We are an Island
You're standing on Thomson Island, a small low-lying island between MDI and the mainland. MDI is connected to the mainland by a series of bridges, but before the first bridge was built in 1836 everyone came to MDI by boat, starting with wooden dugouts, then birch bark canoes, followed by sailboats and steamships. The first bridge onto MDI was a dirt drawbridge built by private investors, a toll was charged to cross the bridge.From here you can see Hancock Point where trains dropped off passengers who then boarded steamships to Bar Harbor, a trip that took approximately 30 minutes. In 1917 you could leave Philadelphia in the evening and arrive in Bar Harbor by midafternoon the next day.The automobile transformed MDI allowing people more freedom to travel. No longer bound by train and steamship schedules, auto tourists could travel up the coast of Maine exploring other towns along the way. The rise in auto traffic creates on-going challenges to our small towns, Park roads, bridges, and parking areas, which are congested for several months a year. Alternatives like the Island Explorer, a free bus service, helps transport visitors and reduce their impacts.Cars and pollution have brought other challenges to MDI as well. The sea has risen eight inches since 1950 and is predicted to rise another eighteen more in the next twenty-five years. Thomson Island is prone to flooding due to rising seas, making MDI vulnerable during high tide events and storms.
Over a Century of Science
At 108 square miles it may come as a surprise that MDI has the same climate gradation as the entire state of California! Such diversity on a small scale makes MDI a perfect incubator for observation and experimentation.For over a century two major research laboratories have called MDI home, the MDI Biological Laboratory and Jackson Labs. Both are internationally renowned for innovations in human health. Why are they here?George Dorr, one of the founders of Acadia National Park, invited the two organizations to establish laboratories knowing the mild summer climate, stunning scenery, and ecological diversity would appeal to scientists. More importantly, Dorr also knew summers on MDI would connect scientists with each other and potential patrons, who would be inspired by their work and help support it financially.These successful partnerships are why the labs are thriving on MDI today.
Farming Hay Days
The hills and valleys surrounding the Stone Barn Farm are the most fertile on Mount Desert Island. Early European settlers established small family farms here, and you can still see the remnants of the historic farms by looking for apple trees, cellar holes, and lilac bushes. Most farms had sheep and some cattle, a garden, apple trees, and a wood lot where they could cut trees for firewood and other needs, but the rocky soil and short growing season made farming difficult.Between the 1880s and 1950s MDI had over 40 dairies, most located near here. Milk became a popular beverage around the same time that the island saw rapid growth in summer people. Demand for milk put pressure on dairies to ensure they were clean and had low levels of bacteria in the milk, even though there was never an outbreak of disease linked to the island's milk supply.In the 1930s a large cooperative dairy formed with a centralized pasteurization plant, bottling machines, and delivery trucks. Milk was delivered to customer homes, restaurants, and hotels all over the island, seven days a week. The surge in summer people increased demand, but over the winter it was difficult for farmers to make a profit from local families, Many diversified and expanded their gardens, and the milk man often delivered more than milk, including other dairy products, eggs, produce, and flowers.Competition from large dairies on the mainland, and chain grocery stores that sold milk at a lower price eventually ended the dairy business on MDI, with the last bottling plant closing in 1980. But, you can see many of the old farmhouses and barns as you drive along Crooked Road and Rt. 3.
Wabanaki Entrepreneurs
Along the waterfront looking toward the Porcupine islands was the "Indian Encampment" a summer must-see for visitors to Bar Harbor between 1875-1900. Passamaquoddy, Penobscot, Mi'kamq, and Maliseet people, collectively known as the Wabanaki found new economic opportunity selling baskets, telling fortunes, and sharing cultural traditions with visitors. During the years the encampment was located along this shore birchbark canoes were a common sight, available for rent to paddle to the outer islands. Visitors could also hire a Wabanaki guide to take them hunting or fishing. Temporary tents and huts were set up along the shore showcasing the creativity and skills of Wabanaki artists. Baskets made from ash splints, birch bark, and sweetgrass could take nearly any form and many still grace the homes of many island summer cottages. In 1900 the encampment was moved inland to where the athletic fields are today before being closed permanently by the Village Improvement Association in 1920.
