Acadia National Park History

How a Resort Became a National Park
With the Help of John D. Rockefeller

Acadia National Park history is a fascinating glimpse into the earliest environmentalists like John D. Rockefeller, George Dorr and others.

Acadia National Park has a rich history. I'm a history buff, so I love to look at the places I go through the lens of history. One of the things that has made Acadia so special for me is its past.

Understanding how this beautiful park arose almost from the ashes of its history as a mere playground for the rich and famous gives it a depth that is hard to describe.

Early Years...

In 1872, when Yellowstone became the first national park, Acadia didn't exist yet. In fact, Mount Desert Island was still largely undiscovered by most of the general public.

But by the turn of the century, the future of Acadia was already being forged by some powerful environmentalists. In the summer of 1901, a private group of wealthy men began setting aside lands for a future park. They wanted to preserve the wild beauty of Mount Desert Island and protect it from future development.

Within 12 years, the group had acquired 6,000 acres, which they then offered to the federal government as a gift to be used as a park.

On July 8, 1916, President Woodrow Wilson signed a declaration to establish the Sieur de Monts National Monument. The name was chosen in honor of the French nobleman who first owned Mt.Desert Island during the reign of King Henry IV.

In 1919, the US Congress changed the name and status to Lafayette National Park to honor their French allies from the recent World War I.

Acadia National Park—the first national park east of the Mississippi River—was officially born in 1929. Acadia was the name that was originally given to this whole region by French explorers.

The Men Who Shaped Acadia National Park History

One of Acadia's most unique features is its carriage roads and bridges. The man behind them was the wealthy financier, John D. Rockefeller Jr. He built 57 miles of gravel roads and 17 hand-carved granite stone bridges between 1913 and 1940. He also donated one-third of the land in the park.

George Dorr was another of the former landowners who helped shape Acadia. He was a big player in Acadia National Park history.

Dorr charted and created many of the trails in the park, and is, in fact, known as "the father of Acadia." He also renamed many of the mountains within the park to give them more inspiring or picturesque names.

• Green Mountain became Cadillac Mountain
• Dog Mountain became St. Sauveur Mountain.
• Robinson Mountain became Acadia Mountain.

I think these words of George Dorr sum up all that Acadia is and could be...

"Saved to future generations as it has been to us, in the wild primeval beauty of the nature it exhibits, of ancient rocks and still more ancient sea, with infinite detail of life and landscape interest between, the spirit and mind of man will surely find in it in the years and centuries to come an inspiration and a means of growth as essential to them ever and anon as are fresh air and sunshine to the body."

As the years have advanced since these early days, Acadia has grown to more than 47,000 acres. Today's Acadia is a truly unique national park that is not equaled anywhere else in the US. It's not a big park, but it is special.

Read about Acadia's current and future picture

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