Item 66634 - View of Long Lake from the bridge, Naples, ca. 1935

Item 66634 - View of Long Lake from the bridge, Naples, ca. 1935
Contributed by Boston Public Library
Item 66634
View of Long Lake from the bridge, Naples, ca. 1935
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With an area of 4,867 acres, Long Lake is the second largest body of water in Southern Maine and connects to Brandy Pond by Naples. The lake has long been a popular spot for boating in Naples, including sailing and rides on the Songo River Queen paddleboat.

The swing bridge over Chute River in Naples joins Brandy Pond with Long Lake. There have been multiple bridges at this site. A movable steel through girder bridge was built over the river in 1954 by Lackawanna Steel Construction Corporation to take cars over the bridge. It was replaced with an arch style fixed span bridge in 2012. The passing of steamboats and the Songo River Queen paddleboats through the swing bridge was once a common sight.

The Bay of Naples Inn is visible in this image on the east shore of Long Lake. The Inn opened on July 26, 1899 and accommodated many tourists traveling along the Oxford and Cumberland Canal. As the period’s largest hotel in the Sebago Lakes Region, the Bay of Naples Inn had 4 floors, 72 rooms (later 102), and a staff of 85, led by manager Charles Costello, when it opened. The inn closed in 1951 and was demolished in 1964, but the notable cupola from the building’s architecture was saved.

Speedboat rides were a common pastime at the Causeway, and occasional races attracted many spectators. Don Paul’s Famous Speedboat Rides offered were a popular attraction on Long Lake in the 1930s and 1940s.

The caption reads, "Speed Boat on Long Lake at Naples, Maine."

The Tichnor Brothers printing company published this type of postcard circa 1930-1945.

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