A Long History of Smuggling
MDI has a long history of smuggling, starting before the War of 1812 when ships from Nova Scotia dropped off manufactured goods and gypsum before loading cured fish and lumber to carry to ports in Canada and the Caribbean. Maine's coast has endless small harbors and islands among which to hide and sneak past custom agents who were few, far between, and sometimes corruptible.Prohibition of alcohol started in Maine in 1851, 69 years before national prohibition was enacted through the 18th amendment. Summer visitors coming from out of state and the businesses that relied on them, arranged for liquor to be shipped ahead, so islanders had an established smuggling network prior to national prohibition, giving them an advantage over smugglers coming in from out of state.Locally notorious smugglers opened speakeasies, like the one in the basement of the Criterion Theater, and there were many more in Bar Harbor as well. Liquor was hidden in dry wells on farms, in cottages and hotels vacant over the winter, and in the basements of businesses. Code words were used to gain access to clubs or order a drink in restaurants.
The Gilded Age
Standing in front of St. Saviour Church you can see the influence of summer residents on Bar Harbor, which by 1880 had become the premier resort on the eastern seaboard, rivaled in opulence and popularity only with Newport, Rhode Island. Wealthy summer residents transformed Bar Harbor by building and supporting places that suited their interests including churches, libraries and reading rooms, golf courses, and art and music halls. Grand hotels lined the streets with large porches and manicured gardens where people could see and be seen, and mansions were built along the shoreline overlooking the Porcupine Islands.Despite this, MDI's appeal was less formal than other summer resorts and offered a different, more adventurous experience, temporarily breaking away from the rigid cultural norms of the times. In Bar Harbor, summer people had more freedom- to explore, hike, sail, picnic, and flirt. Many young adults came here to meet their future spouses, and romance was so common that a genera of novels, called the Bar Harbor Romance, became popular.The popularity of Bar Harbor among visitors seeking to extend or improve their elite social networks drove some of the wealthiest summer people away to the quieter villages of Seal Harbor and Northeast Harbor where they build large summer homes called "cottages."
Fire Transforms MDI
Standing at this intersection do you notice a difference in the architecture? Looking east, toward St. Saviour's Church and the town green you notice older hotels, buildings, and churches. Look the other way and the buildings are all modern. What happened?In October 1947 a massive wildfire swept through the eastern side of the island. Over the course of ten days the fire burned 17,000 acres, including 170 homes and 5 of Bar Harbor's grand hotels. In town, this intersection is where the fire stopped, preserving the historic structures closer to downtown.The cause of the fire is unknown, but a wet spring and dry fall made conditions favorable. Fueled by strong winds the fire quickly spread from Crooked Rd where it started. The aftermath transformed this part of the island, architecturally and culturally. A shift had taken place during World War II, younger generations were less interested in estates that required large staff to maintain, and fewer people were spending the full summer season on the island. The loss of so many summer homes provided an opportunity to do something different. Rather then rebuild, George Dorr and J.D. Rockefeller Jr. encouraged people to donate land to the National Park, which expanded substantially after the fire.
George Dorr and Old Farm
Old Farm was the estate of the Dorr family, including the first superintendent of Acadia National Park, George B. Dorr. The Dorr's were among the wealthy summer people who came to Bar Harbor for generations. Mount Desert Island appealed to people who were looking to get away from the heat of the southern states, the noise and pollution of industrialized cities like Boston, New York, and Philadelphia.Known locally as "rusticators" summer people came to MDI to hike, bike, and sail or canoe. Before cars were allowed visitors toured the island using horse drawn buckboards, an open wagon or sled designed for traveling rough dirt roads. The Bar Harbor Buckboard Company, located on School St., was known nationally for building high quality buckboards, and rusticators often relied on them to travel between villages to call on friends or explore the area.Dorr also operated a large nursery on this site with ponds that featured aquatic plants, which are still visible. Summer estates included lavaish gardens with granite paths and benches, formal English gardens, and cutting flowers for arrangements. Noted landscape architects Frederick Law Olmsted and Beatrix Farrand were influential in designing private gardens, as well as many pubic gardens and nature trails.
