4. The Sippican Hotel
At the turn of the past century, the intersection of Water and South streets formed the
social epicenter of summer life in Marion Village. There stood the elegant Sippican
Hotel, and across the street, its Casino. Well-known up and down the Northeastern
seaboard, the Sippican catered to an elite clientele—including politicos, literati, and
visiting business magnates sizing up Marion as their permanent summer residence—
serving them with an array of the most modern amenities. Patrons of the hotel over the
years included the writer Henry James; actors John Drew, Maude Adams, and Ethel
Barrymore; Bishop Philip Brooks; President and Mrs. Cleveland; illustrator Charles Dana
Gibson; Senator Jonathan Bourne; poet and magazine editor Richard Watson Gilder;
novelist and poet Margaret DeLand; and journalist and playwright Richard Harding
Davis.
Gaslights and then electricity came first to the Sippican Hotel, as well as Marion's
earliest telephone service. The Casino was their base for boating, canoeing, and
waterside activities of all sorts—as well as tennis, ice cream, and dancing in the
evenings. Guests could, of course, get a shave and haircut, as well as an excellent cigar,
in the Casino barbershop. The hotel and casino exemplified Gilded Age leisure living at
its zenith. On a more modest scale, today the Beverly Yacht Club keeps up the tradition
of recreation and social activity at the same intersection.
5. What eventually evolved into the luxurious Sippican Hotel began as a
modest two-story farmhouse, built by Timothy Hiller in 1794. In 1864,
Joseph Snow Luce converted it for use as a hotel, known as the Bay View
House (shown here), and added the third floor. Designed by Mattapoisett
architect Samuel K. Eaton, the addition is in the Second-Empire style.
6. An early ad for the Sippican
Hotel, featuring its famous
mantel, original to the 1794
building. The wall above the
mantel was ornamented with
scallop and other varieties of
shells, with a huge black horse
shoe crab in the center. Winkle
shells were built into the
fireplace with the bricks and
with glass disks.
7. Engraving of the Bay View House, on the corner of South Street and Harbor Lane (now
known as Water Street). In 1882, the Sippican Hotel was added to the Harbor Lane
side and the Sippican Hotel Casino for dances and tennis was added across the street
on the harbor.
8. This view of the Hotel Sippican, at the foot of South Street facing Water Street (its
name was changed from Harbor Lane in 1894), dates from about 1910. It clearly
shows the hotel's original building and two distinct additions. By the mid-1880s—the
height of Marion's popularity as a summer resort town—the hotel was being operated
by Charles W. Ripley. Mr. Ripley expanded the hotel by adding the three-story center
section seen here. In 1907, a four-story Colonial Revival wing was added, creating a T-
shaped floor plan.
9. This notice featured revised
Massachusetts laws concerning
innkeepers’ obligations, and was
required to be posted “in a
conspicuous place in each room”.
10. These view shows the corner of South Street and Harbor Lane, where the hotel was
located.
11. This view shows the piazza of the central section, facing onto Sippican Harbor. Summer
visitors to Marion arrived on five daily trains (plus the private, members-only "dude"
train).
12. A view of Water Street looking north toward the Casino, on the right side of the street.
The Sippican Hotel is hidden by trees on the left. The Casino, built by C.W. Ripley, was
the social hub for hotel-sponsored events and private gatherings. In 1910, about the
time of this photo, a windmill is visible at center.
13. Note this postcard’s misspelling of the hotel’s name as Scippican. The hotel could
accommodate I50-200 guests along with their service staffs, dogs, horses, and
carriages. Some even shipped pianos to the hotel for the season. Horses and livery
were boarded at Hiller's Stable on Front Street. The rooms in the earlier wings had
double beds and many boasted fireplaces, but no private baths. The four-story addition
was arranged in suites consisting of parlor, bedroom, and private bath. All rooms on the
upper floors throughout had a standard feature: a stout rope knotted to a bolt in the
floor, to be used as a means of emergency exit in the case of fire.
14. This trifold advertising postcard dates
from 1909. Produced by C.W. Ripley,
it announces the summer opening on
May 29th, the season-long calendar
of activities, and touts Hiller's
Sippican Garage as the place for
competent auto repair. A tipped-on
menu advertises the hotel's chicken
dinner special—ready in under 30
minutes. Nine years later, in 1918,
Harry T. Miller used a very similar
advertising trifold card to promote
his recent acquisition. The photos in
the two trifold cards are different,
but the verbiage is virtually identical
in both.
