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Log inRock Rest guesthouse in Kittery an 'amazing holdover'
Rock Rest guesthouse in Kittery an 'amazing holdover'
by Outspoken on Sun May 25, 2008 8:15 am
Rock Rest guesthouse in Kittery an 'amazing holdover'
The early bed and breakfast catered to black vacationers prior to the Civil Rights Act.
By ANNE GLEASON
Staff Writer Portland Press Herald
KITTERY — Valerie Cunningham spent her teen years waiting tables at the Rock Rest summer guesthouse in Kittery Point decades ago. Today, she's working with others to preserve the guesthouse, which catered to black tourists in the years before they were regularly welcome at most roadside hotels in the state.
The effort to preserve Rock Rest progressed earlier this year when the home was listed on the National Register of Historic Places, giving it federal recognition as a site with statewide significance.
Rock Rest was one of the few guesthouses, or early bed and breakfasts, catering to black vacationers in the state prior to the Civil Rights Act of 1964, which prohibited discrimination in public lodging facilities. It is now one of two in southern Maine with the historic designation -- the other is in Old Orchard Beach.
Cunningham hopes the home will one day provide insight into life for blacks in the region and for black tourists in Maine during the mid-20th century. The Portsmouth Black Heritage Trail wants to open an informational center in the house's garage space, for visiting scholars, students and the public.
The Portsmouth Black Heritage Trail, based in Portsmouth, N.H., was founded in 1995 to preserve the history and culture of the black community in the Portsmouth region.
The group is waiting for the home's owner, Clayton Sinclair Jr. of Atlanta, to finish negotiations with a buyer who has expressed interest in working with The Portsmouth Black Heritage Trail.
When Rock Rest first went up for sale a few years ago, the organization worked with several entities, including the Maine Historic Preservation Commission, to get Rock Rest listed as a historic property. The structure's significance, said Christi Mitchell, historic preservationist with the state, is in its relevance to history.
"People of color could come stay and have kind of a resort-like experience," Mitchell said. "They were not necessarily welcome throughout other areas of the state. ... It's unfortunate that they had to provide this, but it's important to understand."
Blacks who traveled prior to the mid-1960s would often find places using a travel book, called the Negro Motorist Green Book, which listed accommodations, gas stations, restaurants and other facilities that welcomed them, Cunningham said.
"They would have to make arrangements ahead of time," she said. "You knew somebody, who knew somebody and that's how you heard about it. Otherwise, you just didn't travel, or you slept in your car."
Other guesthouses in York County operated in Old Orchard Beach and Ogunquit. York was also home to a black-owned hotel, The Jewel, which is no longer standing. The local black lodging facilities mainly drew tourists from the New York, New Jersey and Philadelphia areas, but also attracted visitors from throughout the nation.
The Homestead, the guesthouse in Old Orchard Beach, was listed on the National Register in 2004. When it was still active, it hosted celebrities including Duke Ellington, Ella Fitzgerald and W.E.B. Du Bois. A new owner purchased the home several years ago and has plans to eventually renovate the property.
The guesthouse in Ogunquit catered to many leading figures -- including Langston Hughes -- and the summer workers involved with the Ogunquit Playhouse. Today, it's The Hideaway Inn.
http://pressherald.mainetoday.com/story.php?id=189849&ac=PHnws
Jack Milton/Staff Photographer
Courtesy University of New Hampshire
The early bed and breakfast catered to black vacationers prior to the Civil Rights Act.
By ANNE GLEASON
Staff Writer Portland Press Herald
KITTERY — Valerie Cunningham spent her teen years waiting tables at the Rock Rest summer guesthouse in Kittery Point decades ago. Today, she's working with others to preserve the guesthouse, which catered to black tourists in the years before they were regularly welcome at most roadside hotels in the state.
The effort to preserve Rock Rest progressed earlier this year when the home was listed on the National Register of Historic Places, giving it federal recognition as a site with statewide significance.
Rock Rest was one of the few guesthouses, or early bed and breakfasts, catering to black vacationers in the state prior to the Civil Rights Act of 1964, which prohibited discrimination in public lodging facilities. It is now one of two in southern Maine with the historic designation -- the other is in Old Orchard Beach.
Cunningham hopes the home will one day provide insight into life for blacks in the region and for black tourists in Maine during the mid-20th century. The Portsmouth Black Heritage Trail wants to open an informational center in the house's garage space, for visiting scholars, students and the public.
The Portsmouth Black Heritage Trail, based in Portsmouth, N.H., was founded in 1995 to preserve the history and culture of the black community in the Portsmouth region.
The group is waiting for the home's owner, Clayton Sinclair Jr. of Atlanta, to finish negotiations with a buyer who has expressed interest in working with The Portsmouth Black Heritage Trail.
When Rock Rest first went up for sale a few years ago, the organization worked with several entities, including the Maine Historic Preservation Commission, to get Rock Rest listed as a historic property. The structure's significance, said Christi Mitchell, historic preservationist with the state, is in its relevance to history.
"People of color could come stay and have kind of a resort-like experience," Mitchell said. "They were not necessarily welcome throughout other areas of the state. ... It's unfortunate that they had to provide this, but it's important to understand."
Blacks who traveled prior to the mid-1960s would often find places using a travel book, called the Negro Motorist Green Book, which listed accommodations, gas stations, restaurants and other facilities that welcomed them, Cunningham said.
"They would have to make arrangements ahead of time," she said. "You knew somebody, who knew somebody and that's how you heard about it. Otherwise, you just didn't travel, or you slept in your car."
Other guesthouses in York County operated in Old Orchard Beach and Ogunquit. York was also home to a black-owned hotel, The Jewel, which is no longer standing. The local black lodging facilities mainly drew tourists from the New York, New Jersey and Philadelphia areas, but also attracted visitors from throughout the nation.
The Homestead, the guesthouse in Old Orchard Beach, was listed on the National Register in 2004. When it was still active, it hosted celebrities including Duke Ellington, Ella Fitzgerald and W.E.B. Du Bois. A new owner purchased the home several years ago and has plans to eventually renovate the property.
The guesthouse in Ogunquit catered to many leading figures -- including Langston Hughes -- and the summer workers involved with the Ogunquit Playhouse. Today, it's The Hideaway Inn.
http://pressherald.mainetoday.com/story.php?id=189849&ac=PHnws
Jack Milton/Staff Photographer
Courtesy University of New Hampshire
"Music is a moral law. It gives soul to the universe, wings to the mind, flight to the imagination, and charm and gaiety to life and to everything."
Plato (427-347 BC)
Plato (427-347 BC)