Island Villages, Otter Creek
Otter Creek is both an outlet to Frenchman Bay and an historic fishing village. Just outside the causeway fish houses lined both shores, where fishermen kept and repaired their gear. The sheltered harbor allowed boats to come in and out with the tides, and the mud flats were fertile grounds for harvesting clams at low tide.Many of the villages outside of Bar Harbor relied on fishing before the island economy switched to tourism, and some still have robust fishing communities. Lobsters have long been a popular product, but historically that was not always the case. Two and three masted schooners sailed up and down the coast engaging in trade as far reaching as Nova Scotia to the Caribbean. MDI fishermen caught and processed cod for sugar plantations, pogies for oil, mackerel and herring to can, along with many other species of fish and shellfish.In 1939 J.D. Rockefeller Jr. purchased land surrounding Otter Creek, some say giving his word that residents would still have access to the shore and fish houses. Soon after, this causeway was built, but what purpose did it serve?Summer residents had built a saltwater pool in Northeast Harbor, and often enjoyed swimming at Seal Harbor beach, but visitors were increasingly encroaching on their favorite places. The Otter Creek causeway was built to restrict the flow of water into the inner harbor, and the narrow tunnels could be blocked at high tide to trap the water to create a saltwater pool. Although the pool was never completed, this artificial obstruction to the natural flow of water essentially killed the inner harbor. The informal agreement that Rockefeller made with the residents was lost and the Park removed most of the fish houses along the shore. Discussions are still underway about how to honor the fishing traditions of Otter Creek families while maintaining the historic causeway.
Grand Hotels and Cottages
Standing on Seal Harbor beach you are surrounded by summer estates called "cottages" owned by some of the wealthiest people in the country. From this point you can see homes where the Rockefellers and Ford families lived, and lining the hills are estates, often over a century old, some remaining in the same families.During the 1880s through 1920s MDI "cottages" were built to host families and their guests, and they required significant staff. One account from 1910 mentions over 30 staff moving to the island for the summer to work at one estate! Behind you on the grassy hill overlooking the beach once stood the grand Seaside Hotel, one of several large and opulent hotels. Bar Harbor had a more active social scene and more hotels, but summer people who wanted something quieter moved to Seal Harbor and Northeast Harbor to get away. These villages were known as "summer colonies" where people knew their neighbors and built deep personal relationships with one another. The summer colony was highly protective of this retreat and at various times banned automobiles from 1903 through 1915, spoke out against electricity, prevented the establishment of an electric trolley connecting the villages to Bar Harbor, and limited development. But they have also invested generously to ensure free access to public lands, the protection of forests and waters, and built hiking trails accessible to everyone.Year round residents lived here too, but over time the summer population grew and there were fewer houses available or affordable. Today Seal Harbor and Northeast Harbor struggle to maintain year-round populations, which has impacted businesses, public safety, and the school. Efforts are being made to increase affordable housing and activities for people to enjoy in the villages throughout the year.
The Savage Family Legacy
Standing at the Asticou Hotel the legacy of the Savage family characterizes the village of Northeast Harbor. The family arrived in 1798 and built a farmhouse on this location. In 1854 tourism was becoming an important part of the MDI economy and the Savage family built the first hotel in Northeast Harbor in 1854, the Cranberry Lodge, still located directly across the road from the Asticou. As summer visitors increased, by 1880 some summer people felt Bar Harbor was overrun. To accommodate them the Savage family built a larger, more opulent hotel called the Asticou Inn, and soon after more hotels like the Kimball House and Rockend Hotel were built. These hotels offered cottages and houses for long term rentals, and short term hotel rooms with a dining area.Much of the charm of Northeast Harbor can be attributed to the Savage family. Fred Savage became an architect in the late 1800s and redesigned the Asticou after it burned in 1899, reopening in 1901. Fred's iconic style was popular with summer residents and dozens of the homes and buildings he designed remain an important part of Northeast Harbor, Seal Harbor, and Bar Harbor.In the 1950s Charles Savage worked tirelessly to preserve the beauty of the village and his love of nature inspired two public gardens accessible from this location, the Asticou Azalea Gardens across the road from the hotel, and Thuya Garden, at the top of a beautifully terraced walk along the hill above the harbor. Both gardens blend natural features, rocks, and plants with cultivated gardens inspired by European and Japanese styles.
