Mountaintop Retreat

Mountaintop Retreat. . , Like a giant magnet, Cadillac Mountain's summit has attracted people for thousands of years. Sightseers journey here to enjoy magnificent views of the ocean and islands, and scientists come to record topographical and environmental data. Before the national park was established, a series of hotels sprung up on the rocks to provide food and lodging for the growing crowds, but fires and severe storms took their toll on the buildings. Today, increasing numbers of motor vehicles present new challenges to protecting the summit's natural features, but the top of Cadillac Mountain is still a place where visitors can relax, reflect, and enjoy Mount Desert Island's amazing views. , Cadillac's Summit through the Years , 1853 US Coast Survey establishes a triangulation station at the summit. A rough road is built to haul equipment to the station. , 1861 Local landowner Daniel Brewer builds a passable "buckboard road to the summit and charges fees. , 1867 Brewer erects a small hotel on the summit called the Green Mountain House. , 1883 Businessman Frank Clergue constructs the Green Mountain Railway from Eagle Lake to the summit's middle peak. , 1883-1884 Clergus completes the summit's second hotel Summit House, adjacent to Green Mountain House and near railroad's terminus. , 1884 The Summit House and Green Mountain House burn down. , 1885 A third hotel, the Summit Hotel, boasts of three stories and an octagonal-shaped cupola. , 1888-1889 Green Mountain Carriage Road Co. builds a new, alternate carriage road to the summit. , 1889-1891 US Signal Service opens a seasonal weather station using the offices on Summit Hotel's third floor. , 1890 Green Mountain Railway closes due to high operating costs decrease in visitors, and competition from new carriage road. , 1908 George B. Dorr facilitates the Hancock County Trustees of Public Reservations acquisition of 85 acres of summit area from Brewer's heirs. , 1929-1932 National Park Service constructs a motor road to the summit. ,