Bar Harbor is a
resort town
A resort town, often called a resort city or resort destination, is an urban area where tourism or vacationing is the primary component of the local culture and economy. A typical resort town has one or more actual resorts in the surrounding ...
on
Mount Desert Island in
Hancock County,
Maine
Maine () is a state in the New England and Northeastern regions of the United States. It borders New Hampshire to the west, the Gulf of Maine to the southeast, and the Canadian provinces of New Brunswick and Quebec to the northeast and nor ...
, 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 in 1947, the town was a noted
summer colony for the wealthy.
The town is home to the
College of the Atlantic,
Jackson Laboratory
The Jackson Laboratory (often abbreviated as JAX) is an independent, non-profit biomedical research institution which was founded by a eugenicist. It employs more than 3,000 employees in Bar Harbor, Maine; Sacramento, California; Farmington, ...
and
MDI Biological Laboratory.
Bar Harbor is also home to the largest parts of
Acadia National Park, including
Cadillac Mountain, the highest point within of the coastline of the
eastern United States.
From the mainland, Bar Harbor is accessible by road via
Maine State Route 3, by air at
Hancock County–Bar Harbor Airport, and by ferry from
Winter Harbor, Maine, and
Yarmouth, Nova Scotia
Yarmouth is a town in southwestern Nova Scotia, Canada. A port town, industries include fishing, and tourism. It is the terminus of a ferry service to Bar Harbor, Maine, run by Bay Ferries.
History
Originally inhabited by the Mi'kmaq, the reg ...
.
History
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
fish
Fish are Aquatic animal, aquatic, craniate, gill-bearing animals that lack Limb (anatomy), limbs with Digit (anatomy), digits. Included in this definition are the living hagfish, lampreys, and Chondrichthyes, cartilaginous and bony fish as we ...
,
hunt and gather berries, clams, and other shellfish in the area. They speak of Bar Harbor as ''Man-es-ayd'ik'' ("clam-gathering place") or ''Ah-bays'auk'' ("clambake place"), leaving great piles of shells as evidence of this abundance. In early September 1604, French explorer
Samuel de Champlain
Samuel de Champlain (; Fichier OrigineFor a detailed analysis of his baptismal record, see RitchThe baptism act does not contain information about the age of Samuel, neither his birth date nor his place of birth. – 25 December 1635) was a Fr ...
ran aground on a rock ledge believed to be Egg Rock, 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 island in Maine.
In 1761,
Abraham Somes established the first European village on Mount Desert Island, naming it
Somesville
Somesville is the earliest village of the town of Mount Desert, Maine, Mount Desert on Mount Desert Island in southeastern Maine. It is located on the north end of Somes Sound. The village was established by Abraham Somes who was the first settl ...
. Also named for him is Somes Sound, the only naturally occurring
fjard on the East Coast of the United States. Bar Harbor itself was first settled by Europeans Israel Higgins and John Thomas in 1763 and incorporated on February 23, 1796, as Eden, after Sir Richard Eden, an English statesman.
Early industries included fishing,
lumber
Lumber is wood that has been processed into dimensional lumber, including beams and planks or boards, a stage in the process of wood production. Lumber is mainly used for construction framing, as well as finishing (floors, wall panels, w ...
ing and
shipbuilding
Shipbuilding is the construction of ships and other floating vessels. It normally takes place in a specialized facility known as a shipyard. Shipbuilders, also called shipwrights, follow a specialized occupation that traces its roots to bef ...
. With the best soil on Mount Desert Island, it also developed
agriculture
Agriculture or farming is the practice of cultivating plants and livestock. Agriculture was the key development in the rise of sedentary human civilization, whereby farming of domesticated species created food surpluses that enabled people ...
, with a main focus on
dairy
A dairy is a business enterprise established for the harvesting or processing (or both) of animal milk – mostly from cows or buffaloes, but also from goats, sheep, horses, or camels – for human consumption. A dairy is typically located on ...
. In the 1840s, its rugged
maritime
Maritime may refer to:
Geography
* Maritime Alps, a mountain range in the southwestern part of the Alps
* Maritime Region, a region in Togo
* Maritime Southeast Asia
* The Maritimes, the Canadian provinces of Nova Scotia, New Brunswick, and Pri ...