Summer Delights
MDI was the playground for the summer colony. Two prominent residents, Bishop Doane and Samuel Eliot established the Village Improvement Society in 1897 to ensure a high quality of life and plenty of outdoor activities for summer residents. In Gilpatrick Cove the Northeast Harbor Fleet was established as a yachting club in 1923, and further along the shore there is a saltwater pool and tennis club. The golf course was built in 1895 on Corson's farm, which still had livestock, and cows were among the "hazards" golfers contended with before the course was expanded and a formal club established in 1916.While not specifically excluded from these clubs, year round residents more commonly worked to maintain them, paid money raised from fees and fundraisers among their members. The social hierarchy common in other resorts that separated the locals from summer people was less prevalent here. Summer and year round residents often had close relationships and activities like sailing brought them together over a shared love of the sea.Over a century later many of the first summer colony families still come to MDI, enjoying the long tradition of the island as a summer playground. As their families grow and the popularity of MDI attracts new people, houses formally owned by locals convert to summer places. The year round population of the village has decreased to the point of concern about whether it can continue to support year round families. The result is that most businesses close over the winter and it's hard to maintain community services like fire and police, and the number of students in the school continues to decline.
Champlain Society
By 1880 most of MDI had been logged and the invention of the portable sawmill made clear cutting even easier. People were taking notice of the deforestation and didn't like what they saw. Guide books of the time started criticizing locals for marring the island's natural beauty, seeming to ignore the fact that residents relied on timber harvesting to build ships, heat their homes, and export lumber.At the same time, a small group of students from Harvard University camped in this field on Wasgatt Cove alongside Hadlock Brook. They called themselves the Champlain Society and they were charged with doing something meaningful with their summer on MDI. Founded by Charles Eliot, son of Harvard president Charles W. Eliot, the Champlain Society students divided themselves by area of study and spent ten summers documenting the flora, fauna, and climate of the island.The Champlain Society kept daily logbooks of their activities and observations. Knowing the landscape so well meant that they were among the first to call for conservation efforts to preserve the little forest that was left, and to buy land that was no longer desirable, so nature could be reestablished.Their ideas went unrecognized for decades. Charles Eliot became a landscape architect working for Fredrick Law Olmstead, but he continued to dream about how to establish public lands on MDI. After his death at age 38 his father came across this idea and in his honor formed the Handcock County Trustees of Public Reservation with the goal of acquiring private land to convert into conservation areas open to the public. He and George Dorr proceeded to accumulate enough land that in 1916, the first parcel of what would become Acadia National Park was opened to the public at Sieur de Monts Springs.
MDI Granite
Looking across Somes Sound you will see a large boatyard. This was home to the Standard Granite Company, which at its height employed over 1,000 stone cutters, blacksmiths, and shippers. Named for the company founder Cyrus Hall, Hall Quarry had dozens of bunk houses, two company stores, small houses for managers and their families, a band, baseball team, school, and barber shop. Stonecutters came from Italy, Sweden, Finland, and Scotland bringing their languages, food, and political values with them.MDI granite was so beautiful cities ordered it from across America to build banks, monuments, bridges, and cobbles for roadways. The shipyard had a railway to transport large slabs of granite and loads of cut cobbles. At its peak up to 10 three-masted schooners could line the wharf at one time. Schooners then took the granite to ports along the eastern seaboard where it was loaded onto trains and shipped inland.Quarry work was hard and dangerous, so it's not surprising that among the first unions to form on MDI was the stonecutters union. European stonecutters brought with them political values of socialism and unionization. Seeing the inequity in pay and safety among workers, managers, and owners, they began to organize for shorter work days, better pay, death benefits for spouses, and increased safety measures. Several strikes took place on MDI which, along with slim profit margins and cheaper construction materials, contributed to the downfall of the industry.
Rustic Romance
The village of Somesville was both the location of the first colonial year-round settlement, but also of the first boarding house to welcome summer visitors. Somes Tavern was built in 1831 and expanded in 1855 to reopen as the Mount Desert House with overnight accommodations. The Tracy Party were among the first to arrive, bringing 27 people to stay for a month. Painter Frederic Church was among the party, having been to MDI previously to paint, he served as their guide. Directly across the street from the gallery, the Mount Desert House still stands, now a private residence.Painters including Church, Thomas Cole, and Fitz Henry Lane, who later formed the Hudson River School, started arriving on MDI in the early 1840s to paint the moody and dramatic land and seascapes for which they became well known. These paintings were seen by thousands of people who were intrigued and inspired by the natural beauty of MDI, inadvertently marketing the island as a destination. By 1855 several boarding houses and hotels had opened to the public to accommodate the growing number of visitors.Getting here was difficult before ferry service started in 1853, and in those early days accommodations were limited and often an extension of a families personal home. Lacking restaurants, meals were taken with families and were often simple fare compared with the fine dining expectations of the wealthy. Visitors to MDI sought these rustic experiences over the opulence of other summer resorts, and coined the term "rusticator" to refer to themselves.
