Bar Island Path

Bar Island Path. . , Bar Island lies within one of the many harbors of Frenchman Bay. Consisting of 157 acres of woodland and pasture, it rises abruptly above the ocean to 175 feet at its more elevated eastern end. At the western end is its most distinctive feature, a rock and sand bar connecting the island to the town at low tide. The bar forms a natural roadway making it possible to walk or drive across for approximately four hours during low tide; the name "Bar Harbor" comes from this natural feature. The town was originally incorporated on February 23, 1796 by an act signed by Samuel Adams (then Governor of the Commonwealth of Massachusetts) creating the town of Eden, which was named after Sir Richard Eden, an English statesman., The town's name was changed to Bar Harbor in 1918. Although connected to Bar Harbor and just several hundred yards away from the village center, Bar Island was originally within the jurisdiction of the Town of Gouldsboro across the bay, which annexed the island under its articles of incorporation in 1791 (well before Maine became a "free" state in 1820). In 1814 Daniel Rodick, a native of Hulls Cove, acquired Bar Island from Gouldsboro, and he and his descendants resided there for the next century. They made a comfortable living off the sea and land by fishing, clamming, farming, lumbering and cutting ice. Today, Bar Island is part of Acadia National Park and is managed and regulated by the National Park Service.