The story of Poland Spring begins in the late eighteenth century when Jabez Ricker moved his family from Alfred Maine to Bakerstown, present day Poland. Jabez had owned land adjacent to the Shaker community in Alfred and when they pressed him to acquire his land, he relented and made the land swap. Shortly after the Ricker’s arrival in Bakerstown, some travelers knocked on the door looking for a place to stay. In 1794 the family began operating an inn on the property and by 1797 opened a brand new building – the Wentworth Ricker Inn. Thus the beginning of a tradition of operating an inn on the grounds that continues…