15. This seaward view of the Sippican Casino was taken from one of the upper floors of
the hotel. Built as part of the 1885 expansion, the Casino quickly became the social
center for Marion's entire summer colony. Summer residents paid a season-long
subscription fee to use the Casino; hotel guests gained free access. Day trippers could
take the trolley to the stop at Spring and Main streets, walk the short distance to the
hotel for dinner, then cross the street to the Casino for dancing. The Casino ballroom
hosted regularly scheduled dances throughout the summer season on Wednesday
evenings for teenagers and Saturday nights for adults. Interesting, too, is what appear
to be stacks of wood on Sherman's Wharf at left. Both Marion and Rochester were
shippers of box boards and cordwood to the islands off Cape Cod.
16. A scene of water sports on the harbor, this one sponsored by the Sippican Hotel in the
mid-1910s. In the annual tub races, youngsters each boarded a half barrel and used
their arms to propel their crafts through the designated course. The winner was
awarded an inscribed loving cup trophy. The 1916 winner's cup is in the Sippican
Historical Society Museum. Many spectators have taken to the water in the hotel's
squadron of canoes to get closer to the excitement.
17. A view of the Casino from the water, with its squadron of catboats and canoes ready
for the enjoyment of guests of The Sippican Hotel, visible just across Water Street at
rear.
18. A view of the Casino's wrap-around second-story veranda from the harbor. No ocean
breeze went unenjoyed from this vantage! During Harry T. Miller's period of
ownership, the Casino gained an oceanfront tennis court, sometime in the 1910
decade. To the right of the Casino, the Townsend/Davis cottage is visible.
19. Celebratory guests are pictured in front of the Hotel Casino. The ground floor of the
Casino contained about 30 cabanas for bathers and a storeroom. The grand staircase
leading up to the second-floor ballroom was flanked by a soda fountain and candy
concession. The ballroom was surrounded by wide verandas on three of the seaward
sides. The inland side, facing Harbor Lane, held a barber shop and pool room.
20. This menu from May 4th, 1899
features the dining room’s lovely
selection of gourmet offerings.
21. In addition to catering to its
hotel guests, the dining room
hosted functions for outside
organizations. This image shows
the cover of the program for
New Bedford High School’s 1905
Commencement Banquet. The
program featured the curious
benediction, While God shall
give us strength to eat, we’ll go
‘where honor leads’.
22. In the lower half of this map, the
Sippican Hotel and Casino’s
location can be viewed in relation
to the rest of the Wharf Village
area.
23. Charles Ripley's 34 years of
proprietorship ended in 1916,
when Harry T.
Miller took over. This Harper’s
Magazine advertisement dates
from the time of
Mr. Miller’s proprietorship.
24. Another advertisement for the
hotel, this one prominently
featuring its
beautiful location on Buzzards
Bay.
25. Supplies for the hotel were transported locally by horse and carriage, such
as this.
26. By 1920, the hotel was under the management of Charles W. Kokerda, who operated
it until its closing in 1929. This view of the parlor shows the tasteful wicker
appointments that among many other amenities made the Sippican one of the most
fashionable resort hotels on the Northeastern seaboard.
27. This view of the Sippican’s dining room was clearly produced after electricity came to
Marion in 1910, during the 1916-20 period when Harry T. Miller was the owner.
Howard B. Hiller recalled his boyhood jobs as telegram deliveryman and bellman at
the hotel. In that pre-telephone era, the hotel office in the central wing had a
telegraph key, and messages received there would be delivered within the Village by
bicycle or pony (25 cents) or as far as Converse Road for 50 cents. Delivery by flat-
bottomed sailboat to the east side of the harbor cost 75 cents, and the tariff was one
dollar for deliveries to Blankenship's Cove. The only telephone line in the Village at
that time connected the hotel with Hiller's livery stable and garage.
28. This 1930 article from the New Bedford Times describes how the hotel, bought by a
Boston “syndicate” in 1929, was slated for partial demolition. According to plans, the
1885 addition was to be torn down, and the original building would be restored for
use as a tavern.
29. This photograph features a relatively rare and comprehensive view of the Hotel and
Casino from the water.
30. This stock certificate for the Sippican was issued to Marion’s most famous artist, Cecil
Clark Davis.
31. Gold handle of cane presented
to Sippican Hotel proprietor
C.W. Ripley. Inscription reads,
“Presented to C.W. Ripley in
recognition of esteemed
favors received by friends of
Marion, Mass. Sept. 12, 1903.”
32. Trophy cup awarded to the 1st
place winner of the Sippican
Hotel and Casino’s annual tub
race in 1916.
33. Trophy cup awarded to the
runner-up of The Sippican
Hotel Employees Tennis
Tournament in 1929, the
hotel’s final year of operation.
34. THANK YOU
Please stop by and visit some time. . .
www.sippicanhistoricalsociety.org
The Sippican Historical Society
Marion, MA
