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Heritage
Historic Place
The Marathon Hotel has been open since 1871, possibly the oldest in continual operation in Canada. The gambrel roof building or "the annex" was built in the 1860s as the Marble Ridge House, and moved here in 1898 a few hundred meters from its original location at the top of the field next to Dexters Lane (then called "Marble Ridge Road"). The building farther left was Captain Pettes' house, also moved in 1898 from Pettes Cove. The card is from 1931.
The Marathon Inn is located on the very top of Marathon Lane overlooking the North Head Harbour in Grand Manan. Marathon Lane is a hidden drive between the North Head Post Office and the seasonal Island Arts gift shop. The inn proper is made up of three large buildings joined together with covered walkways. The view of the harbour from this vantage point is spectacular. There is a large barn located behind the inn.
Heritage Value
The Marathon Inn in Grand Manan is designated a Local Historic Place for being one of the oldest purpose-built continually-operated hotels in Eastern Canada. It has been owned only by nine people since its opening and is still fully operational. James Pettes, who built the most easterly part, was connected with ‘The Flushing’, the first Grand Manan ferry to run on a schedule. In 1898, the former Marble Ridge Inn was moved to its present site beside the main building from its original location in the Moses Lane area. The story goes that Capt. Pettes won it in a poker game. This is now known as the Annex. On the sill under this building are written the names of three men who died in 1898, reputedly when the building was being moved. Many local stories are connected with it. The last building making up the Marathon Inn is the Captain’s Quarters - originally Captain Pettes home – which was relocated here from Pettes Cove.
Architecturally, the buildings that comprise the Marathon Inn are among the more eclectic on the island. The main building, located on the eastern end of the complex, has a mansard roof and is in the Second Empire Style. The three-storey mid-section or Annex building has a shallow Dutch Colonial Revival gambrel roof with a belvedere and is of ‘balloon’ construction with 4x5 inch studs running from the foundation to the roof. The most westerly section, the two-storey Captain’s Quarters, is of board and batten construction and also has characteristics of the Dutch Colonial Revival style which was fairly common in throughout New Brunswick.
Source: Grand Manan Archives – Local Historic Places files
Naming of the Hotel
The hotel was named from a couple of lines in a "Isles of Greece" by Lord Byron.
The Isles of Greece
The isles of Greece, the Isles of Greece!
Where burning Sappho loved and sung,
Where grew the arts of war and peace,
Where Delos rose, and Phoebus sprung!
Eternal summer gilds them yet,
But all, except their sun, is set.
The Scian and the Teian muse,
The hero's harp, the lover's lute,
Have found the fame your shores refuse;
Their place of birth alone is mute
To sounds which echo further west
Than your sires' 'Islands of the Blest.'
The mountains look on Marathon —And Marathon looks on the sea;
And musing there an hour alone,
I dream'd that Greece might still be free;
For standing on the Persians' grave,
I could not deem myself a slave.
A king sate on the rocky brow
Which looks o'er sea-born Salamis;
And ships, by thousands, lay below,
And men in nations; — all were his!
He counted them at break of day —
And when the sun set where were they?
...etc
by George Gordon, Lord Byron, 1788-1824
Source: undated brochure of "Marathon House" when James A Pettes was proprietor.
Character-Defining Elements
The character-defining elements that describe the Marathon Inn include:
- three separate buildings joined together through raised wooden walkways;
- excellent sightlines to North Head Harbour;
- some original furniture in the guest rooms.
Bellow, July 2017 pictures
The character-defining elements that describe the Main House include:
- square three-storey massing;
- straight mansard roof;
- shed-roof dormers;
- central projecting frontispiece that towers above the roof-line;
- paired Roman arch windows on the second storey of the frontispiece;
- original sash windows;
- clapboard siding;
- interior spatial arrangement;
- some original interior woodwork.
The character-defining elements relating to the Annex include:
- lateral rectangular three-storey massing;
- gambrel roof with belvedere;
- symmetrical fenestration;
- full-width veranda with a shed roof;
- original sash windows;
- sitting room with the original wall fireplace;
- interior stairway to the cupola with many graffiti signatures of former guests;
- flying baluster staircase.
The character-defining elements relating to the Captain’s House include:
- Two-storey rectangular massing.
- Front-facing gambrel roof.
- Original sash windows.
- Ornate window headers on the front façade.
- Covered wrap-around veranda.
Note From Archives Canada Research web site:
https://www.historicplaces.ca/
Administrative history / Biographical sketch
Note:
The Marathon House is an accommodations business on Grand Manan Island, N.B. Canada. It started operating in 1871 as Marble Ridge Hotel.
(AL Note: The name was Marathon House the Marble Ridge Hotel (1860) was moved on 1898 to became an "annex" of the Marathon.)
In 2013, it is operating as Marathon Inn and is a seasonal accommodations and restaurant business. Many of the original furnishings are still in use. The Inn has been created from other buildings being moved to the current location and added to the original building by walkways - creating a unique history.
The location overlooks the North Head Harbour where the ferry docks. Capt. Jas. A. Pettes took ownership of the hotel in July 25, 1877 from Mr. Little.
Capt. Pettes was the owner/operator at the time this guest ledger was in use. Capt. Pettes had placed the hotel up for sale in the fall of 1910.
He reopened the next season. The establishment has been owned by nine people since its opening. (Al Note: [1871,1913] a Title research will be done to confirm.)
