Maine was an early leader in the temperance movement that led to prohibition in the United States. We had prohibition laws enacted here as early as 1846.

The “Maine Law” of 1851, and other variations of prohibition laws passed after that, prohibited the sale of alcohol. Of course, everyone wasn’t a fan of the temperance movement. Certainly not John Bradley or the McGlinchy brothers with their Forest City Brewery that was in operation in South Portland (then Cape Elizabeth) from the late-1850s to 1880, but since the law did not prohibit the actual manufacture of alcohol, they were allowed to continue brewing.

There were many people in this community at that time, however, who were very disapproving of the consumption of alcohol. A popular organization that was dedicated to the temperance movement was called the Independent Order of Good Templars (I.O.G.T.).

Across the United States, interested people would establish Good Templar lodges where they would gather to listen to speakers talk about the evils of alcohol, and members would work toward encouraging abstinence from alcohol consumption within their local community.

While researching a Ferry Village grocer, Walter J. Royer, we came upon a store that he operated in partnership with David W. Kincaid. On the 1871 F.W. Beers atlas, we see that the store was located in the Temperance Hall on Preble Street. While that building no longer exists, we approximated the site of the lot and were able, through deed research, to confirm the exact location.

The Temperance Hall stood on the lot that is just adjacent to 180 Preble St. today (when looking at the house at 180 Preble, the old Temperance Hall would have been just to the left, near and across from the intersection of Grand Street).

More specifically, the hall was the home of the Seaside Lodge No. 25 of the I.O.G.T., also sometimes called the Good Templars Seaside Lodge.

The history of the Seaside Lodge can be traced back to a community meeting that was held in Ferry Village in November 1863. In an announcement of the meeting, people who were the “friends of Temperance” were invited to assemble in Ferry Village. Less than a year later, on Oct. 19, 1864, the Seaside Lodge of Good Templars was officially founded at a meeting of 32 interested people in Thompson Hall, a meeting room over Charles A. Tilton’s store by the Cape Elizabeth ferry wharf.

Within a year, the membership had grown so much that they were quickly outgrowing the space in Thompson Hall. Discussion began about the need for their own space and the group started raising money amongst its members and by holding entertainment fundraisers. By 1866, they had raised over $1,500 and a building committee began the search for a location.

Captain Silas Mariner held a large amount of land in the area of Preble Street and was able to sell the lodge the lot that they needed. Mariner was a sea captain who lived in a large home on Preble Street. The home no longer stands, but to get an idea, imagine walking on the Greenbelt Walkway heading toward the eastern waterfront. After you pass by the Betsy Ross House on the right, you’ll start walking up a hill. Near the top of that rise is where the Capt. Mariner home used to sit at 116 Preble St. (before World War II, Preble Street used to be one continuous street, coming down the hill from Willard and going down to the waterfront where it met up with Front Street).

It appears that Capt. Mariner was quite the temperance man himself; in the November 1866 deed of sale for the land at 180 Preble St., from Silas Mariner to the Good Templars, the following wording was included: “It is hereby agreed, by and between the parties hereto, that the building now being erected, or any other building that may ever be erected on said land, shall never be used for dancing or any other improper purposes.”

At its peak, the Seaside Lodge boasted of having 400 members. Through most of its existence, the Seaside Lodge was considered the largest and wealthiest lodge of Good Templars in the state of Maine.

Even by 1881, with roughly 200 members, it was still considered the largest lodge. Seaside was very active, with regular meetings and events. They would often have suppers and performances of plays in the hall, their own Seaside Glee Club would provide vocal entertainment, and local bands, like the Union Brass Band, would perform. If the lodge members held true to the deed restriction, although singing and instrumental music were clearly evident, one imagines that there would have been no dancing allowed.

Although we haven’t yet found a photograph or clear description of the building itself, we get some good clues from the relationship that the Seaside Lodge had with local grocer Walter J. Royer.

Walter Royer was born in England in 1833 and immigrated to the United States in 1847. During the Civil War, he mustered in on Sept. 29, 1862, with the 25th Maine Volunteer Infantry Regiment, right here at Camp Abraham Lincoln in our Ligonia neighborhood. He served in Company I and was honorably discharged on July 20, 1863.

In 1866, when the Seaside Lodge was purchasing the land and beginning the construction of its Temperance Hall, Walter Royer provided a loan of $500 to help with building construction costs. This financing, and the subsequent store that was clearly operating from within the building, leads us to believe that the building would have been very similar in nature to the Whitehall building in our Pleasantdale neighborhood, with a grocery on the first floor and the second floor consisting of the large meeting space. This was a common building layout of that time.

We are still researching the exact opening date of Royer’s store, but one would think it would have opened as early as 1867, when the building was completed at that site. By 1871, Royer had partnered with David W. Kincaid in the grocery, so the store in the building was called “Kincaid and Royer” for many years.

This was your typical early mercantile, selling a wide variety of goods – groceries, flour, grain, dry goods, crockery, glassware, hardware, boots, shoes and other items. Although that partnership was dissolved on April 21, 1876, Royer continued operating his store there until roughly 1884.

After 1884, Royer disappears from local records for a time and a subsequent article about him in the Cape Elizabeth Sentinel indicates that he had operated a grocery in Massachusetts, so that would explain his absence in our records here. He was back in South Portland in 1897, however, when he bought out the Smith Bros. grocery on lower Preble Street (near Front Street) in October of that year.

The location of this later store was alternatively recorded as 44, 47 or 49 Preble St. Since there was no mail delivery then (you’d pick up your mail at the post office), house numbers were used loosely. He was shown at that location through roughly 1901, then the store address changed to 111 Preble St. from roughly 1902 until the time of his death in 1907.

Interestingly, and not terribly surprising given what a small town this was, Walter Royer had married Silas Mariner’s daughter, Emeline, back in 1880. After Walter’s death in 1907, Emeline went to live with her sister in the old Mariner homestead until her death in 1909.

Note: The South Portland Historical Society is actively researching and documenting local history. If you enjoy reading about South Portland history, please consider renewing your membership, or becoming a new member of the South Portland Historical Society.

A one-year family membership is only $25 and supports our mission of preserving local history. Donations can be made through our Online Museum website at https://sphistory.pastperfectonline.com, or if you’d prefer to donate by check, please make it payable to South Portland Historical Society and mail to us at 55 Bug Light Park, South Portland, ME 04106. Thank you.

If you need to contact the society, we can be reached by email at sphistory04106@gmail.com or by phone at 207-767-7299.

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

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