Theodore Roosevelt utilized rail transportation throughout his
life. Here he addresses a crowd on August 18, 1914,
in Gray, ME. TR is aboard the high-speed, luxury coach,
in Gray, ME. TR is aboard the high-speed, luxury coach,
Portland Lewiston Interurban No. 14, Narcissus. The Narcissus
is undergoing restoration at the Seashore Trolley Museum's
Donald G. Curry's Town House Shop, in Kennebunkport,
Maine. Photo courtesy of the Gray Historical Society
Update 11-3-2022
I first started researching Theodore Roosevelt in 2010. As a volunteer at Seashore Trolley Museum in Kennebunkport, Maine, overseeing the Narcissus project (Roosevelt was a passenger on the Narcissus on August 18, 1914), I felt the need to learn more about Roosevelt's visit to Maine. That initial research piqued my curious nature to want to learn more about Theodore Roosevelt.
Twelve years later, that seed of curiosity has taken root and blossomed, into the development of what is the: Theodore Roosevelt Maine Heritage Trail: Connecting Maine Communities. Insight throughout the State of Maine is what this trail provides by tracing and describing Theodore Roosevelt's connections with each of these communities.
Each community is identified with a star with a number or
a moose with a letter. The key to the logo landmarks is below.
Each moose represents a community that has an indirect
connection with Roosevelt, meaning he may not have paid the
community a visit, but there is a meaningful connection to
Roosevelt in that community. The stars indicate a community
that Roosevelt visited and probably engaged with the people
and or the local geography. As research continues, other
communities will be added to the logo.
Logo: "Designs by Reece" - Reece Saunders
Over the ensuing weeks, each of these
communities/landmarks with its Roosevelt
connections will have a separate page describing
details of TR's connections. Each will also
have a link(s) to local resources/venues.
Key by "Designs by Reece" - Reece Saunders
Today, we describe Moose B shown on the list (key) above - Kennebunkport 1914
On August 18, 1914, Theodore Roosevelt traveled by train from Boston to the Auburn train station. He arrived in Auburn a little after 2 p.m. He was campaigning for the Progressive Party candidates. He would travel by automobile to the City Hall in Lewiston where he made a speech, followed by a brief speech at the Empire Theatre. TR then was transported to the Portland-Lewiston Interurban station on Middle Street in Lewiston, where he would then board the Narcissus. TR would travel in luxury on the Narcissus to Monument Square in Portland, with stops along the way in Lower New Gloucester, Gray, and West Falmouth. Upon arriving in Monument Square in Portland, TR would be transported to the Falmouth Hotel for dinner prior to attending a reception at Portland City Hall prior to traveling to Union Station in Portland to take the train back to Boston later that night. Below are some newspaper clippings describing some of these activities.
Tuesday morning, August 18, 1914, Lewiston Daily Sun,
prepping readers for what's to follow that day of TR's visit.
"Roosevelt Here This Afternoon" clip - Ibid
"Roosevelt Here This Afternoon" clip cont. - Ibid
"Roosevelt Here This Afternoon" clip cont. - Ibid
The schedule for the day - Ibid
Lewiston Daily Sun, August 19, 1914 -
The last sentence in the opening paragraph
mentions TR boarding the
special car, Narcissus, on the day before.
As you can see, sometimes the scanning of
vintage newspapers leaves portions of the
text difficult to decipher. Ibid
Roosevelt, as a passenger on the Narcissus, departed
the PLI station on Middle Street in Lewiston at 4:20 p.m.
The total distance by rail to Monument Square in Portland
is 35 miles. There were scheduled and unscheduled
stops along the route to Portland. And once in Portland,
disembarked the Narcissus and traveled to the Falmouth
Hotel, where he arrived at 5:10 p.m. 50 minutes total
travel time to get to the hotel. The Narcissus had
four-90-hp motors and could reach speeds up to
78 mph, though during normally scheduled trips,
60 mph was the norm during the longer distances
between stops. Ibid
What's not reported in this clip above, is what transpires while TR is onboard the Narcissus while awaiting its departure to Portland from the PLI station on Middle Street in Lewiston. See the next clip below :)
Lewiston Evening Journal, page 5, "Of Local Interest."