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 for
.
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
In rail transport, a train (from Old French , from Latin , "to pull, to draw") is a series of connected vehicles that run along a railway track and transport people or freight. Trains are typically pulled or pushed by locomotives (often ...
and
ferry
A ferry is a ship, watercraft or amphibious vehicle used to carry passengers, and sometimes vehicles and cargo, across a body of water. A passenger ferry with many stops, such as in Venice, Italy, is sometimes called a water bus or water ta ...
to the
Gilded Age
In United States history, the Gilded Age was an era extending roughly from 1877 to 1900, which was sandwiched between the Reconstruction era and the Progressive Era. It was a time of rapid economic growth, especially in the Northern and Wes ...
resort that would rival
Newport,
Rhode Island
Rhode Island (, like ''road'') is a U.S. state, state in the New England region of the Northeastern United States. It is the List of U.S. states by area, smallest U.S. state by area and the List of states and territories of the United States ...
. The rich and famous tried to outdo each other with entertaining and estates, often hiring
landscape gardener
Landscape architecture is the design of outdoor areas, landmarks, and structures to achieve environmental, social-behavioural, or aesthetic outcomes. It involves the systematic design and general engineering of various structures for constructio ...
and
landscape architect
A landscape architect is a person who is educated in the field of landscape architecture. The practice of landscape architecture includes: site analysis, site inventory, site planning, land planning, planting design, grading, storm water manage ...
Beatrix Farrand, a resident at local
Reef Point Estate, to design their
garden
A garden is a planned space, usually outdoors, set aside for the cultivation, display, and enjoyment of plants and other forms of nature. The single feature identifying even the wildest wild garden is ''control''. The garden can incorporate bot ...
s. A glimpse of their lifestyles was available from the
Shore Path
The Shore Path is a coastal path in Bar Harbor, Maine, United States. Established in 1881, it runs along the shore of Frenchman Bay, from Ells Pier, beside Agamont Park, in the north to an east–west-running continuation of the path at the east ...
, a
coastal path
A coastal path (or a littoral path) is a trail along a sea shore or a lake shore for pedestrians, and sometimes for cyclists or equestrians.
Some coastal paths were originally created for use by customs or coastguard officials looking out for s ...
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
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 ...
played
golf
Golf is a club-and-ball sport in which players use various clubs to hit balls into a series of holes on a course in as few strokes as possible.
Golf, unlike most ball games, cannot and does not use a standardized playing area, and coping wi ...
in 1910 at the Kebo Valley Golf Club. He was the last sitting president to visit the town for a century thereafter, until
Barack Obama
Barack Hussein Obama II ( ; born August 4, 1961) is an American politician who served as the 44th president of the United States from 2009 to 2017. A member of the Democratic Party (United States), Democratic Party, Obama was the first Af ...
's arrival in July 2010.
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
A vice president, also director in British English, is an officer in government or business who is below the president (chief executive officer) in rank. It can also refer to executive vice presidents, signifying that the vice president is on ...
Nelson Rockefeller
Nelson Aldrich Rockefeller (July 8, 1908 – January 26, 1979), sometimes referred to by his nickname Rocky, was an American businessman and politician who served as the 41st vice president of the United States from 1974 to 1977. A member of t ...
.
Bar Harbor was also used for
naval practices 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 World War II by country, vast majority of the world's countries—including all of the great power ...
. More specifically, Bald Porcupine Island (one of the five
Porcupine Islands The Porcupine Islands are an archipelago of five islands that lie in the Mount Desert Narrows of Frenchman Bay in Bar Harbor, Maine. The Porcupine Islands consist of Sheep Porcupine Island, Burnt Porcupine Island, Rum Key, Long Porcupine Island, an ...
