Dunstan, Scarborough Town, Cumberland County

By Don Taylor

All of us who drive through the Dunstan area in Scarborough have seen it. The big, yellow, monster of a building at the corner of US Route One and Broadturn Road. Looking at it today it is difficult to determine what it originally was. Certainly, the Old Dunstan School building next door looks like it once was a school and the Old Southgate House a block further down the road looks like it was a large elegant house, but the big yellow building is really difficult to determine just from looking.

The Wayland – Before it burned in 1911

Back in 1888, Annie H Moulton purchased 30 acres of the property from John W. Leavitt. On that property Annie ran a restaurant named The Wayland. It was a “Scarborough Shore Dinner House.”  In 1902 an adjoining lot of 27 ½ acres was purchased from Daniel Snow, making the two lots together 57 ½ acres. That original Wayland building burned to the ground in 1911.

A new Wayland was built in 1912 and began operations once again. With the new Wayland a small building was added in front which served as a waiting room for the trolley that ran along Route 1.[ii]

The Wayland – Between 1912 & 1920

In 1920, Annie H Moulton & and her husband, Alvin F. Moulton, sold those two lots and all the buildings on them to John Flaherty of Portland, who in turn sold the property to the “Roman Catholic Bishop of Portland, Inc.” (Louis S. Walsh was Bishop at the time.) The Church converted the property and on June 21, 1921, the building opened as the St. Louis Home and School for Boys. The Maine State Legislature provided $1,000 in maintenance costs to support the school in 1921, and more in later years.

The 1930 Census provides great insight into the facility. In 1930, the Saint Louis Home for Boys was run by Sister Genevieve Hayes. She was supported by two sisters, Sister Agenita Gaudette and Sister Calbanus Ridge. Although owned by the “Bishop of Portland” the facility was administered by the Sisters of Mercy. There were 55 boys living at the home during the 1930 Census[iii].  They were:

St. Louis Home and School for Boys – Note the addition on the right side of the building.

• Clyde Andrews           Age    11
• Andrew Andrews       Age    9
• Robert Andrews          Age    7
• John Burke                   Age    10
• William Burke             Age    7
• Arnold Barter              Age    14
• Arnold Bouthellette     Age    6
• Donald Cameron         Age    12
• Henry Cameron           Age    13
• Leo Coffee                  Age    10
• William Coffee            Age    10
• Francis Depalma         Age    8
• Chester Doyle             Age    8
• Edward Doyle             Age    14
• Roger Duby                Age    13
• Arthur Duby               Age    12
• Ernest Dumas              Age    13
• Leslie Dumas              Age    12
• Francis Dumas            Age    7
• John Donahue             Age    9
• Ernest Donahue           Age    10
• Walter Donahue          Age    6
• Loin Ducette                Age    8
• Herbert Flynn              Age    13
• Bernard Flynn             Age    12
• Albert Gallant              Age    11
• Albert Garneau            Age    13
• Gerald Hannigan         Age    5
• Patrick Lahey              Age    12
• Frederick Lahey          Age    9
• Timothy Lahey            Age    6
• Lucian Ladrette            Age    8
• Ferrand Lanrivand       Age    12
• Raymond Laimey        Age    10
• Francis Legasse           Age    7
• Michael Marotte          Age    7
• Edward Mcgahey        Age    10
• Linwood Mcgahey      Age    9
• Raymond Melanson    Age    8
• Norman Mcleod          Age    10
• Charles Mcleod           Age    13
• Lawrence Mitchell       Age    12
• Robert Mclaughlin      Age    7
• Raymond Mclaughlin  Age    6
• Edward Noonan          Age    10
• Norbert Nedeau           Age    9
• Howard Miner            Age    7
• Robert O’Brien            Age    8
• Everett Russel             Age    6
• Rennie Thereanld        Age    10
• John Thompson          Age    8
• Richard Towle             Age    10
• William Towle             Age    10
• Nelson Veiga              Age    10
• David Barlett               Age    5

In 1935, at the request of Bishop Joseph McCarthy, the St Louis Home and School was sold by the Roman Catholic Bishop of Portland to the Sisters of Charity (Grey Nuns) of Lewiston.

During the ten years between 1930 and 1940, the staff went from 3 to 17 and the number of boys went from 55 to 68 in 1940. Although it was now owned by the Sisters of Charity there was a Catholic Priest there who led the Chaplain work.  There were twelve reverend sisters who cared for the children. The sisters ranged from 56-year old Mother-Superior Tanerede, to the youngest sister, 23-year-old Sister Carignon. It is interesting to note that the priest was from Maine, but none of the sisters were.  Nine of the sisters were from French Canada and three were from New Hampshire.

Four other adults (all women) also lived at the home.  The oldest was Miss Aime Levesque, age 78 who worked for her board. There was one retired woman, Mrs. Ina Perrin, and there were two women who lived there and worked in the kitchen.