After reading this clip, look at the photo below
with TR on the Narcissus speaking to the crowd
in Gray less than an hour later. Where do you think that
8.5-pound lake trout was kept in the Narcissus? :)
The caption for this photo in O. R. Cummings 1967
publication, Maine's Fast Electric Railroad, states in part;
Ex-President Theodore Roosevelt, shown in the train door of
the Narcissus, addresses a gathering at Gray on August 18,
1914. At the left of Roosevelt and peering out of the coach
window in the conductor, Joseph N. "Joe Happy" L'Heureux.
Photo courtesy of the Gray Historical Society
On page 37 of his 1967 publication, Cummings mentions TR and the Narcissus when in Portland:
Upon (the) arrival of the car in Portland, the ex-President voiced his pleasure over the "bully" ride he had enjoyed and gave the motorman, Charles H. Mitchell, and the conductor, Joseph N. L'Heureux, better known as "Joe Happy," each a tip of $10, a not inconsiderable sum in those days.
Lewiston Daily Sun, August 19, 1914. After the
reception at Portland City Hall, TR travels to
Union Station and departs Portland for Boston.
The New York Times also had a short story published about Roosevelt's visit that day. Of course, the "special trolley" mentioned in the piece is the Narcissus. The portion of the piece about the girl tossing the bouquet into the rear of the car generated an interest in me to consider this interaction with Roosevelt to self-publish a national award-winning book, Teddy Roosevelt, Millie, and the Elegant Ride, by multi-award-winning Maine author, Jean Flahive. The "Elegant Ride" is the Narcissus :) As the copyright owner, publisher, and distributor of the book, the proceeds to me are contributed to the Narcissus Project.
Published: August 19, 1914
Copyright © The New York Times
ROOSEVELT GREETED BY CROWDS IN MAINE
PORTLAND, Me., Aug. 18, -
Waves the Farmhouse Bouquet.
Col. Roosevelt left Boston at 8:55 o’clock this morning and got to Lewiston at 2:30 o’clock. As soon as the train entered this State crowds began to appear at all of the little way stations and at several of the stops the Colonel went to the rear platform to shout a few remarks. Lewiston was alive with interest and on the streets and at the meeting, the Colonel was hailed repeatedly as “Our President in 1916.” The enthusiasm seemed to “get to” Col. Roosevelt and make a new man of him.
There was a big overflow meeting at Lewiston, but Col. Roosevelt only had time to say a few words to the crowd before he took a special trolley car for Portland. He was expected all along the route and was given many cheers. As the car slowed up for a curve near a farmhouse a pretty girl ran out and tossed a bouquet of flowers into the rear of the car. The Colonel jumped from his seat and ran to the platform. The last picture that the little family in front of the farmhouse saw was Col. Roosevelt, his face wreathed in smiles, waving the bouquet above his head. Halpert P. Gardner, the Progressive nominee for Governor, exclaimed to THE NEW YORK TIMES correspondent;
“They will talk about that at milking time for months to come. If the Colonel could make a tour of the State like this the Progressive Party would sweep both old organizations out of power.”
The Narcissus is listed in the National Register of Historic Places and is being restored at Seashore Trolley Museum in Kennebunkport, Maine. Below is some historical background of the majestic coach.
O. R. Cummings 1967 publication
on the Portland-Lewiston Interurban history.
PWM Collection and photo
The Narcissus was built in 1912 in Laconia, New Hampshire, at the Laconia Car Company Works, for the Portland, Gray & Lewiston Railroad (PG&L), based in Lewiston, Maine. This high-speed, luxury, wooden interurban with its exquisite mahogany interior, resplendent in copious ornamental brass components, including forty ornate leaded stained glass windows, its center ceiling panels embellished with gold leaf fleur-de-lis, with alternating red and green interlocking rubber tile on the floor and it was all appointed by the intrepid builder of the PG&L, W. Scott Libbey.
Libbey also personally named each of the original six coaches after his favorite flowers. A seventh coach was purchased in 1920, which was named, Maine, in honor of Maine's Centennial. The 46-foot coaches had green plush Mohair upholstered, reversible seats, and a smoking compartment with two, six-foot-long, leather-covered bench seats, making the seating capacity 52 passengers. With its four-90 hp Westinghouse motors, speeds in excess of 70 mph were reached from time to time.
Artwork by Maine artist, Amy J. Gagnon
The most famous passenger to ride in the Narcissus was Theodore Roosevelt. The former President was a passenger on the Narcissus on August 18, 1914, while campaigning for the Progressive Party candidates, during a trip from Lewiston to Portland.