) was used to fire live
torpedo
A modern torpedo is an underwater ranged weapon launched above or below the water surface, self-propelled towards a target, and with an explosive warhead designed to detonate either on contact with or in proximity to the target. Historically, ...
es. In October 1944, the submarine
USS ''Piper'' fired 12 live torpedoes at the island. Of those fired, one failed to explode on the first attempt but was later detonated by the twelfth torpedo. In 1996, the
U.S. Army Corps of Engineers
, colors =
, anniversaries = 16 June (Organization Day)
, battles =
, battles_label = Wars
, website =
, commander1 = ...
surveyed all 30 acres of Bald Porcupine Island for
unexploded ordnance. Nine were found.
Many influential people have called Bar Harbor home for at least part of the year.
John D. Rockefeller, Jr.
John Davison Rockefeller Jr. (January 29, 1874 – May 11, 1960) was an American financier and philanthropist, and the only son of Standard Oil co-founder John D. Rockefeller.
He was involved in the development of the vast office complex in ...
, son of
John D. Rockefeller of
Standard Oil Co.
Standard Oil Company, Inc., was an American oil production, transportation, refining, and marketing company that operated from 1870 to 1911. At its height, Standard Oil was the largest petroleum company in the world, and its success made its co-f ...
, donated about one-third of the land in Acadia National Park and built the carriage roads that are used for hiking and biking.
J. P. Morgan owned a house that is adjacent to the town.
Cornelius Vanderbilt
Cornelius Vanderbilt (May 27, 1794 – January 4, 1877), nicknamed "the Commodore", was an American business magnate who built his wealth in railroads and shipping. After working with his father's business, Vanderbilt worked his way into lead ...
built cottages in Bar Harbor, while the
Astor family owned hotels and cottages in Bar Harbor and the surrounding areas. The co-founder and CEO of
Burt's Bees
Burt's Bees is an American multinational, personal care product company. The company is a subsidiary of Clorox that describes itself as an " Earth-friendly, Natural Personal Care Company"
making products for personal care, health, beauty and ...
,
Roxanne Quimby, has a home near Bar Harbor, and
Martha Stewart
Martha Helen Stewart (, ; born August 3, 1941) is an American retail businesswoman, writer, and television personality. As founder of Martha Stewart Living Omnimedia, she gained success through a variety of business ventures, encompassing pu ...
has also been known to frequent Mount Desert Island and has been seen in Bar Harbor.
Mount Desert Island fire
In mid-October 1947, Maine experienced a severe
drought
A drought is defined as drier than normal conditions.Douville, H., K. Raghavan, J. Renwick, R.P. Allan, P.A. Arias, M. Barlow, R. Cerezo-Mota, A. Cherchi, T.Y. Gan, J. Gergis, D. Jiang, A. Khan, W. Pokam Mba, D. Rosenfeld, J. Tierney, an ...
, seeing only half of its usual rainfall.
[ On October 17, sparks at a cranberry ]bog
A bog or bogland is a wetland that accumulates peat as a deposit of dead plant materials often mosses, typically sphagnum moss. It is one of the four main types of wetlands. Other names for bogs include mire, mosses, quagmire, and muskeg; a ...
near Town Hill ignited a wildfire
A wildfire, forest fire, bushfire, wildland fire or rural fire is an unplanned, uncontrolled and unpredictable fire in an area of combustible vegetation. Depending on the type of vegetation present, a wildfire may be more specifically identi ...
that intensified over the next ten days, due to strong winds that began on October 21, and it was not declared out until mid-November. This was one of several wildfires in the state that year. Nearly half the eastern side of Mount Desert Island burned, including 67 "cottages"[''Lost Bar Harbor'', G.W. Helfrich and Gladys O'Neil (Down East Books, 1982)]—around a third of the 222 cottages that stood at the time. (Many were empty or for sale; only 135 were occupied that summer.)[ Five historic grand hotels were also destroyed. These were Agamont House (Main Street), Hamor House (Main Street at Cottage Street), Belmont Hotel (Mount Desert and Kebo Streets), Malvern Hotel (Kebo Street) and the DeGregoire Hotel (Eden Street at West Street).][ The Building of Arts civic building, on Kebo Street at Cromwell Harbor Road, also perished.][
Over 10,000 acres (4,000 ha) of Acadia National Park were destroyed.][ The town's business district was spared, including Mount Desert Street, where several former summer homes within a ]historic district
A historic district or heritage district is a section of a city which contains older buildings considered valuable for historical or architectural reasons. In some countries or jurisdictions, historic districts receive legal protection from cer ...
listed on the National Register of Historic Places
The National Register of Historic Places (NRHP) is the United States federal government's official list of districts, sites, buildings, structures and objects deemed worthy of preservation for their historical significance or "great artistic ...
operate as inns.
