Connected by Water

Connected by Water. . , Directly across Frenchman Bay... the beautiful group of islands, which, like stepping stones, form a connecting line to Mount Desert... , Pennsylvania Railroad Company's Summer Excursion Book, 1891, Water was the primary means of travel and commerce for thousands of years. Before the days of interstate highways, coastal schooners hauled raw materials and manufactured goods up and down the New England coast. Lighthouses stand as reminders of hazards faced by mariners-dense fog, rocky ledges, and strong currents., The Schoodic Peninsula may seem far removed from Mount Desert Island (and the rest of Acadia National Park) when you travel by road but they are ever linked by water - just as the stories and people of this land are tied to the bounty and dangers of the sea., Wabanaki people traveled coastal and inland waters by birch bark canoes. In addition to fishing, canoes fostered seasonal movement and trading, essential to the Wabanaki way of life., Steam ferries like the "Schoodic” were a primary means of transportation along the coast in the early 1900s., Originally built for lobster fishing in the late 1800s, today boats like this Friendship Sloop carry sightseers from all over the world.