The 1940 census indicates there were 68 children living there. The oldest of the boys was 12-year-old Camille Paulin; the youngest was Donald Briseboos. All the children were born in Maine except for Two born in Italy (Matthew and Michael Troiano), two born in Vermont (Robert and Antonio Valeriani), one born in Massachusetts, and one born in Pennsylvania. The children were:

• Camille Paulin                        12
• Paul Rowe                              12
• James Mastro                         12
• John Ross                              11
• Charles Wardwell                   11
• Matthew Troiano                    11
• Henri Champagne                  11
• Gerard Grenier                       11
• Valmore Berube                     11
• Bertrand Pepin                       11
• Louis Levasseur                     10
• Norman Ovellette                   10
• Normand Lagueux                 10
• Francis Brennan                     10
• David Plutt                             10
• Robert Valeriani                     10
• Robert Champagne                 10
• Normand Pinette                    9
• Robert Conley                        9
• Leo Marston                           9
• Montfort Duellette                  9
• Arthur Wardwell                    9
• Antonio Valeriani                   9
• Louis Baudone                       9
• Russell Heath                         9
• Romeo Comeau                      9
• Rene Paradis                          9
• William Hellbergh                  9
• Resinald Adam                       9
• Philip Roy                              8
• Joseph Jieaney                       8
• Robert Wheeler                      8
• Robert Methot                        8
• Raymund Duellette                 8
• Emery Berube                        8
• William Thibodeau                 8
• Thomas Carey                        7
• Francis Troiano                      7
• Osila Plutt                              7
• Arthur Poulin                         7
• Raymond Hubert                    7
• Maurice Thibodeau                7
• Leonard Cassiday                   7
• David Laplante                       7
• Walter Powers                        7
• William Morin                        7
• Vincent Lapomardo                6
• John Lewis Foley                   6
• Anthony Henry                      6
• Roger Poolin                          6
• Maurice Methot                      6
• Albert Beaudoin                     6
• Richard Loveitt                       6
• James Shaw                           6
• William Mains                        6
• Michael Troiano                     5
• Richard Tierney                      5
• Lewis Augustus Heath           5
• Robert Fletcher                       5
• James Hannewell                   5
• Roger Peyin                           5
• Norman Shaw                        5
• David Mains                          5
• Raymond Desrosiers              4
• Richard Farnham                    3
• Donald Brisebors                   3
• Wayne Mains                         3

The Sisters of Mercy began to accept girls as well as boys and the facility changed its name to the Saint Louis Home for Boys and Girls.

In 1971 the Sisters shifted their services to childcare and shortly after the facility became a part of Catholic Charities Maine[iv].

The Sisters of Charity (Grey Nuns) of Lewiston eventually sold the land and buildings to another organization called “The Bible Speaks” who provided the headquarters for a radio evangelist.[v] They in turn had to sell the property when they were involved in a multi-million-dollar lawsuit.[vi]

Today, the building it is “Dunstan Corner” A shopping and office complex. It includes businesses such as:

• 

  Dunstan Corner Today

  Brazilian Jiu-Jitsu

• Eric Krantz, LCSW – Children, Individual, Marriage & Family Counseling Services
• Gail Ann Fabric – Bosal Foam
• Jack Burke, LMFT – Marriage & Family Therapy
• Jackson Hewitt – Tax Service
• Mary Menard, L.A.D.C – A Satellite of Recovery Associates, Inc.
• MEND – Health & Wellness of Maine
• Nail Pro
• Progress Sharing Company – Personal, Business, Live, Health & Group Plans
• Scarborough Hollow Clock Works – Clock Repair
• The Abby – Catholic Books, Gifts, Cards, Music
• VitaminSea – Maine Sea Vegetables
• We’re Styling – Family Salon

Now I know, the Dunstan Corner building was once a restaurant, The Wayland, then became a Catholic Home for Boys, later a Home and School for Boys and Girls, the headquarters for “Bible Speaks.” Since its reconstruction in 1912, it had many additions that has made it the multi-purpose building it is today.

ENDNOTES

[ii]  Maine Memory Network | Wayland House, Scarborough, ca. 1912 Accessed 10/2/2017 – https://www.mainememory.net/artifact/29400.

[iii] “United States Census, 1930,” database with images, FamilySearch (https://familysearch.org/ark:/61903/1:1:XM85-J9W : accessed 21 November 2017), The household of Sister Genevieve Hayes, Scarborough, Cumberland, , United States; citing enumeration district (ED) ED 89, sheet 7A, line 4, family 127, NARA microfilm publication T626 (Washington D.C.: National Archives and Records Administration, 2002), roll 831; FHL microfilm 2,340,566.

[iv] Internet: Catholic Charities – /about/history – “History of Catholic Charities Maine” https://www.ccmaine.org/about/history Accessed 10/2/2017.

[v] Scarborough Leader July 23,1999 – Page 18.

[vi] “The Current” February 6, 2003

[vii] Scarborough Leader July 16, 1999 Page 15