Geography
According to the United States Census Bureau
The United States Census Bureau (USCB), officially the Bureau of the Census, is a principal agency of the U.S. Federal Statistical System, responsible for producing data about the American people and economy. The Census Bureau is part of th ...
, the town has a total area of , of which is land and is water. Bar Harbor is situated on 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 ...
.
Climate
This climatic region is typified by large seasonal temperature differences, with warm to hot (and often humid) summers and cold (sometimes severely cold) winters. According to the Köppen climate classification
The Köppen climate classification is one of the most widely used climate classification systems. It was first published by German-Russian climatologist Wladimir Köppen (1846–1940) in 1884, with several later modifications by Köppen, nota ...
system, Bar Harbor has a humid continental climate
A humid continental climate is a climatic region defined by Russo-German climatologist Wladimir Köppen in 1900, typified by four distinct seasons and large seasonal temperature differences, with warm to hot (and often humid) summers and freez ...
, abbreviated "Dfb" on climate maps. Bar Harbor and Mount Desert Island are located near the coastline and surrounded by the North American continent to the northeast and southwest. This location, combined with prevailing winds that are not from the Atlantic, gives Bar Harbor a continental climate with very cold winters for an island location at such a low latitude.
Demographics
2010 census
As of the census
A census is the procedure of systematically acquiring, recording and calculating information about the members of a given population. This term is used mostly in connection with national population and housing censuses; other common censuses inc ...
of 2010, there were 5,235 people, 2,427 households, and 1,275 families residing in the town. The population density
Population density (in agriculture: standing stock or plant density) is a measurement of population per unit land area. It is mostly applied to humans, but sometimes to other living organisms too. It is a key geographical term.Matt RosenberPopu ...
was . There were 3,495 housing units at an average density of . The racial makeup of the town was 94.7% White
White is the lightest color and is achromatic (having no hue). It is the color of objects such as snow, chalk, and milk, and is the opposite of black. White objects fully reflect and scatter all the visible wavelengths of light. White ...
, 0.8% African American
African Americans (also referred to as Black Americans and Afro-Americans) are an ethnic group consisting of Americans with partial or total ancestry from sub-Saharan Africa. The term "African American" generally denotes descendants of ens ...
, 0.2% Native American, 2.8% Asian, 0.4% from other races, and 1.2% from two or more races. Hispanic
The term ''Hispanic'' ( es, hispano) refers to people, cultures, or countries related to Spain, the Spanish language, or Hispanidad.
The term commonly applies to countries with a cultural and historical link to Spain and to viceroyalties for ...
or Latino of any race were 1.1% of the population.
There were 2,427 households, of which 22.0% had children under the age of 18 living with them, 42.8% were married couples
Marriage, also called matrimony or wedlock, is a culturally and often legally recognized union between people called spouses. It establishes rights and obligations between them, as well as between them and their children, and between ...
living together, 6.8% had a female householder with no husband present, 3.0% had a male householder with no wife present, and 47.5% were non-families. 36.0% of all households were made up of individuals, and 14.6% had someone living alone who was 65 years of age or older. The average household size was 2.08 and the average family size was 2.70.
The median age in the town was 45.3 years. 17.3% of residents were under the age of 18; 10% were between the ages of 18 and 24; 22.4% were from 25 to 44; 32.3% were from 45 to 64; and 18.1% were 65 years of age or older. The gender makeup of the town was 46.3% male and 53.7% female.
2000 census
As of the census
A census is the procedure of systematically acquiring, recording and calculating information about the members of a given population. This term is used mostly in connection with national population and housing censuses; other common censuses inc ...
of 2000, there were 4,820 people, 2,142 households, and 1,163 families residing in or near the town. The population density was . There were 2,805 housing units at an average density of . The racial makeup of the town was 97.88% White
White is the lightest color and is achromatic (having no hue). It is the color of objects such as snow, chalk, and milk, and is the opposite of black. White objects fully reflect and scatter all the visible wavelengths of light. White ...
