| Maine (Hancock County), Bar Harbor — Acadian Lights |
| | Mount Desert Island's coastal waters have always held dangers for boats and ships - rocky shoreline, hidden ledges, and small islands that hide in the fog. Since 1875, Egg Rock Lighthouse perched on the craggy island before you, has helped guide vessels safely into Frenchman Bay. Among the hardships lighthouse keepers faced was fierce weather. Storm waves periodically swept over the low-lying island, washing away out-buildings, flooding the keeper's quarters, breaking windows, and tearing away . . . — Map (db m25481) |
| Maine (Hancock County), Bar Harbor — Frenchman Bay |
| | Vessels of all types have plied the waters f Frenchman Bay for centuries. Five thousand years ago, indigenous people may have paddled dugout canoes into the bay to reach fishing grounds or hunt sea mammals and swordfish. More recently, Wabanaki Indians used birch bark canoes. In 1604, the explorer Samuel Champlain charted the bay and named this island "Mount Desert" for its bare-topped mountains. From 1613 to 1760 the French battled the English for possession of North America. French frigates . . . — Map (db m25475) |
| Maine (Hancock County), Bar Harbor — Glacial Freight |
| | When the ice that covered this land slowly melted, it dropped in its tracks great accumulations of gravel and rocks. Boulders transported and deposited by glaciers are called "erratics." Erratics are rounded and noticeably different in composition from local bedrock. Left Text Glaciers carry huge loads of rock. The rocks come to rest where the melting ice crops them. The large boulder perched above on the South Bubble is a striking example. Bottom Text 20,000 years ago . . . — Map (db m25491) |
| Maine (Hancock County), Bar Harbor — The 1947 Fire |
| | In October 1947 a series of fires lasting 26 days blazed across more than 25 square miles of Mount Desert Island. The fire seriously threatened Bar harbor, and transformed most of the landscape before you into an apparent wasteland. It consumed 170 homes of year-round residents. Over 60 summer mansions burned, leaving only chimneys and garden statues standing. One-third of the park woodlands burned before the flames died at the ocean's edge. A forest of birch, aspen, and other hardwoods emerged . . . — Map (db m25478) |
| Maine (Hancock County), Bar Harbor — Thunder Hole |
| | Here you can witness an ageless battle - the surging power of the ocean vs. the steadfastness of rock. Thunder Hole (just below) is a large, partly submerged crevice with vertical granite walls, one of many such chasms along this shore. When waves roll into Thunder Hole, their power is concentrated. The thunder you often feel and hear, and the soaring spray are most dramatic at mid-tide with a rising sea. For your safety, please do not venture beyond the designated walkway and viewing area. Wet . . . — Map (db m25486) |
| Maine (Hancock County), Bass Harbor — Bass Harbor Head Light |
| | Among the best known and most photographed spots in Maine, the Bass Harbor Head Light was built in 1858 to mark the bar across the eastern entrance to Blue Hill Bay. The grounds and residence of this facility now comprise the private residence of the Commander, United States Coast Guard Group Southwest Harbor and are not open to the public. Trails on both sides of the parking lot allow visitors access to excellent views of the lighthouse and the surrounding coastline. — Map (db m3813) |
| Maine (Hancock County), Bucksport — The Penobscot Expedition — 1779 |
| | The largest combined infantry-naval operation undertaken by the American colonists during the Revolution met with disaster along this waterway. Two thousand colonials failed to capture Fort George at Castine with its contingent of 750 British land troops, 3 sloops and 4 transports. The Americans burned or sank almost 40 of their own vessels as far north as the City of Bangor as they fled the site of their attack.
Placed in commemoration by Penobscot Expedition Chapter, Daughters of . . . — Map (db m21458) |
| Maine (Hancock County), Hancock — Defenders of the Union |
| | Erected
by the
Town of Hancock
1912
In memory
of her sons who were
Defenders
of the
Union
1861-1865 — Map (db m21473) |
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