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One of the best places to visit in Maine & New England
Whether you like hiking, biking or swimming or shopping, dining or relaxing, a vacation in Bar Harbor, Maine has something for everyone! From sightseeing, whale watching to strolling through locally-owned shops and museums, no matter what type of adventure you’re looking for, Bar Harbor is the best choice for authentic island fun for the whole family.
Adventure, romance, the rock-bound coast and soaring granite cliffs–there is a special mystique to Bar Harbor. Surrounded by Acadia National Park and located at the edge of the sea, we have welcomed visitors for over a hundred years. If you’re considering a vacation in Maine or planning to travel New England, Bar Harbor should top your list of destinations, as it is truly one of the best places to visit in Maine and New England. Not exactly a well-guarded secret, but not overrun with tourism either, Bar Harbor is a Maine/New England vacation spot beyond compare. And of course one of its many attractions is its close proximity to Acadia National Park—over 50 square miles of mountains, lakes, hiking, biking, views and dramatic coastline.
Bar Harbor is a popular tourist destination town
There are many recreational activities in Bar Harbor, Maine. The downtown is very alive in the summer and autumn months and is home to many outdoor enthusiasts. Since Acadia National Park is only a couple of miles from downtown, there are plenty of chances to experience the National Parks wonders and beauty. Outdoor activities in Acadia include hiking along trails or carriage roads, biking along the carriage roads, bird watching, and mountain climbing. Acadia National Park is home to Cadillac Mountain, the highest point on the Atlantic seaboard.
Those interested in the marine life surrounding Mount Desert Island can go to the marina at the end of Main St. and sign up for tours that see puffins, whales, lobster, seals, pelagic seabirds, island lighthouses, or nature cruise.
At low tide a sand bar from town to Bar Island is exposed and wide enough to drive a car across. Although cars are not allowed on the sandbar, it provides a lot of entertainment for those looking to go shelling or just to see what is uncovered when the water retreats. This exposed land also provides an excellent launch point for kayakers.
Bar Harbor is a destination for tourists from all over the world. Cruise ships are in the harbor from May through October.
History of Bar Harbor, Maine
The town of Bar Harbor was founded on the northeast shore of Mount Desert Island, which the Wabanaki Indians knew as Pemetic, meaning “range of mountains” or “mountains seen at a distance.” The Wabanaki seasonally fished, hunted and gathered berries, clams, and other shellfish in the area. They spoke of Bar Harbor as clambake place, leaving great piles of shells as evidence of this abundance.
In early September 1604, French explorer Samuel de Champlain ran aground on a rock ledge believed to be just off Otter Cliffs, and when he came ashore to repair his boat he met local natives. Champlain named the island Isles des Monts Deserts, meaning “island of barren mountains”—now called Mount Desert Island, the largest in Maine.
The community was first settled by Europeans in 1763 by Israel Higgins and John Thomas and incorporated on February 23, 1796 as Eden, after Sir Richard Eden, an English statesman. Early industries included fishing, lumbering and shipbuilding. With the best soil on Mount Desert Island, it also developed agriculture. In the 1840s, its rugged maritime scenery attracted the Hudson River School and Luminism artists Thomas Cole, Frederic Edwin Church, William Hart and Fitz Henry Lane. Inspired by their paintings, journalists, sportsmen and “rusticators” followed. Agamont House, the first hotel in Eden, was established in 1855 by Tobias Roberts. Birch Point, the first summer estate, was built in 1868 by Alpheus Hardy.
By 1880, there were 30 hotels, including the Mira Monte Inn, a historic landmark that survived a massive fire in 1947. Tourists were arriving by train and ferry to the Gilded Age resort that would rival Newport, Rhode Island. The rich and famous tried to outdo each other with entertaining and estates, often hiring landscape gardener and landscape architect Beatrix Farrand, a resident at local Reef Point Estate, to design their gardens. A glimpse of their lifestyles was available from the Shore Path, a walkway skirting waterfront lawns. Yachting, garden parties at the Pot & Kettle Club, and carriage rides up Cadillac Mountain were popular diversions. Others enjoyed horse-racing at Robin Hood Park-Morrell Park. President William Howard Taft played golf in 1910 at the Kebo Valley Golf Club. On March 3, 1918, Eden was renamed Bar Harbor, after the sand and gravel bar, visible at low tide, which leads across to Bar Island and forms the rear of the harbor. The name would become synonymous with elite wealth. It was the birthplace of vice-president Nelson Rockefeller on July 8, 1908.
Bar Harbor was also used for naval practices during World War II. More specifically, Bald Porcupine Island was used to fire live torpedoes. On October 10, 1944 it was the submarine USS Piper firing 12 live torpedoes at the island. Of the 12 torpedoes fired, one failed to explode on the first attempt but was later detonated by the 12th torpedo. In 1996, the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers surveyed the island to make sure there were no active torpedoes and only found remains.
history http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Bar_Harbor,_Maine