The Bar Harbor Inn is an

inn Inns are generally establishments or buildings where travelers can seek lodging, and usually, food and drink. Inns are typically located in the country or along a highway; before the advent of motorized transportation they also provided accommo ...

Bar Harbor, Maine Bar Harbor is a resort town on Mount Desert Island in Hancock County, Maine, United States. As of the 2020 census, its population is 5,089. During the summer and fall seasons, it is a popular tourist destination and, until a catastrophic fire i ...

. It was built in 1887, and has been an inn since 1950. The inn has accommodations in the main building, Oceanfront Lodge and The Newport. It has two restaurants: the Reading Room and (in the high season only) the Terrace Grille. A bar, called the Oasis Lounge, is located off of the Reading Room. There is also a spa on site. The inn closes from December to late March.

History

The property was originally known as the Mount Desert Reading Room when it was built by the men-only, 1874-founded"'Reading Room' was once a front"
- ''Mount Desert Islander'', May 16, 2015 Oasis Club in 1887 to be its new clubhouse. The purpose of the club was to promote literary and social culture. It was designed by

William Ralph Emerson William Ralph Emerson (March 11, 1833 – November 23, 1917) was an American architect. He partnered with Carl Fehmer in Emerson and Fehmer. Early life and education A cousin of Ralph Waldo Emerson, William was born in Alton, Illinois, and ...

In 1902, a steel pier was constructed at the Shore Path in front of the Reading Room to accommodate visitors that wanted to come in from

Frenchman Bay Frenchman Bay is a bay in Hancock County, Maine, named for Samuel de Champlain, the French French (french: français(e), link=no) may refer to: * Something of, from, or related to France ** French language, which originated in France, and its ...

. President

William Howard Taft William Howard Taft (September 15, 1857March 8, 1930) was the 27th president of the United States (1909–1913) and the tenth chief justice of the United States (1921–1930), the only person to have held both offices. Taft was elected pr ...

was provided a grand reception at the Reading Room in 1910. Ladies were permitted into the club for the time in 1921. A restaurant was opened to the public. In 1922, due to the outbreak of

World War I World War I (28 July 1914 11 November 1918), often abbreviated as WWI, was one of the deadliest global conflicts in history. Belligerents included much of Europe, the Russian Empire, the United States, and the Ottoman Empire, with fightin ...

and a resultant decline in membership, the Reading Room was sold to

Maine Central Railroad Company The Maine Central Railroad Company was a U. S. Class I railroad in central and southern Maine. It was chartered in 1856 and began operations in 1862. By 1884, Maine Central was the longest railroad in New England. Maine Central had expanded to w ...

. It leased the building to the Bar Harbor Yacht Club. Over the ensuing quarter-century, the building had a number of proprietors. In 1933, a group of hotel owners formed the Shore Club, which allowed guests at local hotels to use the Reading Room's facilities. During

World War II World War II or the Second World War, often abbreviated as WWII or WW2, was a world war that lasted from 1939 to 1945. It involved the vast majority of the world's countries—including all of the great powers—forming two opposin ...

, the

United States Navy The United States Navy (USN) is the maritime service branch of the United States Armed Forces and one of the eight uniformed services of the United States. It is the largest and most powerful navy in the world, with the estimated tonnage ...

leased the building for use as an observation headquarters. When Bar Harbor was inflicted by the

great fires of 1947 The Great Fires of 1947 were a series of forest fires in the State of Maine in the United States that destroyed a total area of of wooded land on Mount Desert Island and statewide. Collectively, the fires killed a total of 16 people. This disaster ...

, the

American Red Cross The American Red Cross (ARC), also known as the American National Red Cross, is a non-profit humanitarian organization that provides emergency assistance, disaster relief, and disaster preparedness education in the United States. It is the desi ...

used the building to provide shelter to many who had lost their homes. The following year, a committee set out to raise funds, by way of a

stock In finance, stock (also capital stock) consists of all the shares by which ownership of a corporation or company is divided.Longman Business English Dictionary: "stock - ''especially AmE'' one of the shares into which ownership of a company ...

