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-=-=-= GROWING PAINS =-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-= -=-=-= Eden became Bar Harbor in 1826, and remained a quiet, isolated town primarily home to fishermen, farmers and the occasional tradesman. Schooners and whalers plied the waters, and commercial fishing was the main industry over the next 60 years. The out-break of the Civil War in 1861 saw a brief surge of prosperity on Mt. Desert Island, mainly because of the need for ships. A few shipyards sprang up, but most closed by the 1870s, and Bar Harbor relapsed into near obscurity. It was outsiders, mostly artists and journalists, who first revealed Mt. Desert Island to the world in the mid-1800's. Painters of the Hudson River School like Thomas Cole and Frederick Church, glorified the island in their art, inspiring patrons and friends to flock there. Local residents began calling these people "Rusticators" and "Summercators." Undaunted by crude accommodations and simple food, they sought out local fishermen and farmers, paying them a modest fee to provide beds and meals. Year after year, these Rusticators returned to renew friendships with the islanders and, most of all, to savor the fresh salt air, enjoy the beautiful scenery and relax away from the cities. It wasn't long before the villager's cottages and fishermen's huts were filled to overflowing, and by 1880, 30 hotels competed for vacationer's money. Tourism was born on Mt. Desert Island, an industry which survives to this day. One overly ambitious entrepreneur even built a hotel on top of Cadillac Mountain, and a cog railway to reach it. Sadly, the summer clientele seemed to prefer horse-drawn carriages and buckboards to the railway, and both hotel and rail system closed after only seven years. For a select handful of Americans, the 1880s and the "Gay 90s" meant affluence on a scale without precedent for the island. Far removed from larger cities on the Eastern Seaboard, Mt. Desert Island became a retreat for prominent people of the times. Names like Rockerfeller, Morgan, Ford, Vanderbilt, Carnegie and Astor were as commonplace on the island as in New York and Washington, D.C. These affluent people chose to spend their summers here, and, not content with the simple lodgings then available, they transformed the landscape with elegant estates euphemistically called "cottages." Luxury, refinement and ostentatious gatherings replaced the buckboard rides, picnics and day-long hikes of earlier years. Gone forever was the rustic atmosphere of sleepy villages like Bar Harbor, nearby North-East Harbor and seal Harbor. Ironically, these same summercators also helped preserve the natural beauty of Mt. Desert Island, for it was they who created Acadia National Park, the first such park whose land was donated entirely by private citizens. For over 40 years, Mt. Desert Island was a play-ground for the wealthy, but the Great Depression and World War II marked an end to such extravagance. The final blow came in 1947 when a fire of monumental proportions swept over the island, consuming many of those magnificent mansions. Continued in news History5 =-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-= |