In the early days of our community, there were a few women who were unique entrepreneurs and, therefore, worth a mention as contributors to our history. These include Vera Estey, Alice Kimball and Mary Oak.
James Hastings Oak settled in Presque Isle in the 1880s to lumber. In the months in which he was not able to lumber, he built homes. He was also the largest shipper of railroad ties and telegraph poles in Aroostook County. Oak Street is so named as his machinery barn was located on that street.
James was married to Adella (Johnson) Oak. Together, they had seven children. Unfortunately, Adella passed away in 1894, leaving James to care for the children on his own. The oldest at the time was Lyndon,19, and the youngest was Edson, 2. Mary, born in 1891, was just 3. Mary was born in the “Eva Wheeler” house, which still stands today, on the corner of Third and Academy Streets. The house had been built by her father.
Mary, like Vera Estey and Alice Kimball, bucked the norm in that none of these ladies ever married and all owned their own businesses.
Mary learned photography from J.B. Smart, for whom she worked. She then went to work for George Wright in Caribou and continued in the field for a time in Boothbay Harbor. She opened her first studio in the Bolton Block (northeast corner of State and Main) on Nov. 1, 1912, and employed a staff of three. When the Bolton Block burned down in 1935, she reopened her studio in the Oak Hotel. She operated her photography studio until 1938.
Mary drove to Florida for four to eight weeks for several winters. She would travel about 200 miles per day. It was during her stays in various apartment houses in Florida that she got the idea to build the Oak Apartments.
In 1932, the Unitarian Church on State Street closed due to lack of attendance. In 1937, Mary bought the property with the intention of building an apartment house on the site. However, she sold the property to the Masons just a few months later. It is today the site of the Masonic Lodge.
Mary had a two-apartment house built on the corner of Second and Academy Streets in 1933. It was quite popular and there never seemed to be enough rental space available. This property still exists today and continues to serve as an apartment building.
She built the Oak Apartments in 1937 and the Oak Hotel in 1941. The hotel was a rooming house which had a few apartments (46 units altogether) that served as housing relief for military during housing shortage. The Oak Apartments were considered the most up-to-date of their kind in the state when built. The buildings were owned by Mary and her sister Marion. The Oak Hotel charged $4 per night for a room while the Northeastland was charging $8 per night.
Oak passed away on June 7, 1962, after a long illness. Although her obituary does not indicate cause of death, it may have been cancer as Mary smoked and was known to enjoy her whiskey. She is interred in Fairmount Cemetery.
Her hotel burned to the ground on April 12, 1975, under mysterious circumstances. Parts of the building still exist and are the white apartments on Academy, just past Aroostook Savings and Loan.
Kimberly R. Smith is the secretary/treasurer of the Presque Isle Historical Society.
