In this circa-1889 photo, a sign post at the entrance to the summer colony names it “Loveitt’s Hill.” Contributed / South Portland Historical Society

The John M. Gould cottage. This is reportedly the first summer cottage built in Loveitt’s Field, built in the area that would later become Gould Road. Contributed / South Portland Historical Society

The early development of the Loveitt’s Field neighborhood of South Portland is an interesting story. We’ve written previously about some of the summer homes, boarding houses and hotels like the Cloyester (built in 1896) and the Hastings. The “Hastings Cottage” opened for guests in 1897 and was run by Julia Hastings, wife of a Portland organ manufacturer. Julia Hastings ran that hotel for 20 years; after she sold it, it was destroyed by fire in 1921.

In our research into the Chase House recently, we came across an interesting newspaper article from 1900 that described what was being called Loveitt’s Field. Prior to that, Enoch Loveitt’s field was sometimes referred to as Loveitt’s Hill; the area also went by the name of Loveitt’s Heights. According to the writer in 1900, the oldest resident of Loveitt’s Field at that time was John M. Gould: “The elder Loveitt [Enoch] was very strongly opposed to parting with his land though Mr. John M. Gould did succeed in buying from him a single acre, where, in 1878, he built a substantial house. For four years previous Mr. Gould had hired camping privileges, having a rough cook house, a circular tent for the living room and a series of shelters for sleeping. A near friend, Deacon Farrington, was given permission to build upon the Gould lot and, being a natural farmer, he reclaimed the barren shore, making it bud and blossom.”

Major John M. Gould, decorated Civil War veteran and early resident of Loveitt’s Field. Contributed / South Portland Historical Society

Maj. John Mead Gould was a very well-known man in Greater Portland back then. He was a Civil War veteran, having served in three different regiments throughout the war, all of which had taken part in active battles and many of Gould’s fellow soldiers had died or been wounded. Gould somehow managed to make it through unharmed and when he was finally discharged in 1866, he came home and spent his career in the banking industry. A piece of land in Enoch Loveitt’s Field was sold to Major Gould’s wife, Amelia, in 1877. They built their cottage on the land, which was in the vicinity of what is Gould Road today.

We often see development happen when someone lays out streets and subdivides lots for sale along them. That was not so for Loveitt’s Field. In those early days, in the late 1800s, many of the early homes were built on leased land in the field and there were no streets. It was simply large homes dotting the field by the sea. By around 1895, there were still only “11 buildings in the Field, counting the old Loveitt homestead and a small shop which had been hauled up and given a piazza and a coat of paint,” according to the newspaper. The streets were planned out later, accommodating the locations of the then-existing homes.

In this late 1890s image of Loveitt’s Field, the Hastings Cottage is at left in the field. Notice the lack of streets at that time. The Ottawa House on Cushing’s Island can be seen in the distance. Contributed / South Portland Historical Society, Woodbury Collection

The writer described the sight he encountered at Loveitt’s Field in the late 1890s: “When the queer little guide post set in the gravelly bank by a pair of bars, informed us of its location, as we sped by on our way to McCullum’s [the theater at Cape Cottage] we sniffed scornfully at the barren slope topped by red roofed cottages and wondered what attraction sweet fern, bayberry and rocks held for its residents. Leaving the car one morning to find an old school friend, summering in this vague region, the beauty and the mystery of Loveitt’s was revealed. It was at flood tide on a perfect August morning. A magnificent surf was assaulting the rock-ribbed fortress which has guarded the Cape so jealously all through the centuries. High over the tops of the twin rocks the foaming billows sent their spray trembling and swirling in the coves as they retreated to renew the onslaught where the great ninth wave had gathered itself in a mighty green mass.”

This would have been the scene when Julia Chase leased vacant land at Loveitt’s Hill from Sumner and Eliza Loveitt in May of 1899 (Enoch Loveitt had died in 1892 and his son, George Washington Loveitt, had died in 1898; Eliza was George’s widow and Sumner was their son). We’ll take a look next week at “The Chase” – the large summer residence of Perley and Julia Chase, which Julia also operated as a summer hotel, very similar to the Hastings.

South Portland Historical Society offers a free Online Museum with nearly 17,000 images available for viewing with a keyword search. You can find it at sphistory.pastperfectonline.com and, if you appreciate what we do, feel free to make a donation by using the donation button on the home page. If you have photographs or other information to share about South Portland’s past, we hope you will reach out to us. South Portland Historical Society can be reached at 207-767-7299, by email at sphistory04106@gmail.com, or by mail at 55 Bug Light Park, South Portland, ME 04106.

Kathryn Onos DiPhilippo is executive director of the South Portland Historical Society.