John Goddard

John Goddard. , John Goddard made his fortune in the lumber and timber trade in Orono, Maine. In 1853, Goddard purchased the Cape Cottage Horel and the surrounding 23 acres for $12,000 (about $500,000 in 2925 dollars). Originally opened in 1836, the Cape Cottage was one of the first grand luxury hotels summer hotels. It attracted local customers as well as those from all over the USA, Canada and Europe. It was known for its fine cuisine, excellent, bar, and unmatched hospitality., Goddard served briefly (pre-deployment) in the Union Army during the Civil War as the Commanding Officer of the 1st Maine Cavalry. His Italianate home was designed by famed architect Charles A. Alexander. Goddard had the mansion built on the Cape Cottage Hotel property using local stone and perched it high on a bluff overlooking Casco Bay, he Portland Ship Channel and the nearby Portland Head Light., In 1873, the US Army began acquiring land between the Goddard Mansion and the Portland Head Light to provide additional coastal defense support to nearby Fort Preble, located in what is now South Portland. That initial purchase expanded to almost 100 acres which now includes both the mansion and the lighthouse. This property became known as Fort Willian in 1899 under the US Army, and Fort William Park in 1964 when it was acquired by the Town of Cape Elizabeth., Colonel Goddard died in 1870, and his Cape Cottage Hotel burned in 1894, but his family continued to reside in the mansion here on the scenic shore of Cape Elizabeth. His daughter became heir to the property, and she sold her family’s magnificent home in 1898, just a few years before it was acquired by the US Army in 1902.