This week, we continue the story of the Anthoine Street property that has long been the site of a nursing home, now Pinnacle Health and Rehab. Last week, we talked about Barnum’s Bathing Rooms that started on the site of the mineral springs there. Isaac Barnum had operated a business that offered the chance to bathe in and/or drink the “medicinal waters.”

The last advertisements we were able to find for that business were in the early 1870s. In 1878, Daniel P. Anthoine purchased the land and the next reference that we find to it isn’t until the split of Cape Elizabeth in 1895.

The 1895 annual report of South Portland gives a good description of the founding of the city’s almshouse, known later as the City Home: “When the old town of Cape Elizabeth was divided the poor farm became the property of the new town of Cape Elizabeth, so it became necessary for the Selectmen of South Portland to procure a suitable place for the inmates of the town. We have leased the two and one-half story house of Daniel P. Anthoine for the term of three years with five acres of land, at a rental of $175 per year. We have furnished it with new furniture, stoves, cooking utensils, bedding, etc. We have secured the services of Stephen W. Place and wife as keeper and matron at a salary of $250 per year. In our frequent visits we found the house to be in a neat and orderly condition showing that Mrs. Place is fully qualified to perform the duties of matron satisfactorily, the management of the inmates at times requiring the exercise of judgment and patience.”

While this home was initially leased from Daniel Anthoine, by 1898 there was already talk of the need for renovation and enlargement of the home to meet the needs of the residents. The city of South Portland purchased the property from Anthoine in May of 1903 and proceeded to make improvements.

It was fairly common in the 1800s and early 1900s for a town or municipality to operate a poor farm, or almshouse, of some kind. Before Social Security was established, there was not much of a safety net for people as they aged and/or otherwise lost the ability to work.

If an elderly, sick or disabled person had no other means to support themselves, the town or city would step in to provide assistance. In South Portland in the late 1800s and early 1900s, there were individuals who were appointed as “Overseers of the Poor,” and the “Poor Department” supervised and provided this assistance. If a resident was having trouble affording food, they could stay in their home and receive food assistance from the city as part of what it called its “Out Poor.”

They could also receive free medical services from the city physician. However, if the situation for someone was so dire that they could no longer afford housing, the town/city would have them live in the almshouse or poor farm. The almshouse on Anthoine Street had a herd of dairy cows that supplied milk for the City Home, as well as for the Out Poor. They also had chickens that supplied all of the eggs for the home. Those living there were expected to work if they were able.

The almshouse, which would become more commonly known as the City Home, was managed by a live-in caretaking couple in its early years. The husband was referred to as the “keeper” and the wife as the “matron.” Duties included the operation and maintenance of the home and farm, and care of its residents.

The caretakers at the home on Anthoine Street included: Mr. and Mrs. Stephen W. Place (1895 to 1897), Mr. and Mrs. Almon F. Jordan (1897 to 1899), Gideon B. and Mary Jordan (1899 to 1907), Ernest L. and Margaret Durost (1907 to 1920, and Ernest returned again from 1941 to 1943), Clarence G. and Susie LaMontagne (1920 to 1928), Cecil V. and Cecil G. Pullen (1929 to 1937), Harry A. Schendel (1937 to 1939), Leon L. Childs (1940), and Samuel C. Hinds (1943 to 1946).

When reading about early welfare assistance in the city reports, the terms used are a bit shocking by today’s standards. The term “inmates” at that time did not mean that people were living in jail cells. The City Home did have a 4-foot by 6-foot wooden detention cell in the basement, but it appears that it was used infrequently and/or as overflow for the city jail. This cell could have been used for those with violent tendencies, possibly related to mental illness. In the case of violent behavior, if the keeper and matron at the City Home were not able to handle the situation, the person would be sent to the Maine Insane Asylum (the early name for the Augusta Mental Health Institute) and the town/city would pay the expenses for the care of that patient in Augusta.

The city physician, Dr. Loring Lombard, gave a description of the City Home around 1925: “There have been several changes at the home and all for the better. The house has been enlarged and it gives the long felt want (more room). The house is well arranged, giving everybody a single room, steam heat, electric lights and a good comfortable bed with enough clothing, so each inmate is as comfortably situated as any private citizen in South Portland. There is a bathroom complete on each floor with hot and cold water. We have one of the best, if not the best barns in the state, which will accommodate about 24 head of cattle, modern in every respect, sanitary in every way possible … I saw the milk tested for cleanliness by the milk inspector … I consider the milk from this farm far superior for children than can be procured from any other dairy.”

In the 1934 city report, we find that there were several changes at the City Home. The herd of cows was sold and the city began purchasing milk instead. A cow barn on the property was converted for use as a commissary storeroom, a lounge for the male residents of the home, and office space. Also that year, a five-car garage was erected on the property to house the motor vehicles belonging to the Poor Department.

After Social Security began in 1935, the number of people living in the City Home began to decrease. In 1946, the city council had a study done, looking into the costs of running the City Home. Only six people had lived in the home in 1945, with one more person admitted in December. It was decided that it would be more cost efficient to lease the home to an outside party to operate it as a convalescent hospital/nursing home. In August 1946, the building was leased and became the Depper Rest Home through 1949. In 1950, the operator changed and it became the Anne Marie Nursing Home. It changed again and became known as the Bayview Nursing Home from 1952 to 1969.

Throughout this time period, the city of South Portland still owned and maintained the building. It was also during the 1950s that the city began to change its terminology for welfare-related reporting. Samuel C. Hinds, who had held the title of Superintendent of the Poor Department, had a change in his title in 1958 to the Superintendent of the Welfare Department.

In late 1968, with the home badly in need of renovation and safety upgrades, the city council decided to sell the building. It was sold in May 1969 to Albert B. Pohlman and Donald M. Johnson with the condition that a new addition needed to be constructed within three years. The home was renamed as the South Portland Nursing Home and plans for modernization began. In September of 1970, the nursing home applied for a building permit to construct a new one-story building that would be attached to the back of the three-story original home. The new addition that opened in 1972 had a modern kitchen, a lobby/dining room, and rooms for 29 patients.

In April of 1977, the nursing home applied for two additional permits – a building permit for the construction of three wings on the nursing home and a demolition permit for the old building. Construction began in 1977 on two of the wings that were attached to the one-story building. Once completed, patients were moved into the new wings and, in March 1978, the old building was torn down.

On the site of the old building, the nursing home constructed the third wing that added onto the one-story building.

After over 50 years of operating as the South Portland Nursing Home, the property was sold in 2020. The building is now home to Pinnacle Health and Rehab. We would like to thank Pinnacle for sharing photographs with the South Portland Historical Society that show the original City Home and the construction of the wings of the nursing home.

If you have information, photographs or artifacts to share related to South Portland’s past, we encourage you to reach out to us. You can contact the South Portland Historical Society by mail at 55 Bug Light Park, South Portland, ME 04106, by phone at 207-767-7299, by email at sphistory04106@gmail.com, or through our Facebook page. The society maintains an online museum with over 10,000 historic images available for viewing, which can be found at https://sphistory.pastperfectonline.com.

Kathryn Onos DiPhilippo is executive director of the South Portland Historical Society. She can be reached at sphistory04106@gmail.com.

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