The Museum in the Streets: Bar Harbor, Maine Historical Markers

By Bill Coughlin, July 12, 2017

Bar Harbor, Maine Marker

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1 ► Maine, Hancock County, Bar Harbor — 27 — Agamont Park and Early Artists / Le parc Agamont et les artistes — Bar Harbor, Maine — The Museum in the Streets —

Agamont Park is named after the Agamont House, built by Tobias Roberts in 1857 as Bar Harbor's first hotel. It burned down in 1888. The unusual name was supposedly given by his granddaughter who called this hill on the water "Aqua . . . — — Map (db m260524) HM

2 ► Maine, Hancock County, Bar Harbor — 26 — Arrival By Sea / Vocation Maritime — Bar Harbor, Maine — The Museum in the Streets —

The sea was the original "Highway" for many coming to Bar Harbor, the steamboats and Navy ships celebrating the Fourth of July. In 1925, the dirigible Shenandoah made a stop in Bar Harbor. It was 680 feet long and weighed 36 tons. That September 3, . . . — — Map (db m259838) HM

3 ► Maine, Hancock County, Bar Harbor — 23 — Balance Rock and the Ice Age / Balance Rock Et L'ere Glaciarire — Bar Harbor, Maine — The Museum in the Streets —

The large boulder on the shore in front of you is an excellent example of a glacial erratic and has been popular with the photographers for years. It has a different makeup than the surrounding rock, as can be seen by the color and . . . — — Map (db m259837)

4 ► Maine, Hancock County, Bar Harbor — 7 — Bar Harbor Municipal Building —

Now the municipal building, the Fred Savage-designed brick structure in front of you was built in 1908 for $90,000 as a high school. The last class graduated from this school in 1968, and now all students attend the Mount Desert Island . . . — — Map (db m260530) HM

5 ► Maine, Hancock County, Bar Harbor — 3 — Bar Island — Bar Harbor, Maine — The Museum in the Streets —

After being privately owned by several families such as the Rodicks and Pineos, the long period of arguments over its development and ideas to build a bridge to Bar Harbor lasted until John D. Rockefeller, Jr. quietly purchased the . . . — — Map (db m105932) HM

6 ► Maine, Hancock County, Bar Harbor — 28 — Criterion Theatre / Le Théâtre Criterion — Bar Harbor, Maine — The Museum in the Streets —

The Criterion Theatre opened June 6, 1932 with a vaudeville and picture show. The building was built by George McKay at a cost of $150,000. The original Art Deco interior is one of its most outstanding features. The “flying” . . . — — Map (db m184667) HM

7 ► Maine, Hancock County, Bar Harbor — 10 — Holy Redeemer / Église de Holy Redeemer — Bar Harbor, Maine — The Museum in the Streets —

The Holy Redeemer Catholic Church was built in 1907 at a cost of $44,000 contributed almost entirely by the maids and workmen of the town. The church has its own patron, Saint Katharine Mary Drexel, canonized in 2000 during a . . . — — Map (db m184669) HM

8 ► Maine, Hancock County, Bar Harbor — 5 — La Rochelle — Bar Harbor, Maine — The Museum in the Streets —

Constructed in 1903 by Mr. George Sullivan Bowdoin, a partner in J.P. Morgan Co., this Georgian Revival style mansion was called "La Rochelle," French for "the Little Rocks." The design boasted 35 rooms, 15 bathrooms, 11 fireplaces and . . . — — Map (db m260107) HM

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9 ► Maine, Hancock County, Bar Harbor — 9 — Ledgelawn Inn — Bar Harbor, Maine — The Museum in the Streets —

Mary Shannon of Newton, Massachusetts summered in Bar Harbor for 30 years from 1871 until her death in 1901. Ms. Shannon donated a sizeable portion of her land to the Village Improvement Association for the children of Bar Harbor. To this day the . . . — — Map (db m260206) HM

10 ► Maine, Hancock County, Bar Harbor — 19 — MDI Hospital — Bar Harbor, Maine — The Museum in the Streets —

Bar Harbor has many amenities not usually found in a small town such as the hospital, YWCA, YMCA, Jesup Library and Abbe Museum due to the foresight and generosity of the large summer community. From its inception in 1897, the hospital has been a . . . — — Map (db m260202) HM

11 ► Maine, Hancock County, Bar Harbor — 11 — Sisters of Mercy Convent — Bar Harbor, Maine — The Museum in the Streets —

In 1918 Saint Katherine Drexel's sister, Louise, and her husband Colonel Edward Morrell established both the Convent and St. Edward's School directly behind it. The Sisters of Mercy ran the school and lived in the convent until 1970. The Morrell's . . . — — Map (db m260205) HM

12 ► Maine, Hancock County, Bar Harbor — 14 — The Abbe Museum & Congregational Church / Le Musée Abbe et L'Élise Congrégationaliste — Bar Harbor, Maine — The Museum in the Streets —

The original Abbe Museum, which still exists at Sieur de Monts Spring, was founded by Dr. Robert Abbe, a surgeon from New York and a Bar Harbor summer resident, who assembled a collection of early Native American artifacts found in . . . — — Map (db m260208) HM