program, to build a new hotel. The committee was headquartered at 6 Mount Desert Street, and by September 8, 1948 they had raised $231,600. They extended the campaign "in an effort to sell the entire authorized $300,000 stock issue." Work on the new hotel — named the Hotel Bar Harbor — began in 1950. The work incorporated the Reading Room but also included the addition of a 40-room wing. In 1960, a 20-room motel overlooking Frenchman Bay was added to the hotel. David J. Witham purchased the hotel in 1987 and changed the name to the current Bar Harbor Inn. The following year, he oversaw the addition of the 64-room Oceanfront Lodge to the property. The 20-room motel was relocated to make way for the new construction, but it was torn down in 1992 and replaced with the two-story Newport Building, adding 38 more rooms to the property. The hotel is still owned by his Witham Family Hotels Group, which owns two other hotels in downtown Bar Harbor: the Villager Motel and the Bar Harbor Grand. In 2006, the Bar Harbor Inn Spa building was erected. The inn underwent renovations during the winter and spring of 2018 and 2019, including a new infinity-edge swimming pool and a continental-breakfast building.

Gazebo

To the west of the inn, on the slope leading up to

Agamont Park Agamont Park (originally Bar Harbor Park) is an urban park in Bar Harbor, Maine, United States. It is located at the northern end of the town's Main Street, at its intersection with West Street. The park, set upon a hill, affords 180-degree view ...

, stands a

gazebo A gazebo is a pavilion structure, sometimes octagonal or turret-shaped, often built in a park, garden or spacious public area. Some are used on occasions as bandstands. Etymology The etymology given by Oxford Dictionaries (website), Oxford D ...

. It is an authentic recreation of an original design built by Calvin Ryder in 1840 on the "White House" lawn in

Belfast, Maine Belfast is a city in Waldo County, Maine, in the United States. As of the 2020 census, the city population was 6,938. Located at the mouth of the Passagassawakeag River estuary on Belfast Bay and Penobscot Bay. Belfast is the county seat of W ...

. That construction was listed on the National Historic Register, and was the only one of its kind until 1985, when a replica was built by Francis Cormier of

Deer Isle, Maine Deer Isle is a town in Hancock County, Maine, United States. The population was 2,194 at the 2020 census. Notable landmarks in Deer Isle are the Haystack Mountain School of Crafts, Stonington Opera House, and the town's many art galleries. ...

. In May 1991, Cormier built and erected the Bar Harbor Inn gazebo. Its boards are made from

Douglas fir The Douglas fir (''Pseudotsuga menziesii'') is an evergreen conifer species in the pine family, Pinaceae. It is native to western North America and is also known as Douglas-fir, Douglas spruce, Oregon pine, and Columbian pine. There are three va ...

; its floor is made from

Western Red Cedar ''Thuja plicata'' is an evergreen coniferous tree in the cypress family Cupressaceae, native to western North America. Its common name is western redcedar (western red cedar in the UK), and it is also called Pacific redcedar, giant arborvitae ...

; it contains 100 pounds of lead in its corners; brass pins to fasten the lead; stainless steel nails; vertical grain Douglas fir for the roof and

gold leaf Gold leaf is gold that has been hammered into thin sheets (usually around 0.1 µm thick) by goldbeating and is often used for gilding. Gold leaf is available in a wide variety of karats and shades. The most commonly used gold is 22-kara ...

for the top. Its roof contains eight condos for the local birds. Each unit was designed with a slight tilt in the floor so that rain water will run out the hole under the bird-house stoop.Plaque beside the gazebo; words by innkeeper David J. Witham

Gallery

File:Bathing beach and Hotel Bar Harbor, Bar Harbor, Me (83167).jpg, The Hotel Bar Harbor, circa 1940 File:Maggie Todd, Bar Harbor, September 2013.jpg, The inn viewed from

in 2013. Also in view, the four-masted

schooner A schooner () is a type of sailing vessel defined by its rig: fore-and-aft rigged on all of two or more masts and, in the case of a two-masted schooner, the foremast generally being shorter than the mainmast. A common variant, the topsail schoon ...

'' Margaret Todd'' and Bald Porcupine Island beyond the pier File:Bar_Harbor_Inn_spa.jpeg, The Spa at The Bar Harbor Inn, pictured in 2019 File:Bar_Harbor_Inn_Reading_Room.jpg, The original Reading Room section of the inn, pictured in 2016 File:Terrace_Grille,_Bar_Harbor.jpg, The Terrace Grille in 2015, looking northeast into Frenchman Bay between Bar Island and Sheep Porcupine Island File:BHI_swimming_pool.jpeg, The inn's swimming pool was opened in 2019

References

External links

*{{Official website, http://www.barharborinn.com
Bar Harbor Inn's Instagram page
1887 establishments in Maine Hotels in Bar Harbor, Maine Hotels established in 1950 1887 establishments