BACKSPACE: This local inn had the largest saltwater pool in Maine

The Mt. Ash Inn in Brooklin. Photo courtesy of the Penobscot Marine Museum.

Jan. 13, 2026

The Mt. Ash Inn, on Naskeag Road just beyond Brooklin Corner, was originally built as a home by George E. Hall in 1870 and named the “Enterprise.” After being sold, it was called the Mt. Ash Inn. By 1915, cottages had been added to the grounds behind the inn.

A salt water swimming pool—noted as the largest saltwater pool in Maine—was built. Lobster picnics were held for the guests. The inn provided employment for many Brooklin women as cooks, waitresses, and laundresses.

A Brooklin resident remembered working as a waitress when she was about 19. She explained that the waitresses were expected to wash the crystal, silver and glasses and wash and iron the napkins and tablecloths of their assigned tables. During blueberry season it was hard work trying to get the stains out before the next meal. Everyone always wanted blueberry pie or something with blueberries in it!  The inn operated into the 1950s.

After the town acquired the property, the pool was filled in. The next owner was the Faith School, which built its church over the pool, using the walls as the foundation. In 1977, three years after he began publishing WoodenBoat, Jon Wilson moved the magazine’s offices into the former Mt. Ash Inn. Today the building is the Wooden Boat School dormitory.

–Written by Jane Hooper, Sedgwick-Brooklin Historical Society

“BACKSPACE” is a partnership between the Penobscot Marine Museum in Searsport and The Rising Tide that showcases the unique coastal and maritime history of our towns in and around the Blue Hill Peninsula. This feature, pulled from the museum’s extensive photographic archives and associated records, will appear monthly in The Rising Tide. For more information about the Penobscot Marine Museum, please visit their website.