13 ► Maine, Hancock County, Bar Harbor — 2 — The Bar Harbor Club / La Club de Bar Harbor — Bar Harbor, Maine — The Museum in the Streets —

Built between winter-1929 and spring-1930, the Bar Harbor Club epitomized the "Gilded Age." Wealthy summer residents and power brokers of the 19 and 20° centuries, including personalities such as Henry Morgenthau, James Blaine, George . . . — — Map (db m260034) HM

14 ► Maine, Hancock County, Bar Harbor — 15 — The Bar Harbor Fire Department / Les Pompiers de Bar Harbor — Bar Harbor, Maine — The Museum in the Streets —

The fire station was constructed in 1911 following Fred L. Savage's design. The police station was added in 1989. The Great Fire of 1947 will always be remembered as the Bar Harbor Fire Department's most daunting fight ever. For pure . . . — — Map (db m260537) HM

15 ► Maine, Hancock County, Bar Harbor — 20 — The Briars — Bar Harbor, Maine — The Museum in the Streets —

This is the south entrance to the Shorepath as is explained on the green sign at the head of the path. The Briars Cottage was built in 1881 by the founder of Sears, J. Montgomery Sears of Boston. John D. Rockefeller Jr. rented the cottage for the . . . — — Map (db m260204) HM

16 ► Maine, Hancock County, Bar Harbor — 8 — The Cottage Era — Bar Harbor Maine — The Museum in the Streets —

By the late 1890s, more than 175 summer homes stood in Bar Harbor. The term "cottage" understates the magnificent manor houses erected in Bar Harbor. Either because "cottages" seemed rustic compared to their winter homes or because they . . . — — Map (db m260528) HM

17 ► Maine, Hancock County, Bar Harbor — 17 — The Fred Savage Home — Bar Harbor, Maine — The Museum in the Streets —

This fine example of English Tudor design and pink granite construction was the work and home of famed local architect Fred Savage, who designed many of the larger homes and public buildings in the area. All of the pink granite was quarried right . . . — — Map (db m260199) HM

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18 ► Maine, Hancock County, Bar Harbor — 6 — The Great Fire / Le Grand Incendie — Bar Harbor, Maine — The Museum in the Streets —

The Great Fire of 1947 came this close to burning down the town of Bar Harbor before a shift in wind forced it around the village. The fire started October 17 near an open burning landfill, Dolliver's dump, in a bog about eight miles from here. . . . — — Map (db m260170) HM

19 ► Maine, Hancock County, Bar Harbor — 18 — The Great Hotel Era / L'Époque des Grands Hôtels — Bar Harbor, Maine — The Museum in the Streets —

As the cottage era came into its own, the hotel age went into decline. In 1888, there were 18 hotels in Bar Harbor that could accommodate 2,500 guests. The local hotel moguls included the four Higgins brothers, Fountain Rodick, Captain . . . — — Map (db m260201) HM

20 ► Maine, Hancock County, Bar Harbor — 24 — The Reading Room at the Bar Harbor Inn / La Salle De lecture A` L'Auberge De Bar Harbor — Bar Harbor, Maine — The Museum in the Streets —

In 1874, a club was opened "...for the purpose of establishing and Maintaining a reading room at Bar Harbor, in the town of Eden, Hancock County, and for the promotion of literary and social culture among its members." Its membership, which peaked . . . — — Map (db m259836) HM

21 ► Maine, Hancock County, Bar Harbor — 25 — The Shorepath / Le Sentier Côtier — The Museum in the Streets —

This is the north entrance of Bar Harbor's famous Shorepath made possible by the generosity of the landowners who granted, passage. In 1920, the Village Improvement Association (VIA) planning committee chaired by Beatrix Farrand saw the need for . . . — — Map (db m254605) HM

22 ► Maine, Hancock County, Bar Harbor — 16 — The Village Green / Le Jardin Public — Bar Harbor, Maine — The Museum in the Streets —

The Village Green was originally the site of the 350-room Grand Hotel. Many stories have been told about the immature Boston boys and the cultured Philadelphia girls who socialized around the “fish pond” at the nearby Rodick House. . . . — — Map (db m105922) HM

23 ► Maine, Hancock County, Bar Harbor — 1 — The Waterfront / La Front de Mer — Bar Harbor, Maine — The Museum in the Streets —

Tobias Roberts built the first pier large enough to accommodate steamboats like the passenger carrier Rockland that began making regular stops here in 1857. Here is an excerpt from the 1881 Bar Harbor Blue Book: "During the past winter, . . . — — Map (db m259954) HM

24 ► Maine, Hancock County, Bar Harbor — 12 — The YWCA and Jesup Memorial Library / La YWCA et la bibliothèque Jesup — Bar Harbor, Maine — The Museum in the Streets —

Mrs. John S. Kennedy had the YWCA built in 1913 to provide housing for young women who came to town to work in the many summer cottages. It continues to provide housing for women to this day. The Jesup Memorial Library was built . . . — — Map (db m260207) HM

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