The Curtis

Standing prominently on Temple Avenue in the heart of Ocean Park, The Curtis has been welcoming visitors since 1882. While many people assume it is simply another historic guest house, its story is much richer. For nearly a century and a half, The Curtis has served as the home of the Educational Bureau of Ocean Park, an organization that helped transform Ocean Park from a religious camp meeting into a thriving Chautauqua community dedicated to lifelong learning.

The building was originally constructed in 1882 as the Lowell House, one of the earliest lodging houses built after the founding of Ocean Park. In November 1887, it was purchased by the Women’s Bureau of Ocean Park, an organization founded two years earlier to promote the “physical, mental, and spiritual culture of women and children.” The purchase gave the Bureau a permanent home for its meetings while also providing modest, affordable accommodations for visitors who wished to spend the summer in Ocean Park. Soon afterward, the organization became known as the Educational Bureau of Ocean Park, reflecting its expanding mission.

The building owes its present name to Rev. Silas Curtis, a Free Will Baptist minister from Pittsfield, New Hampshire. Reverend Curtis made a generous contribution toward the purchase of the property in memory of his wife, Patience. In recognition of his gift, the Lowell House was renamed the Curtis Home, a name that eventually evolved into the simpler title, The Curtis.

From its earliest years, The Curtis became much more than a place to spend the night. Its broad front porch developed into one of Ocean Park’s favorite gathering places, where residents and visitors met to exchange stories, discuss the day’s lectures, and enjoy the cool sea breezes. Inside, young people attended educational classes, community organizations held meetings, and lifelong friendships were formed. The building quickly became one of the social and intellectual centers of Ocean Park.

One of the most significant chapters in its history began in 1902, when the Educational Bureau established Ocean Park’s first seasonal circulating library in a room inside The Curtis. Until the Memorial Library was constructed in 1924, visitors borrowed books supplied by the State of Maine, making The Curtis not only a guest house but also the community’s first center for public reading and scholarship. This perfectly reflected the ideals of the Chautauqua movement, where education was considered a lifelong pursuit rather than something confined to the classroom.

The Educational Bureau continued to expand its influence throughout the twentieth century. It acquired neighboring properties, established educational programs for children and adults, sponsored arts, crafts, nature study, recreation, and community events, and eventually built the Agnes L. Park Recreation Building. Throughout these changes, The Curtis remained the Bureau’s headquarters and the physical symbol of its mission.

Although the building has been updated over the years, including the reconstruction of its front porch in 1917, it continues to fulfill the same purpose envisioned by its nineteenth-century caretakers. Today, The Curtis still operates as a seasonal guest house under the stewardship of the Educational Bureau while hosting Bureau meetings, educational activities, and community events. Visitors who stay here become part of a tradition that stretches back more than 140 years.