Tobias Roberts

Tobias Roberts
Born	1835
Died	1908 Bar Harbor, Maine, U.S.

Tobias Lord Roberts (1835–1908) was an American businessman and hotelier. He is regarded as the pioneer of hotel-building in Bar Harbor, Maine.[1] He opened Agamont House, the first hotel in the town, in 1855, converting a home built fifteen years earlier.[2] Agamont Park, named for the hotel, now stands at the location. Another hotel, Deering House, followed in 1858.[3] Ten years later, Alpheus Hardy became the first of Bar Harbor's summer residents to build a "cottage".[4][5]

Agamont Park, the former site of Roberts' Agamont House hotel

To improve access for tourists to the town, he created a wharf in Bar Harbor in 1868.[6]

Agamont House burned down in 1888.[7][8][9]

Death

Roberts died in 1908,[10] aged 73 years. He is interred in Bar Harbor's Village Cemetery.

Upon his death, Roberts' family sold several of his properties, including Rockaway House on Bar Harbor's West Street.[10]

References

1. Drake, Samuel Adams (1891). The Pine-Tree Coast. Boston. estes & Lauriat.
2. "Mount Desert Island: Shaped by Nature - Inns". mdi.mainememory.net. Retrieved 2023-03-02.
3. Morrison, Peter (2005). History of the Bar Harbor Water Company. p. 14.
4. "Town History". Bar Harbor Historical Society. Retrieved 2023-03-02.
5. Bar Harbor: The Hotel Era, 1868-1880 - Digital Commons Maine
6. "Chapter 36: An Act authorizing Tobias Roberts to construct a wharf into tide waters at Bar Harbor, in the town of Eden., 1868 | Maine State Archives - ArchivesSpace". archives.maine.gov. Retrieved 2023-03-02.
7. Hotels and Boarding Houses of Mount Desert Island Bar Harbor: Agamont House - MDIHistory.org
8. Mount Desert Herald, July 27, 1888
9. "The Agamont Burned" - Bar Harbor Record, July 26, 1888
10. Armstrong, Brian (2021). A History Lover's Guide to Bar Harbor. History Press. p. 164. ISBN 9781467147804.