The Criterion Theatre is a cinema, performance theatre, and venue located on Cottage Street in Bar Harbor, Maine. It opened in June 1932 featuring vaudeville performances and movies during a time when Bar Harbor's summer scene was at its height. Today it is one of only two Art Deco theaters in the state of Maine and is listed on the National Register of Historic Places. The 760 seat theatre was built for a convicted bootlegger named George McKay. After his release from federal prison, McKay solicited bids for constructions of a glamorous movie palace. The high bid of $95,206 was beat by Bunker & Savage Architects of Augusta, Maine who built the theatre in just six months for a contract price of $58,000. That's about $900,000 in today's dollars, a surprisingly low figure for such a magnificent structure. A $2 million dollar contribution from an anonymous donor in 2014 made possible the purchase and restoration of the Criterion which now operates as a 501(c)(3) nonprofit organization committed to safeguarding this historic space for stories, storytellers, and audiences. Today, almost everything in the building is original or as close as possible to it, including the light fixtures, curtains, seats, and stencils on the ceiling.
Description: The Criterion Theatre is a cinema, performance theatre, and venue located on Cottage Street in Bar Harbor, Maine. It opened in June 1932 featuring vaudeville performances and movies during a time when Bar Harbor's summer scene was at its height. Today it is one of only two Art Deco theaters in the state of Maine and is listed on the National Register of Historic Places. The 760 seat theatre was built for a convicted bootlegger named George McKay. After his release from federal prison, McKay solicited bids for constructions of a glamorous movie palace. The high bid of $95,206 was beat by Bunker & Savage Architects of Augusta, Maine who built the theatre in just six months for a contract price of $58,000. That's about $900,000 in today's dollars, a surprisingly low figure for such a magnificent structure. A $2 million dollar contribution from an anonymous donor in 2014 made possible the purchase and restoration of the Criterion which now operates as a 501(c)(3) nonprofit organization committed to safeguarding this historic space for stories, storytellers, and audiences. Today, almost everything in the building is original or as close as possible to it, including the light fixtures, curtains, seats, and stencils on the ceiling. [show more]
"This picture is of a prototype for a production model design by Henry Hinckley to be known as the Hinckley Sport Cruiser 30 built in 1940. Production was postponed because of the war, but it is interesting to note her lines compared to the Picnic Boat. This could have been a very popular boat had it ever gone into production." -- The Hinckley Story (p.89).
Description: "This picture is of a prototype for a production model design by Henry Hinckley to be known as the Hinckley Sport Cruiser 30 built in 1940. Production was postponed because of the war, but it is interesting to note her lines compared to the Picnic Boat. This could have been a very popular boat had it ever gone into production." -- The Hinckley Story (p.89).
"A. Bird Cough [Adoniram Bird Cough] has opened a most attractive store at 26 Cottage Street. The store is stocked with a fine line of groceries and the usual vegetable lines." - The Bar Harbor Record, June 16, 1909 - quoted in The Bar Harbor Times, June 18, 2009, p. 34. A. Bird Cough was Daniel and Elvira's son Adoniram Bird Cough (1872-1949) who opened his store in Bar Harbor in the 6th building from Main Street on the south side of Cottage Street, a site occupied by Cadillac Mt. Sports in 2013.
Description: "A. Bird Cough [Adoniram Bird Cough] has opened a most attractive store at 26 Cottage Street. The store is stocked with a fine line of groceries and the usual vegetable lines." - The Bar Harbor Record, June 16, 1909 - quoted in The Bar Harbor Times, June 18, 2009, p. 34. A. Bird Cough was Daniel and Elvira's son Adoniram Bird Cough (1872-1949) who opened his store in Bar Harbor in the 6th building from Main Street on the south side of Cottage Street, a site occupied by Cadillac Mt. Sports in 2013. [show more]
“Returning now to the village comer and going toward the wharf at Clark Point—the building owned and occupied by the Jackson Market was originally A. L. [Arthur A.] Gilley's barber shop ; a small building which forms but a fraction of the present structure. It has been owned by several who have made changes and additions and greatly increased its size.” - “Traditions and Records of Southwest Harbor and Somesville, Mount Desert Island, Maine” by Mrs. Seth S. Thornton, p. 156 - 1938 Arthur Alonzo Gilley inherited this barber shop property in 1922 from his mother, Julia I. (Moore) Gilley Marson. Arthur was practicing as a barber in Bath, Maine in 1920 and in 1930.
Description: “Returning now to the village comer and going toward the wharf at Clark Point—the building owned and occupied by the Jackson Market was originally A. L. [Arthur A.] Gilley's barber shop ; a small building which forms but a fraction of the present structure. It has been owned by several who have made changes and additions and greatly increased its size.” - “Traditions and Records of Southwest Harbor and Somesville, Mount Desert Island, Maine” by Mrs. Seth S. Thornton, p. 156 - 1938 Arthur Alonzo Gilley inherited this barber shop property in 1922 from his mother, Julia I. (Moore) Gilley Marson. Arthur was practicing as a barber in Bath, Maine in 1920 and in 1930. [show more]
Henry R. Abel moved his lobster pound from Tremont to Mt. Desert in 1938. Abel’s Lobster Pound still exists in 2017 where Henry built it in 1938 at the edge of Somes Sound on Route 198.
Description: Henry R. Abel moved his lobster pound from Tremont to Mt. Desert in 1938. Abel’s Lobster Pound still exists in 2017 where Henry built it in 1938 at the edge of Somes Sound on Route 198.
The gambrel roofed cottage just visible at the far right was the summer home of Paul Shields and his family. The cottage is at 41 Gunlow Road, Richtown, Maine - Map 3 - Lot 73 A.
Southwest Harbor Public Library Collection of Photographs
Description: The gambrel roofed cottage just visible at the far right was the summer home of Paul Shields and his family. The cottage is at 41 Gunlow Road, Richtown, Maine - Map 3 - Lot 73 A.