on Ocean Avenue was built by Ed Higgins as a
retirement business after he sold Higgins Inn. The name was derived
from a combination of the first names of his daughter Constance,
and his wife Ora. His son-in-law, Lawrence Harmon, eventually ran
the business. The Conora was well known for its fried clams.
The Pavilion
The replacement for the Grill was called the Pavilion. It was built
the following year in the same location, and served as
general store,
soda
fountain, and bowling alley. It was torn down in 1960. It was
located at the corner of Ocean Ave. and Greenwood.
References
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