You Won’t Recognize Old Orchard Beach from 1900
As we get ready for Memorial Day Weekend in Maine and the start of the Summer season, we thought it would be cool to look back at OOB. Waaaaayyy back to around 1900. If you know the town, you might be able to tell it's our beloved Old Orchard Beach, but it sure looks different. And we're guessing not one thong bathing suit in the bunch!
Old Orchard Beach has been promoted as a tourist destination since 1631, when its first settler established a "Garden By the Sea." Most of the gigantic hotels you see in the video were destroyed by fire in 1907. They were magnificent.
You can see the Pier here. According to Wikipedia, it was a “global cultural icon,” at 1,825 feet the longest steel pier in the world, created by Berlin Iron Bridge Co. at a cost of $38,000. At its end was the Pier Casino, a ballroom with room for 5,000 dancers. Did you know such famous acts as Frank Sinatra, Louis Armstrong and Benny Goodman played there? True! 5,000 people.