Bar Harbor History

The Era of Bar Harbor Maine Cottages for the Wealthy

Modern Bar Harbor history began with the building of fabulous Bar Harbor Maine "Cottages". These vacation homes of the wealthy were very different from the modest family lodgings labeled as cottages that you find scattered across the island today. These "palaces" of the rich and famous were part of the fabric of early Acadia history.

In the late 1800s, wealthy landowners and businessmen discovered Acadia, or more accurately, Mt. Desert Island. They made it their summer playground.

But as early as the 1850s in Bar Harbor history, well-known painters such as Frederic E. Church, Thomas Cole, Fitz Hugh Lane, William Hart and Thomas Birch helped bring the area alive through their paintings of the island's beautiful mountains and seascapes.

The island was not only a beautiful location, but motor cars were not allowed here until 1913, so it had the attraction of truly "getting away from it all."

In fact, the early visitors of the 19th century arrived by train or boat. They called themselves "rusticators" because they were visiting such a rustic area.

Many were adventurous hikers, and others traveled up the north ridge of Cadillac mountain in horse-drawn wagons to picnic on the peak!

Summer Cottages in Primitive Surroundings

The first hotel was built on Mt. Desert in 1855 by Tobias Roberts. In 1868, Alpheus Hardy was the first person to build a summer home here. It was called Birch Point. More and more homes and hotels were built as the area became increasingly popular. The early settlers called these vacation homes in Bar Harbor, Maine, "cottages", but that was a bit of a misnomer.

Indeed, the turn-of-the-century style summer cottage might have 100 or more rooms. One even had 12 and a half bathrooms! I'm afraid our vacations on Acadia were quite different than what Mr. Rockefeller might have experienced.

Some of the biggest names in wealthy society established summer homes on the island, including John D. Rockefeller, JP Morgan, Vanderbilt, and Pulitzer. Some of these men played important roles in Bar Harbor history and Acadia history over the years.

A beautiful red brick mansion, named "High Seas" is one of the last remaining summer cottages. High Seas sits on a high wooded point looking out on Frenchman Bay. You can see it from Schooner Head.

Today, High Seas cottage is completely surrounded by National Park land and is owned by Jackson Laboratories, which does biological and cancer research.

So, what happened to all those beautiful and monstrous Bar Harbor Maine cottages and mansions of old Bar Harbor history? Well, that's another part of Acadia history lore...

The Bar Harbor Fire of 1947 Changed Acadia History...

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