Here are advertisements for Jackson businesses that appeared in the first catalog for the fair.
In 1883 Volentine started the Lauderdale Fair on his farm at the southern end of Lake Lauderdale. In 1890 J. B. Rice bought the fair and moved it to the northern edge of the village of Cambridge. The Great Cambridge Fair attracted 20,000 to 40,000 each year until 1943 when it closed. It was moved to the intersection of Rt29 and Rt40 in Greenwich (Middle Falls). In 1960 it moved westward to its present location at the Washington County Fairgrounds.
Lauderdale Hotel
The Valentine (sometimes spelled Volentine) family owned the farm at the southwestern end of Lake Lauderdale. They built the Lauderdale Hotel there in 1880. When it burned in 1890, they built the St George Hotel with an octagon-shaped dance hall.
They had a side-wheel steamboat that traveled from the south end to the north end of Lake Lauderdale in 30-45 minutes. It held 60 passengers and cost 5-cents.
An 1892 fire destroyed the St George Hotel and the steamboat
Lauderdale House
The Lauderdale House was at the northeastern corner of Lake Lauderdale. Bertha Bishop’s family ran the establishment. Bertha was Arno Wilson’s mother.
Arno, was a true Cambridge character. When the fire whistle blew he put on an air raid helmet, ran to the fire house, and directed traffic as the fire engines pulled out onto West Main Street. He ran the Philco TV store in Hubbard Block where Jackie Whitman has her antique store in 2025.
This photo is a Wilson family gathering at Lauderdale House
(some of this came from recollections by Mary Lou Eddy and Florence Qua Walrath recorded in the 1988 Old Cambridge book)