, 0.15% Black
Black is a color which results from the absence or complete absorption of visible light. It is an achromatic color, without hue, like white and grey. It is often used symbolically or figuratively to represent darkness. Black and white ha ...
or African American
African Americans (also referred to as Black Americans and Afro-Americans) are an ethnic group consisting of Americans with partial or total ancestry from sub-Saharan Africa. The term "African American" generally denotes descendants of ens ...
, 0.21% Native American, 0.89% Asian, 0.08% from other races, and 0.79% from two or more races. Hispanic
The term ''Hispanic'' ( es, hispano) refers to people, cultures, or countries related to Spain, the Spanish language, or Hispanidad.
The term commonly applies to countries with a cultural and historical link to Spain and to viceroyalties for ...
or Latino of any race were 0.62% of the population.
There were 2,142 households, out of which 24.5% had children under the age of 18 living with them, 44.5% were married couples
Marriage, also called matrimony or wedlock, is a culturally and often legally recognized union between people called spouses. It establishes rights and obligations between them, as well as between them and their children, and between ...
living together, 6.4% had a female householder with no husband present, and 45.7% were non-families. 34.7% of all households were made up of individuals, and 13.3% had someone living alone who was 65 years of age or older. The average household size was 2.16 and the average family size was 2.78.
In and near the town, the population was spread out, with 19.8% under the age of 18, 9.0% from 18 to 24, 28.6% from 25 to 44, 26.6% from 45 to 64, and 16.1% who were 65 years of age or older. The median age was 41 years. For every 100 females, there were 87.5 males. For every 100 females age 18 and over, there were 82.7 males.
The median income for a household in or near the town was $37,481, and the median income for a family was $51,989. Males had a median income of $31,085 versus $25,417 for females. The per capita income
Per capita income (PCI) or total income measures the average income earned per person in a given area (city, region, country, etc.) in a specified year. It is calculated by dividing the area's total income by its total population.
Per capita i ...
for the area was $24,103. About 4.9% of families and 8.9% of the population were below the poverty line
The poverty threshold, poverty limit, poverty line or breadline is the minimum level of income deemed adequate in a particular country. The poverty line is usually calculated by estimating the total cost of one year's worth of necessities for ...
, including 6.7% of those under age 18 and 8.3% of those age 65 or over.
Education
Conners Emerson School, founded in 1962, is located in Bar Harbor, serving students of grades K through 8.
Mount Desert Island High School serves the four towns of Mount Desert Island, plus the outlying islands of Swans Island and the town of Cranberry Isles. The school also serves students from towns such as Trenton, Hancock, Lamoine and Mariaville on the mainland.
The College of the Atlantic is located in Bar Harbor, on Route 3.
Transportation
Bar Harbor's main access road, from the north or south, is State Route 3, which is the coastal Eden Street taken from the Trenton Bridge. Upon entering the town limits from the north, Route 3 turns east onto Mount Desert Street, before turning south onto Main Street at Bar Harbor's Village Green. It then circumnavigates the eastern portion of Mount Desert Island. Two other streets link Route 3 to Main Street: West Street (the first visitors from the north see) and Cottage Street. Another principal road, Eagle Lake Road, leads west, from its intersection with Eden Street, Mount Desert Street and Kebo Street, into the national park.
The town is served by the Hancock County–Bar Harbor Airport, which provides year-round nonstop flights to Boston, Massachusetts.
Bar Harbor is the western terminus for '' The CAT'', a high-speed summer ferry service across the Gulf of Maine to Yarmouth, Nova Scotia
Nova Scotia ( ; ; ) is one of the thirteen provinces and territories of Canada. It is one of the three Maritime provinces and one of the four Atlantic provinces. Nova Scotia is Latin for "New Scotland".
Most of the population are native Eng ...
, Canada
Canada is a country in North America. Its ten provinces and three territories extend from the Atlantic Ocean to the Pacific Ocean and northward into the Arctic Ocean, covering over , making it the world's second-largest country by to ...
