07/21/2026
Legend has it the coffee break was born right here in Camden. ☕
Captain Joseph C. Stetson ran one of the town's busiest shipyards — and a crew with a weakness for rum. So he started offering them coffee to keep them sharp, and, as the story goes, gave the world the coffee break. Whether or not that's true, something worked: more than seventy ships sailed from this harbor under his name.
With their earnings, he built himself a home on Elm Street in 1835 — the same house that survived the great fire of 1892, and the same one that welcomes guests today as the Hartstone Inn.
Come for the history. Stay for the coffee (and the five-course dinner).
📍 Hartstone Inn · 41 Elm Street, Camden, Maine