Bar Harbor

Maine

Bar Harbor is a town on Mount Desert Island along Maine’s Frenchman Bay. It serves as a 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.

Wabanaki people and their ancestors lived on the land for thousands of years prior to the arrival of Europeans in their homeland, and continue to have an important presence in this place today. Archaeologists have evidence that indicates Native Americans first arrived on Mount Desert Island around 5,000 years ago.

They were followed by the French and then the English. By the 1800s, the area where Bar Harbor now stands was a thriving settlement. During the late 1800s, the artists began to arrive. It was because of their striking landscapes that people began to take notice of the region’s rustic beauty, and the first summer visitors began arriving.

During the 19th century, the Golden Age of Bar Harbor, powerful American families, including the Pulitzers, Vanderbilts, Rockefellers, Morgans, Astors, and Fords, built grand summer “cottages” around the island.

Then, in October 1947, a massive fire swept the island, with Bar Harbor bearing the brunt of the destruction it left in its wake. In the end, 67 summer estates and five historic hotels were burned to the ground. With the Great Depression and the newly‐introduced income tax having already taken a toll on the opulent lifestyles of the rich, most of these properties were not rebuilt.

Today, the historic homes and buildings that survived the fire have been finely preserved. Architecture that dates back to the Golden Age can be seen throughout downtown Bar Harbor. The remaining summer estates have been restored and converted to inns or remain private homes.

Bar Harbor is still a summer mecca for business moguls, celebrities, and socialites, but it now draws visitors from all walks of life and from across the globe.