The Rumford Mechanics Institute was founded by Hugh J. Chisholm, the owner of Oxford Paper Company, for the educational and recreational benefits of his mill employees. The Card Room offered the employees a comfortable and companionable location to pursue common recreation of the period.
In 1911 dedication booklet, the rules for the Institute are:
Rule #2: Institute is open every week day from 8:00a.m to 11 p.m.
Rule #3: No game of any kind will be allowed on Sunday and the gymnasium will not be open.
Rule #10: No intoxicating liquors shall be used or drunk and no games of chance for a wager of any character shall be played within the Institute.


This image is from the "Mechanics Institute, Rumford, Maine" booklet handed out at the building's ribbon cutting on November 9, 1911. It was published by University Press, Cambridge, Massachusetts.