Bar Harbor, while not as famous for grand “cottages” of the Gilded Age, as its neighbor to the south, Newport, Rhode Island, it did have some spectacular homes before a massive fire in 1947 burned many of them down, or they were torn down. These are some of the amazing houses still left in Bar Harbor, both private and converted for some other use. Enjoy!
PortFringe was over and we were on to the next part of our Maine excursion. We pulled out of Portland in our rental car after saying goodbye to our wonderful hosts, Laurie and Ross, and headed for Mt. Desert Island. Mt. Desert might be better known to you as Bar Harbor and Acadia National Park which are located on the very large island off the coast of Maine.
We were early in the season for Maine tourism, so the traffic on the 1 as you drove north up the coast was not to bad so we made decent time. We stopped for lunch in Camden and walked around. Pretty little town, but very touristy and crowded.
We turned off the 1 to the 3 at Ellsworth and in about 16 to 18 miles took the bridge over to the island and headed to our hotel – the High Seas Motel on Highway 3 on the outskirts of Bar Harbor. A very reasonably priced, clean family run motel with a heated pool in summer. There is morning coffee and an open kitchen area with microwave open from 7 AM to 10 PM. There is also a coin laundry on the premises for the guests.
After settling in and getting unpacked, we headed for Bar Harbor about 3PM. Bar Harbor is located along Maine’s Frenchman Bay. It serves as the gateway to the mountains and cliffs of neighboring Acadia National Park. Towering over the park, Cadillac Mountain has trails and views of the town, the bay and the Cranberry Islands. From the town pier, the Shore Path winds along the bay overlooking the Atlantic Ocean, the Porcupine Islands, and several of the remaining grand houses of the Glided Age building craze in the 1890’s.
Here I will take a moment to comment on the National Park and its relationship to the island. Acadia National Park covers much of Mt. Desert but there are many selections of the island that are purely residential. When you arrive on the island you are encouraged to buy a $40 pass that allows to travel and park in the National Park. But to be honest, we were on the island and in the National Park everyday – we were never stopped or given a ticket. I am not advocating not supporting the National Park Service, but it is not absolutely necessary to buy a Park Pass in all cases. You may run the risk of getting a parking ticket from the Park Service. Yet, with so many out of state people living on the island during the summer, it is almost impossible to keep track of all the cars and knowing who is a part-time resident or a park visitor. That said I would encourage to support the work of the National Park Service and buy a pass.
Brief History of Bar Harbor
The town of Bar Harbor was founded on the northeast shore of Mount Desert Island, which the Wabanaki Indians knew as Pemetic, meaning “range of mountains” or “mountains seen at a distance.” The Wabanaki seasonally fished, hunted and gathered berries, clams, and other shellfish in the area. They spoke of Bar Harbor as Man-es-ayd’ik (“clam-gathering place”) or Ah-bays’auk (“clambake place”), leaving great piles of shells as evidence of this abundance. In early September 1604, French explorer Samuel de Champlain ran aground on a rock ledge believed to be just off Otter Cliffs, and when he came ashore to repair his boat he met local natives. Champlain named the island Isles des Monts Deserts, meaning “island of barren mountains”—now called Mount Desert Island, the largest in Maine. The community was first settled by Europeans in 1763 by Israel Higgins and John Thomas and incorporated on February 23, 1796 as Eden, after Sir Richard Eden, an English statesman.
The Famous Balance Rock!
In the 1840s, its rugged maritime scenery attracted the Hudson River School and Luminism artists Thomas Cole, Frederic Edwin Church, William Hart and Fitz Henry Lane. Inspired by their paintings, journalists, sportsmen and “rusticators” followed. Agamont House, the first hotel in Eden, was established in 1855 by Tobias Roberts. Birch Point, the first summer estate, was built in 1868 by Alpheus Hardy.
By 1880, there were 30 hotels, and tourists were arriving by train and ferry to the Gilded Age resort that would rival Newport, Rhode Island. The rich and famous tried to outdo each other with entertaining and estates, often hiring landscape gardener and landscape architect Beatrix Farrand, a resident at local Reef Point Estate, to design their gardens. A glimpse of their lifestyles was available from the Shore Path, a walkway skirting waterfront lawns. Yachting, garden parties at the Pot & Kettle Club, and carriage rides up Cadillac Mountain were popular diversions. Others enjoyed horse-racing at Robin Hood Park-Morrell Park. Many of these grand estates and homes were burned down in a massive fire at raged in the town in 1947.
On March 3, 1918, Eden was renamed Bar Harbor, after the sand and gravel bar, visible at low tide, which leads across to Bar Island and forms the rear of the harbor. The name would become synonymous with elite wealth. It was the birthplace of vice-president Nelson Rockefeller on July 8, 1908.
Many influential people have called Bar Harbor home for at least part of the year. John D. Rockefeller, Jr., son of John D. Rockefeller of Standard Oil Co., donated about one-third of the land in Acadia National Park and built the carriage roads that are used for hiking and biking. J. P. Morgan owned a house that is adjacent to Bar Harbor. Cornelius Vanderbilt built cottages in Bar Harbor. The Astor family owned hotels and cottages in Bar Harbor and the surrounding areas. The co-founder and CEO of Burt’s Bees, Roxanne Quimby, has a home near Bar Harbor. Martha Stewart has also been known to frequent Mount Desert Island and been seen in Bar Harbor.
Shore Path
We sent the late afternoon and early evening exploring the small streets of Bar Harbor and walking along the Shore Path (described above). Seeing what remains of the houses that at one time rivaled Newport Beach in Rhode Island, as a playground of the super-wealthy. The walk starts at Argamont Park and moves along the shore till it reached Wayman Lane.
There are several yacht tours of the harbor and islands, some even on large sailing yachts, all docking and leaving from the terminal next to Argamont Park. Many of the large old homes have been converted into hotels, B&B’s and restaurants, and all with wonderful views of the harbor. And of course there are tourists, t-shirt shops and sports bars everywhere.
We opted for dinner at a natural food store on Main Street, but there are eateries of every variety to choose from all serving lobster (especially lobster rolls), haddock and salmon.
After the walk and dinner, we returned to our hotel for a bottle of wine and some time in the heated pool before the mosquitoes got too bad. Next day was Monday and that was to be part 1 of two days in Acadia.
Historical data from WikiPedia, Photos by James Carey
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