The Ottawa House catered to English Canadian tourists. Lemuel Cushing was a businessman and pioneer in the Ottawa valley. In 1859 he bought Cushing Island in Portland Harbor, Me. He planned to turn this island into a summer resort and built the Ottawa House hotel there. Lemuel's son, Francis Cushing, formed Cushing's Island Company in 1883 and hired Frederick Law Olmsted and Charles Eliot to design a summer resort. The first Ottawa House was destroyed by fire and rebuilt in 1888. The second Ottawa House burned down in 1917 and was not rebuilt. The U.S. Army began acquiring land on the island in the 1890s to build Fort Levett.
From the description of Ottawa House hotel register, 1869-1883. (Maine Historical Society Library). WorldCat record id: 764633589