First Year Round Settlement
The village of Somesville was the first year-round settlement on MDI, established in 1761 by Abraham and Hannah Somes and James and Rachael Richardson, settlers who arrived from Massachusetts to build small farms and establish a lumber mill for shipping timber. They lived peacefully with Wabanaki people who returned to MDI to fish, harvest shellfish and other resources, as they had for centuries. Eventually as the village grew, Wabanaki people were displaced and forced to move inland.It's hard to imagine this sleepy village was once the industrial hub of the island. Standing here you would have been surrounded by the noise of mills and blacksmiths. In addition to the sawmill across the street, up the stream was a grist mill for grinding grains - primarily corn but some wheat was brought in on coasting schooners. Sharing the power of the small stream was a textile mill where raw wool from local farms was cleaned, carded, and spun into yarn, which families could order be woven into fabric and dyed. Along the road were several stores for dry goods, household supplies, a tannery for making leather, a cobbler for making shoes, and on the shore were boatyards, smoke houses for drying fish to ship to the Caribbean, and wharfs where 2 and 3 masted schooners unloaded and loaded cargo.What happened? Several changes caused businesses and people to leave the village. Tourism became a more important economic opportunity than the coastal trade and small farms. Bar Harbor and Southwest Harbor had steamship wharfs with commercial routes and hotels to accommodate visitors. Better transportation also meant less reliance on the coastal shipping trade and the transport of goods and people moved inland. Finally, people overharvested limited island resources, cutting most of the valuable timber, clearing forests for fields, and coastal waters were over fished, resulting in the collapse of the cod and herring fisheries. Somesville residents took jobs or opened businesses in the larger towns of Southwest Harbor and Bar Harbor.
War of 1812
Imagine standing here in August 1814 and seeing the Tenedos, a 38 gun frigate crewed by 284 British sailors and marines, anchored just beyond the causeway. She was here as part of a blockade of eastern port cities during the War of 1812. The Tenedos and other ships regularly raided small downeast towns, holding people, boats, and food for ransom. Having failed to capture several schooners in the harbor and ransom them, the Tenedos sent a barge and cutter with marines to Norwood Cove to destroy the schooners. Instead, they returned after being fired upon by "upwards of a hundred men from behind rocks and bushes." The Tenedos lost three men and one was wounded that day.Southwest Harbor legend tells a slightly different version, that the British were defeated by about seventeen men who had been recruited by a captain from one of the schooners. This skirmish may not have impacted the outcome of the war, but it remains a source of pride for long time Southwest Harbor residents.
Working Waterfront
Where the Coast Guard station is now was home to a varied history that is typical of the importance of working waterfronts to MDI. In the early 1800s the first cannery in Southwest Harbor opened here, first canning beef and then moving on to lobster. Neither were successful and the cannery shifted to sardines and herring, plentiful along the shores of MDI at the time.Along the shore fishermen built weirs, large circular net enclosures that trap schooling fish. Fishermen used nets to haul the fish from the weir into boats to take to the cannery where they were trimmed, sealed, and steamed in cans to ship all over the world. Before refrigeration and preservatives, fish were dried and salted, smoked, or canned, and fishermen on MDI did all three.As demand grew, the cannery needed to as well, but Deacon Clark, who owned the land, was worried that the smell of the cannery would ruin his hotel business. Because, this wharf was also used by the Rockland Steamship Company to pick up and drop off summer passengers staying on MDI. Clark had a large hotel on the hill near the cannery, part of which is the Harbor Cottage Inn today. The cannery moved to Bass Harbor to meet its growing needs. The steamship wharf was never as big or popular as the one in Bar Harbor, and eventually the Rockland line ceased operations in Southwest Harbor.The first Coast Guard station was founded on Cranberry Isle in 1878 as a volunteer service. Eventually, as the coasting trade declined, fishing and recreational boating along the inner waters increased. The Coast Guard Station was moved and consolidated with several other life saving operations to it's current location in 1945.
