Text by Dale and Connor, students at Presque Isle Middle School
Images from
The Oak Hotel, built in 1941 on the corner of Academy and Main Streets, was used mainly as a rooming house. It was also used for housing relief for a shortage caused by the military moving into the area. The hotel consisted of forty-six units, mostly for single people. Miss Mary Oak, who lived near by on the corner of Academy and Second Streets, built the hotel. Miss Oak also had a photography studio in the hotel. She had been a photographer since 1912 and wanted to expand her business. Mary Oak passed away at the age of 71 in 1962 leaving her relatives the business. But on April 12, 1975, the short life of the Oak Hotel came to an end when it burned down. It was never rebuilt. The burning of the Oak Hotel is still a mystery.
Eleven years later, in 1986, the Aroostook County Federal Savings and Loan Association purchased the land and built their own building on the site.
Sources:
Graves III, Richard A. Forgotten Times: A Walk Through History. Presque Isle, 2007.
"Maine Memory Network - The Oak Hotel Apartments, Presque Isle, ca. 1950." The Maine Memory Network, Maine's online museum, a project of the Maine Historical Society. 22 May 2009 <http://www.mainememory.net/bin/Detail?ln=23443>