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-=-=-= NATIONAL PARK STATUS =-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-= -=-=-= Though the affluent came for fun and frolic, the had much to do with preserving the landscape of present-day Mt. Desert Island. It was a Maine politician who once remarked, "The portable sawmill created Acadia National Park. Concerned this tool of progress would cut a swath through their island paradise, a group of summer residents led by Charles W. Elliot, then President of Harvard, formed a public land trust in 1901. This group had the foresight to appoint George Bucknam Dorr, a member of a highly regarded Boston family who had made its fortune in textiles. Dorr would spend the next 43 years tirelessly working to protect and preserve Acadia for public use. Dorr, an enthusiastic spokesman for conservation, devoted his life, energy and fortune to the preservation of Acadia. Disturbed by the growing development of Bar Harbor and dangers foreseen in the newly invented gasoline powered portable sawmill, George Dorr and others established the Hancock County Trustees of Public Reservations. The corporation, whose sole purpose was to preserve land for the perpetual use of the public, acquired 6000 acres by 1913. The first notable aquisition was in 1908, the chiseled headland known locally as "The Beehive." This was soon followed by the 1,532-foot Cadillac Mountain, and by 1916, Door secured National Monument status for the trust, which had grown to more than 5,000 acres when Dorr offered the land to the federal government. In 1916, President Wilson announced the creation of Sieur de Monts National Monument comprising of over 15,000 acres. Dorr continued to acquire land, renewing efforts to obtain full National Park status for his beloved island. In 1919, President Wilson signed an act finally establishing the park, and, as a nod to its French heritage, named it Lafayette National Park, the first such park east of the Mississippi. Dorr, whose labors were termed "...the greatest one-man show in the history of land conservation..." became the first park superintendent, a position he maintained until his death in 1944. Over the next 10 years, Lafayette Park doubled in size, thanks in part to the acquisition of breath-taking Schoodic Peninsula which faces Mt. Desert Island across Frenchman Bay. The family who donated the 2,000-acre peninsula had but one small stipulation. Being residents of England, they objected to the park's Francophile name, and, always eager to accommodate a generous donor, Dorr arranged for a name change to Acadia National Park, a move requiring an act of Congress. Acadia's last major acquisition was 1943, with the donation of 3,000 acres on unspoiled Isle au Haut, an island about 15 miles southwest of Mt. Desert in Penobscot Bay. Next to George Dorr, Acadia has had no better friend than industrialist and philanthropist John D. Rockefeller, Jr. He not only donated more than 10,000 acres of parkland (including a dramatic stretch of coast between Thunder Hole and Otter Cliffs), but was also responsible for one of Acadia's most picturesque features, the 50 miles of gravel carriage roads winding through its sylvan interior. Alarmed by the prospect of a park overrun by automobils, Rockerfeller began building the single-lane carriage roads in 1913. Connected by a series of 17 handsome bridges crafted from local granite and cobblestones, today the carriage roads are enjoyed not only by equestrians (carriage rides are available through the park's Wildwood Stables), but also by cyclists, hikers, and, during the winter months, cross-country skiers. Continued in news History6 =-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-= |