Villages on the Water
Bass Harbor is an active working waterfront with fish houses lining the shores, lobster boats coming and going, a ferry connecting MDI to Swans Island and Frenchboro, restaurants, and recreation and tour boats for exploring the outer islands. Acoss from the Tremont Historical Society is the old Underwood Cannery, which moved to this location from Southwest Harbor to open a large, modern facility in 1915.Here fish were canned in oil or sauce, and later when the demand for canned fish was low, the owners tried canning pie filling. Before modern environmental protections, excess oil or sauce was often dumped into the harbor and locals remember the water turning red when they were using tomato sauce or a slick of oil along the shore after the fish were fried.The cannery had a steam whistle that blew day or night when boats were bringing in fish. There were different whistle patterns for different jobs and everyone knew to listen for "their" whistle when it was time to unload fish, cut and put them into cans, or seal and steam them. The whistle was loud enough to hear in Southwest Harbor. Due to decreasing demand the cannery closed in 1973.Rising seas are impacting the town of Tremont and village of Bass Harbor faster than other parts of the island and eventually it will become separated from the rest of the island during storms and high tide events. The town has been a leader on the island as they plan for climate resiliency, while keeping the needs of fishermen at the forefront of their planning.
Auto Wars
Around 1901 the first car drove onto MDI, and soon after the first laws regulating cars were passed. Early laws forced drivers to put an advertisement in the newspaper listing the route and times prior to driving, limited speed to 5 mph, required drivers to stop and turn off the car if they saw livestock, and prohibited them from driving during the hours of 10 am to 7 pm.Almost as soon as cars arrived summer residents wanted them banned from the island, hoping to preserve their peaceful summer retreat. As Standard Oil tycoon, J.D. Rockefeller Jr. noted, he wanted "one place in the world where he didn't have to smell his own gasoline." Maine passed a local ordinance law allowing each town to decide for itself whether to allow cars or not. Of the three towns on MDI, Bar Harbor (Eden at the time) and Mount Desert voted to ban autos, and Tremont (which included Southwest Harbor) voted to allow cars. Looking at a map of the island it's obvious this caused a challenge.Generally speaking locals wanted cars for new business opportunities and the social status, and summer residents, who had cars at their winter homes, generally did not want cars on MDI. The debate raged for over a decade, but after lagging visitation in 1908 Bar Harbor finally allowed cars in 1909, but Mount Desert continued the ban. Finally, in 1915 the state repealed the ordinance and cars were allowed in all towns. The following summer the first lands that became Acadia National Park opened to the public at Sieur de Monts Springs, welcoming over 16,000 vehicles.The island has long struggled with its popularity, but the impact of automobiles might be among the most challenging. Our small towns and rural roads are not designed to accommodate large recreational vehicles or the volume of traffic we get each season. Because the summer influx of people ebbs in the fall, the island doesn't always need large parking areas and wide roads for the local population. The tax burden and cost of living on the island is already high, increasing taxes to pay for infrastructure improvements for summer visitors isn't ideal. The Island Explorer Bus is one alternative to summer traffic congestion, and the Park has created reservation systems and limitations on certain areas during peak season to lessen the impacts.
What's in a Name?
Mount Desert Island is an odd name and there is a long-standing argument about how to pronounce it- is it Mount Desert (dry, arid landscape) or Mount Des(s)ert (think blueberry pie and other sweet treats). Mount Desert Island is a name centuries old, but it’s not the first name by which this island was known.The first people to call this island home are the ancestors of modern Wabanaki, a confederation of five tribes including the Passamaquoddy, Penobscot, Mi’kmaq, Maliseet, and Abenaki. Wabanaki itself is a name deeply connected with a sense of place, translating to “Dawnland” or “People of the Dawn” given our eastern location.The Passamaquoddy refered to the island as Pesamkuk, a central meeting place where Wabanaki people came throughout the year to hunt and spear fish. It can be interpreted as “the sandy hunting and spearing place.”Regardless of how you pronounce it, Samuel Champlain named the island in 1604 as Île des Monts Déserts, or, the “island of the deserted mountains”. Generally people pronounce the island like the dry, arid landscape, and the town like the sweet treat after a meal, even though they’re spelled the same.Many of the mountain names have been changed multiple times, as well as lakes, towns, and even Acadia National Park is the Park's third name. Early maps help document this evolving history.
