Christmas Island

Before it was renamed by developer Philip Roux in the late 1950s, Christmas Island was known as Plummer Island. Even earlier, it was called Quimby Island, after Achsah Quimby (died 1852), the wife of the first settler of Langley Cove, Winthrop Langley (died 1839).

The cove was the site of some of the earliest white settlers of Weirs Beach. A cart path led down from the Prescott farm on White Oaks Road to the lake. The cove was once also known as Kimball Cove, after Fanny Kimball, a “courageous, one-woman pioneer” with a “sad story of life”, as told by historian Edgar H. Wilcomb in pages B12-B14 of his booklet, “Rambles About The Weirs“.

Christmas island is now a gated community of private homes; a gate at the bridge to the island, across Langley Cove, limits access to property owners and their guests. The island name of the Christmas Island Resort, built in 1954 by Philip Roux, was somewhat misleading, as the resort was located not on the island, but on the mainland, opposite the island. The Christmas part of the name was accurate though, as it was one of the few lodging properties in the area that remained open year-round, with many festivities organized by the resort during the December holiday period.

In the spring of 2013, the resort closed permanently, after it was sold to a developer with plans to demolish the 45-room property and build 18 luxury townhouses. Before the wrecking balls and bulldozers could roll, on September 28, 2013, the vacant resort burned to the ground. The townhouses were then built as planned.

This fall view looking south across Langley Cove shows the extent of Paugus Bay visible from the Christmas Island Resort beach.

Christmas Island Gallery

Winter views of the Christmas Island resort.

Prescott’s Bay View Camps

Across the Weirs Boulevard from the Christmas Island resort, there was a lodging property once known as Prescott’s Bay View Camps. Prescott’s Bay View Camps used the waterfront that later belonged to the resort. In 1954, owner John Prescott sold the 40-acre property to the Tilton family, and the Prescott name was dropped, with the property becoming known simply as the Bay View Cottages. Today, the property is still owned by a Tilton family member, and it is called the Resort on the Bay.

Bay View started as a family resort. Initially, families stayed either in tents at 50¢ per week, or in one the 18 cottages for $1 a night. Then, the families brought trailers that seemed to get larger every year. Later, some of the trailers were expanded into permanent homes. At the foot of the property, Prescott operated a small store where he sold groceries, newspapers, and postcards; his office was in the back.

In this old photo of the Bay View Campground, Christmas Island is on the left. The bridge to the island had not yet been built.