Today we explored the Acadia and Bar Harbor area.

We are staying in the town of Bar Harbor, which is on Mount Desert Island facing Frenchman Bay. It was settled in 1763 and incorporated in 1796. This has been a tourist destination since at least the late 1800s, and it is understandable why. It is beautiful here. Bar Harbor is known for other things: the area (specifically Bald Porcupine Island) was used for naval maneuvers in WWI and Vice-President Nelson Rockefeller was born here.

Acadia National Park covers about half of Mount Desert Island, part of the Isle au Haut, the tip of the Schoodic Peninsula, and portions of 16 smaller outlying islands. It was the first national park to be created from land gifted from private owners. It was first established as a national monument in 1916. then later as a national park in 1919. It was the first national park east of the Mississippi River and was originally named the Lafayette National Park after Gilbert du Motier, Marquis de Lafayette, who fought in the Revolutionary War. In 1929 it was renamed the Acadia National Park in recognition of the Acadia Colony of New France. This was in this region and extended into Canada. This eventually got divided into the British Colonies. Some of the Acadian people stayed in the area. Others fled and went south, many to Louisiana. There, these Acadians eventually came to be referred to as Cajuns.

Acadia has beautiful views of the ocean along with many lakes and forests. There are multiple mountains, including Cadillac Mountain which is the highest coastaline mountain on the eastern coastline of the US.

All around the park there are carriage roads. These are roads that can only be traveled by foot, bike, or horse/carriage. These were designed and established by John D Rockefeller, Jr. He wanted motor-free travel in the park and led efforts to build roads and bridges to accomplish this. There are still 45 miles of these roads in the park.

There’s still come color here.

Most of the shoreline was rocky, although there were occasional sandy beaches.

We managed to see two lighthouses today. The first was Egg Rock Light Station (pictured above). This in is Frenchman’s Bay and was built in 1875. It is unusual as it is a square tower projecting up through the square light keeper’s house. There is a fog station building next to it. It is an active lighthouse, flashing red every 40 seconds. Some people consider it to be the ugliest lighthouse in Maine.

The second was Bass Harbor Head Light Station. This is located in Tremont, Maine and was established in 1858. It was converted from an oil lamp to electricity in 1949, but did not have full automation until 1974. It emits a red light for 4 seconds then is dark for 4 seconds. It used to use a hand bell for a fog signal, but uses a bell bouy now. The last light keeper left in 1974 and after that the keeper’s dwelling served as a residence for a Coast Guard family until last year.