Spencer or Hardscrabble Mountain from Spencer Road in Hobbstown Township (2016)
This township (T4 R6 BKP WKR) in Somerset County contains most of Spencer Lake, along with the 2400-foot Spencer Mountain west of the Lake, and the 2300-foot Hardscrabble Mountain east of the Lake. With no village settlement, it is primarily an area of woods and woods roads. In the early 20th century, Spencer Lake Camps was a destination
In 1944 it became the home of several hundred German prisoners of war. Known as the Spencer Lake Camp, the facility supplied labor to the Hollingsworth and Whitney paper company by filling logging jobs left vacant by American men who went to war. The camp closed in 1946, seventy years before the video below was created. What happened to the area during that period is not clear. Many of the trees do not seem to be that old. Some of the rusted metal may have been brought to the site years after is was abandoned as a prisoner facility.
In the early 21st century, part of the old campsite is a memorial to its past service in World War II. None of the buildings remain, but scattered structural evidence hints at its historic past. The site also serves as a small campsite for people seeking a quiet experience near Spencer Lake and Hardscrabble Mountain.
Between Hardscrabble and Spencer mountains, Spencer Lake stretches north-south for more than four miles. Its 1800+ acres reaches a maximum depth of about 130 feet. A 1995 survey by the Maine Department of Inland Fisheries and Wildlife noted, “Water quality in Spencer Lake is good for cold water game fish. Brook trout and lake trout reproduce naturally to sustain a fishery.”
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- Whipple Bog the inlet to Whipple Pond at the intersection of Spencer Rips Road and Spencer Road in Hobbstown Township
In the 1920s the Spencer Lake Cabins were an attraction to people “from away” who arrived by train in Jackman. The 16 authentic log cabins served hunters, fishers, and those who enjoyed the outdoors, in an area then called “Gerard” in Somerset County. In 2022 the rugged authentic cabins are gone.
In 2022 there is now no trace of the original cabins, apparently replaced with modern facilities behind a gate on the old rough dirt road. In July 2022 there is now no trace of the original cabins, apparently replaced with modern facilities
Additional resources
See the “Spencer Lake Camps” promotional booklet c. 1920. below:
at the Maine Memory Network, https://www.mainememory.net/media/pdf/16583.pdf
In July 2022 there is now no trace of the original cabins, apparently replaced with modern facilities.
Maine. Department of Inland Fisheries and Wildlife. “Spencer Lake.” 1995. http://www.maine.gov/IFW/fishing/lakesurvey_maps/somerset/spencer_lake.pdf (accessed November 18, 2016)
New Cabin like Structure July 2022