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In 1819, Captain Samuel Holden built a log cabin on what is now the present site of Sky Lodge. He followed the same route Benedict Arnold forged when he and his men, some forty-four years prior, attempted to capture Quebec City. Captain Holden found a land filled with pristine lakes, numerous, sparkling streams, rolling mountains and a vast expanse of woods. He thus became the first, and for many years, the only, settler of the Moose River Valley. Unfortunately, the original cabin burned down, one year and he and his family had to spend the winter in a cave to survive.
Then in 1929, Richard Sutro of Port Chester, New York, built his Maw Paw Lodge on the same site as the Captain Holden cabin. The corner stone on the lodge testifies to that date.
The building was two years in construction with choice timber cut from nearby Burnt Jacket Mountain. The spruce logs were floated across Big Wood Lake in what is said to be the last log drive upon it. Some of the logs used in the structure are more than fifty feet long. A mill and water system was set up to peel, draw, shave and notch the timber and the foundation and massive fireplaces were constructed from local fieldstone.
In 1946, the lodge was sold and in 1947 it was open to the public. It was renamed Sky Lodge, in reference to the adjacent airfield, and became a home away from home to many sportspersons and the traveling public.
Most recently, Sky Lodge has come into the ownership of John and Elaine Couri who purchased the property in the late 80's. They now use the lodge primarily as a base of operations for their various foundation programs. These charitable programs include the "Summer Camp" for city children who could not otherwise experience an outdoor camp setting and an off-site program for the Hammond Street Senior Center in Bangor, Maine.
Today, besides the various programs provided by the Couri Foundation, Sky Lodge is open to any group who wishes to book the facility as a retreat, corporate getaway on convention site.
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