The Narcissus operated between Lewiston, Maine, and Portland, Maine on a thirty-mile, private right-of-way, interurban line that was built to steam railroad specifications. Construction of the line was seasonal from 1910 until finished in 1914. Operations commenced early in July 1914 and carried on until the line ceased operations late in June 1933. Just a few weeks prior to the opening of the line in 1914, the principal owner of the line, W. Scott Libbey, died. Within a couple of months, the management changed and so did the name of the line. It became the Portland-Lewiston Interurban Railroad; best known as the Portland-Lewiston Interurban or simply the PLI.
After nineteen years of operating on the PLI, the Narcissus, along with the other equipment, was put up for sale, either as a fully operational electric railway vehicle or as a wooden body-only. Over the years, ultimately, the body of No. 14, Narcissus was the only surviving piece of the rail equipment.
The body was initially sold in the mid-1930s for use in Sabattus, Maine, as a diner near Sabattus Pond. It is unclear what happened, but the diner idea was abandoned.
The Narcissus as the Sabattus Lake Diner in Sabattus, Maine,
circa 1940. Photo by John Coughlin in the Kevin Farrell
Collection at Seashore Trolley Museum.
Later in the 30s, the body was resold to Mr. J. Henri Vallee. Mr. Vallee had the Narcissus moved a short distance to his property at Sabattus Pond, where he made the Narcissus his family summer camp. During the 1960s, members of the Seashore Trolley Museum in Kennebunkport, Maine, approached Mr. Vallee with the idea of the Museum acquiring the body of the Narcissus. The Museum wanted to restore the Narcissus to operating conditions for two purposes; first, in order to preserve the sole-surviving piece of Maine's electric interurban railway history; and to have the Museum visitors experience the splendor of its beauty when riding as passengers in the exquisitely appointed, majestic coach.
A deal was struck with Mr. Vallee. The Museum, led by Museum member, Mr. William M. Dox, Jr., would arrange for a replacement home to be built for the Vallee family, and in exchange, the Narcissus would become the property of the Museum. The Narcissus arrived at Seashore Trolley Museum on October 31, 1969.
The body of 1912 Portland-Lewiston Interurban,No. 14,
Narcissus, arriving at the campus of Seashore Trolley Museum
in Kennebunkport, Maine, on October 31, 1969.
Photo by John Coughlin in the Kevin Farrell Collection
Following years of financial support from generous Museum members, interested individuals, and organizations, and thousands of hours of work by skilled Museum volunteers and staff, a generous major gift from the 20th Century Electric Railway Foundation was pledged in 2018. This major gift became the financial catalyst to propel the restoration of this National Register of Historic Places electric railway icon, Narcissus, forward. The project is still in need of significant financial support, but when the restoration is complete, the Narcissus will be the elegant operating representative of the finest and fastest electric railroad, not only in Maine but throughout all of New England.
For more info and photos, continue scrolling down the pages.
A portion of my collection of TR-related books :)
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
We continue the restoration work on the 1912, Narcissus, the only surviving high-speed, luxury interurban coach of the Portland-Lewiston Interurban.
Click Here: Narcissus Restoration-Related Posts
Being more than a century old, the stately, "Elegant Ride," Narcissus, is a gem. This shimmering precious stone of Maine transportation history is brilliantly resplendent as it emanates so many elements of history, including; time, places, people, and events, that it was coupled to, that when just a smattering of its seemingly innumerable stories are shared, the contents captivates, fascinates, then generates, interest to learn more 🙋. The majestic Narcissus is listed in the National Register of Historic Places.
Please consider joining the epic journey to complete the Narcissus Project by making a donation today!
Click Here: Donation Options
The restoration of this majestic icon of Maine's electric railway history is but one in a series of captivating stories containing an abundance of incredible coalition of narratives.
Click Here: History-Related Posts - Narcissus and Portland-Lewiston Interurban
The Narcissus is featured in the national Gold Award-winning novel, Teddy Roosevelt, Millie, and the Elegant Ride. The "Elegant Ride" is the Narcissus. Theodore Roosevelt was a passenger on the Narcissus on August 18, 1914, between Lewiston and Portland, Maine, while campaigning for the Progressive Party candidates.
Click Here: Bookstores and Businesses promoting the Narcissus Project
Independent book publisher, Phil Morse, holding
the Gold Book Award Winner plaque for
the Middle Reader category for The Eric
Hoffer Book Award. Congratulations to
award-winning Maine author,
Jean M. Flahive
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