The Sippican Woman’s Club invites members and guests to join our monthly meeting on Friday, January 12 at 12:30 pm. We will meet at our clubhouse, 152 Front Street, Marion. Marion resident and Tabor Academy teacher David Pierce will give a PowerPoint presentation on “The Sippican Hotel & Casino.” David will take us back in time to what is referred to in our little seaside town as its “Golden Age.” David will allow us an opportunity to imagine ourselves sitting on the hotel’s verandas by day and dancing in the casino’s second floor ballroom in the evening.
The Sippican Hotel, once located on the corner of South and Water Streets, started out as a two-story farm house built in 1794. In 1864, the former farm house became The Bay View House and a third floor was added. In 1882, an additional wing was added and a final four-story addition was added in 1907.
In the early 1900s, famed artists, presidents, literary people, and well-to-do families from Boston and New York came for the summer and enjoyed the comforts of The Sippican Hotel and Casino located across the street on the harbor where guests could gamble, listen to music, dance in the ballroom or play tennis on adjacent courts. Summer residents came by train, then trolley from Wareham with their luggage following by horse and carriage.
The hotel was sold to a Boston syndicate that planned to convert the hotel into a Tavern and the Casino into a dance hall, but with the advent of The Great Depression, the hotel and casino were torn down in 1929. Thus, the memories of a bygone era live on through the documentation of people like David Pierce who bring history alive for us.
The Sippican Woman’s Club meets on the second Friday of the month (September through March) at 12:30 pm, with a finger-food luncheon, followed by a business meeting at 1:00 pm and program at 1:30 pm. The meetings are held at The Sippican Woman’s Club, Handy’s Tavern, 152 Front Street, Marion. Parking is available at Island Wharf Road parking lot. Guests may RSVP to: Info@SippicanWomansClub.org. For membership information, contact Jeanne Lake at 508-748-0619 or visit our website: www.sippicanwomansclub.org.