A great article in the The Winker – The e-Newsletter of the Stanley Museum – Their 30th Year!
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This summer the Stanley Museum is celebrating the 150th anniversary of the Mt. Washington Auto Road and the history of Stanley exploits on the road. F.E. Stanley placed 2nd in the 1st Climb to the Clouds race in 1904, his “little red car” beating all comers except a powerful Mercedes. With Stanley is a neighbor from Newton, Mass., Joseph W. Crowell. Crowell (MIT, Class of 1904) was the second driver up Mt. Washington in a steam Locomobile, accompanied by his mother, Eliza, on August 6, 1900.

The 1st car up Mt. Washington was a Stanley Locomobile driven by F.O. & Flora Stanley on August 31, 1899. The Stanley Museum is currently working on the Mt. Washington Auto Road’s 1899 Locomobile which may be the very same car. If so, it would also be the first car driven to Kingfield, making its first return in 112 years. The Stanleys’ 1899 trip was likely to promote and rigorously test the new car for its new owners, the Locomobile Company. The Stanleys were wildly successful on both counts, demonstrating the practicality of the car and the feasibility of good roads – including the Mt. Washington Carriage Road.

The 1st Stanley to reach the summit was a 1902 model driven by Austin Y. Hoy of Chicago (also MIT, Class of 1904) on September 2, 1903. Hoy and his mother, Mary Elizabeth, set a new record for the climb in 1 hr & 39 min (running time). Another early steamer to attempt the climb was driven by a former MIT student. Can you guess who it was? (Answer below*.)

The Stanley Museum will celebrate the Mt. Washington Carriage/Auto Road’s 150th anniversary with a steam car tour scheduled for the week of Aug. 8.

New Hampshire Steam Car Tour
Annual Eastern Invitational
Gorham, New Hampshire
August 7 – August 13

Come join us with our friends at the Mt. Washington Auto Road in helping to celebrate their 150th Anniversary! Five touring days totaling over 400 miles, special events at the Auto Road, and opportunities for the brave to drive up Mt. Washington will make for a busy and hopefully fun-filled week!

Headquartered in northern New Hampshire and the magnificent White Mountains, the tour takes place in areas well covered by the Stanleys themselves, including F.O and Flora Stanley’s triumphant first auto ascent of Mt Washington in a Stanley Locomobile in 1899 over the then-named Carriage Road, and F.E. Stanley’s noteworthy appearances in the Climb to the Clouds races of 1904-1905. The Mt. Washington Auto Road owners and managers have long credited the renown of the Stanleys’ achievements on the road for its longstanding popularity with the motoring public. Our next Quarterly will focus on these events and achievements. While our tour will cover some familiar territory, it will include several new routes in the very scenic foothills to the White Mountains in Maine, just west of our headquarters, the Town & Country Motel, in Shelburne, N.H.

The Town & Country Motel is a very comfortable, family-owned motel with a full dining room, on the outskirts of town with ample room for tow vehicles. Eight miles from the Mt. Washington Auto Road, it has aptly served as the headquarters for several tours. For those attending with cars, reservations can be made as long as space remains by calling (800) 325-4386. Tell them you are with the Stanley Tour to secure the special rate being offered.

For those who might like to arrive early or otherwise participate, on Saturday evening, August 6, the Mt. Washington Auto Road will host a black tie/optional mid-Victorian dress Gala event with dining, dancing, and entertainment. General admission is $175 per person. The Museum has negotiated a special rate of $150 per person for a table of eight or more.

For more information about attending with your car or attending the Gala event on the 6th, call or e-mail:
Debbie Smith at 207-585-2587, debsmith@tdsteime.net
Howard Randall at 617-688-7321, steamin-yankee@comcast.net

On Stanleys, Whites, Locomobiles, and other Steam Cars, On to New Hampshire!

WALK THIS WAY

The Stanley Museum and the Kingfield Historical Society are collaborating on detailed plans for a Walking Tour Map of Historic Kingfield. Many of the local sites with direct Stanley connections, as well as those photographed by Chansonetta, will be featured on the walking tour. Preliminary designs for the walking tour will be presented to the Kingfield Village Enhancement Committee later this Spring. The Kingfield Village Enhancement Committee is working to advance numerous plans for the revitalization of Kingfield. Their plans include a new town park directly behind the Stanley Museum. The Stanley Museum is supportive of many of the proposed designs, as they are expected to bring new visitors to Kingfield and to the Stanley Museum.

ARTS FOR ART’S SAKE – AND FOR THE STANLEY MUSEUM

The First Friday Art Walks continue to draw in larger and larger crowds to all the art galleries and museums in Kingfield. The Stanley Museum has opened its doors for these new art walks, scheduled for 3-8 pm on the first Friday of every month throughout ski season. Visitors to the Museum have viewed a brand new exhibit featuring photographs by Chansonetta Stanley Emmons and etchings by her daughter, Dorothy Stanley Emmons. This Mother-Daughter exhibit was made possible through collaboration with the Maine Women Writers Collection at the University of New England in Portland, Maine, and the Colby College Museum of Art in Waterville, Maine, and through the tireless efforts of our volunteers: Forrest Collins, Carol French, and Howard Randall. The Museum’s new stained glass windows, restored by Constance Stanley Boudeman, have just been installed over the Museum’s entranceway as originally designed by F.E. & F.O. Stanley in 1903. Many thanks to Constance, Midwest Coach & Carriage Works, and Dan Davis of Kingfield who did the installation. Thank you all!

THE WAR(S) OF THE REBELLION(S) ON THE MAINE CIVIL WAR TRAIL

2013 marks the 150th anniversary of the Civil War, and the commemoration offers the Stanley Museum the chance to engage in an entirely new focus on local Stanley history. The Stanleys were ardent abolitionists, and the oldest Stanley sibling, Isaac Newton Stanley, served with distinction in the 28th Maine Regiment. Back on the home front, Kingfield was the scene for a local uprising of draft resisters – known as the “Kingfield Rebellion” – and the 14-year-old Stanley twins were eyewitnesses to these events. Copies of Isaac’s letters and diaries from his war service, and the written recollections of F.E. & F.O. Stanley will have prominence in a new exhibit planned for the summer of 2013 at the Stanley Museum. Joining again in a collaborative effort with the Kingfield Historical Society and other local history organizations, the Stanley Museum plans to be a partner in the state-wide Maine Civil War Trail. The Museum’s exhibit will also include Civil War artifacts from our collections, as well as objects on loan from our members. If you have any Civil War items in your family collections that you might be willing to loan the Museum during the summer of 2013, please contact the Stanley Museum at 207-265-2729 or maine@stanleymuseum.org.

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