Stories from South
Point, Part Two
By Mary Morgan
 |
| 28 Ocean Ave. in 2019 (MM photo) |
When
Beth Baskin purchased 28 Ocean Avenue several years ago, the seller threw in a
bonus: a small brown book about the history of the house. That book reveals
hints of what Biddeford Pool’s South Point area would have looked like if it
had been built the way the original developers imagined it.
The
division of South Point into lots got its start in 1874 when Saco surveyor Dominicus
Jordan purchased 45 acres of farmland there. He took on several business
partners, hired a surveyor and designed a plan to attract people who wanted to own
small, rustic summer cottages on the coast. When the South Point Cottage Lots Plan
was published in 1882, it included 340 lots in the area between today’s 1st Street,
Ocean Avenue, Great Pond, the big beach and 7th Street.
Jordan
died the same year the plan was launched. Thomas H. Cole, one of his business
partners, predeceased him. William Hill, the other original partner, held a
half interest in the property until his death in 1897. Meanwhile, sisters Clara
(Berry) Hyde and Sarah Emma (Berry) Littlefield acquired a half interest in the
property from their aunt, who was Cole’s widow. Hill and the sisters -- and
eventually their descendants -- oversaw the sales of the South Point lots.
In
1897, 28 Ocean Avenue was sold to Laura Foss as empty lot number 45, Ocean
Avenue. The sellers were William Hill, Sarah E. (Berry)
Littlefield and Clara (Berry) Hyde. When Laura Foss sold the lot to Mary Wilder
Pease and her husband Edward E. Pease in 1910, the deed mentioned buildings.
According
to the 1910 U.S. Census, Edward Pease was a 41-year-old accountant. He and Mary
and their two-year-old daughter were from Worcester, Massachusetts.
The
book about the house, titled “Pease Cottage Ocean Avenue, Biddeford Pool,
Maine, Pictures & Diagrams by Edw. E. Pease,” includes a 1910 floor plan of
the cottage, showing the locations of the fireplace, stairs, doors and windows,
closets and the piazza, or front porch. There are photos of the house and neighboring
cottages dated September 1910, August 1911 and September 1912. One of the 1912
pictures shows striped awnings pulled down around the piazza. Several photos show
the cottage as seen from the beach. There is also a list of the furnishings in
each room.
The
floor plan shows the front of the house facing east, toward the ocean. The
ground floor consists of two parts: a front room with a window, and a back area
that includes two rooms. On the left is the dining room, with a staircase to
the second floor. The other room is the kitchen, which has a back door, a fireplace,
range, pump, sink draining to a cesspool, corn popper, and wash boiler. The
house is hooked up to city water.
The
plan of the second floor shows a front room with a window facing the ocean and
two rooms in the back area. The bedroom contains a commode and outfit, bed and
linen, rugs and two rockers, one of which is for a child.
There
is a 20’ x 16’ barn in the back yard, with the toilet in a closet in the barn.
Several
small houses like this one can still be found on South Point, and some of them
no doubt date back to the early 1900s, but many people purchased more than one
lot and built bigger houses. Edward Pease’s diagrams and photos record a time
when Biddeford Pool was a simpler place.
References
“South Point Cottage Lots” Plan 1882
1910 Picture of the original house on Lot 45 Ocean Avenue
Pease Cottage Book with drawings by Edward. E. Pease in
1910
Deed Book 521 Page 254 27 Apr 1897 Laura Foss purchased
Lot 45 from Wm Hill, Sarah E. (& Gilman) Littlefield and Clara Berry Hyde.
Buildings were not mentioned.
Deed Book 592 P515 22 Sept 1910 Mary Wilder from
Worcester, MA purchased lot 45, buildings (house & barn) and furnishings
from Laura Foss
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