Mount David 1860, painted in 1901 by Delbert Dana Coombs, a painting currently in the Bates College Museum of Art

Mount David (also known as Mount Davis, Davis Mountain, and David's Mountain) is a rocky summit in Lewiston, Maine, on the campus of Bates College in back of Rand Hall. It is one of the highest points in Lewiston at 381 feet and offers views of the White Mountains including Mount Washington on a clear day.[1][2]

History

The peak was originally named David's Mountain after David Davis (1775-1851) son of one of Lewiston's first settlers, Amos Davis (1741-1815), a Quaker, who was an early supporter of education and churches in the area. David Davis purchased the mountain with 100 surrounding acres for $5 in 1803.[2] Davis and his father are buried in the Davis family cemetery near Frye Street.[3] At the opening ceremony of College in 1857, a pastor told the new students that if David Davis were still living he would have exhorted them to “go up that mountain, where you will obtain a view of our united villages. Make your principles as firm as the granite base on which the mountain rests.”[4] Several of Davis' descendants attended Bates.[2] In the 1860s, Davis' heirs, including Mrs. Archibald Wakefield and Mrs. John M. Frye donated a site on the summit of Mount David to Bates College to build an observatory.[5] The City of Lewiston allocated $5,000 to build a road to the observatory once it was constructed.[6] The observatory was never completed on the summit of Mount David as planned, but in 1929 Stephens Observatory was built nearby atop Carnegie Science building.

Various organizations in the Lewiston area have used the name Mount David. The Mount David Summit is an annual academic presentation of student work at Bates College and the Mount David Society is a college giving society. There is also a Mount David Housing group and in the past, a Mount David Shakespeare Club at Bates[7] and a Mount David Lodge in Lewiston.[8]

See also

References

  1. ↑ Census Reports Tenth Census: Report on the social statistics of cities ... By United States. Census Office 1886, pg 25
  2. 1 2 3 Burns, Jay (2015-12-18). "What's in a Bates name: Mount David". News. Retrieved 2023-11-29.
  3. ↑ "Exploring the history of Mount David & Davis Cemetery". Life on the Androscoggin. 2016-05-08. Retrieved 2023-11-29.
  4. ↑ Anthony, Alfred Williams (1936). Bates College and Its Background: A Review of Origins and Causes. Judson Press.
  5. ↑ Report of the President of Bates College for the Academic Year ... 1878.
  6. ↑ The New England Magazine. New England Magazine Company. 1888.
  7. ↑ Annual Reports of the School Committee and of the Superintendent of Schools of the City of Lewiston, for the Year Ending ... 1890.
  8. ↑ Greenough Jones & Co.'s Directory of Lewiston and Auburn. W.A. Greenough & Company. 1880.

44°06′22″N 70°12′30″W / 44.1060°N 70.2084°W / 44.1060; -70.2084

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