, operated by Bay Ferries
Bay Ferries Limited, or simply, Bay Ferries, is a ferry company operating in eastern Canada and is headquartered in Charlottetown, Prince Edward Island, Canada. It is a subsidiary of Northumberland Ferries Limited and a sister company to the defu ...
. The 3.5-hour route returned to service in 2022 after previously operating from 1955 to 2009.
Downeast Windjammer Cruise Lines operates regular summer ferry service across 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 ...
between Bar Harbor and Winter Harbor.
Tourism
Recreational activities abound in Bar Harbor. The downtown is particularly alive in the summer and fall months due to its proximity to Acadia National Park. Outdoor activities in Acadia include hiking along trails or carriage roads, biking along the carriage roads, bird watching, and mountain climbing, with Cadillac Mountain being 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 Street and sign up for tours that feature puffin
Puffins are any of three species of small alcids (auks) in the bird genus ''Fratercula''. These are pelagic seabirds that feed primarily by diving in the water. They breed in large colonies on coastal cliffs or offshore islands, nesting in crev ...
s, whales, seals, seabirds, and lighthouses, or for a general nature cruise.
At low tide a sand bar is exposed that links the town to Bar Island.
In 2012, the American Planning Association
The American Planning Association (APA) is a professional organization representing the field of urban planning in the United States. APA was formed in 1978, when two separate professional planning organizations, the American Institute of Pla ...
named the Village Green as one of their top ten Great Places in America for Public Spaces.
Cruise ships arrive in the harbor from May through October (most often in September), with 154 ship visits and more than 222,000 passengers in 2018. The forecast for 2019 was 176 ship visits and more than 254,000 passengers. Bar Harbor also hosts many long-distance cyclists, as it is the eastern terminus of the Adventure Cycling Association's Northern Tier Bicycle Route (Anacortes
Anacortes ( ) is a city in Skagit County, Washington, United States. The name "Anacortes" is an adaptation of the name of Anne Curtis Bowman, who was the wife of early Fidalgo Island settler Amos Bowman.[Washington
Washington commonly refers to:
* Washington (state), United States
* Washington, D.C., the capital of the United States
** A metonym for the federal government of the United States
** Washington metropolitan area, the metropolitan area centered o ...]
, is the western terminus), and the northern terminus of its Atlantic Coast Bicycle Route
Adventure Cycling Association's Atlantic Coast Bicycle Route is a bicycle touring route traversing the East Coast of the United States. The route has two connecting segments, extending nearly the entire length of the nation's eastern margin. The n ...
(Key West
Key West ( es, Cayo Hueso) is an island in the Straits of Florida, within the U.S. state of Florida. Together with all or parts of the separate islands of Dredgers Key, Fleming Key, Sunset Key, and the northern part of Stock Island, it cons ...
, Florida
Florida is a state located in the Southeastern region of the United States. Florida is bordered to the west by the Gulf of Mexico, to the northwest by Alabama, to the north by Georgia, to the east by the Bahamas and Atlantic Ocean, and ...
, is the southern terminus).
Ben & Bill's Chocolate Emporium, on Main Street (across from Cottage Street), is a popular location due to its lobster-flavored ice cream
Ice cream is a sweetened frozen food typically eaten as a snack or dessert. It may be made from milk or cream and is flavoured with a sweetener, either sugar or an alternative, and a spice, such as cocoa or vanilla, or with fruit such as ...
. It also has a lobster statue at its storefront.
In popular culture
Bar Harbor is featured in the 2007 book '' The Titan's Curse'' by Rick Riordan as the setting of Westover Hall, a boarding school.
The '' Far Harbor'' add-on for the video game '' Fallout 4'' is located on Mount Desert Island, with Bar Harbor being reimagined as the post apocalyptic settlement of Far Harbor.
Notable people
* Verna Bloom, actress
* Charles Bolster, judge
* Les Brewer
Les Brewer (April 22, 1922 – August 23, 2019) was an American businessman who co-founded the College of the Atlantic, a private, liberal arts college located in Mount Desert Island, Maine, in 1969.
Brewer attended Bar Harbor High School in Bar ...
, co-founder of College of the Atlantic
* Dennis Damon
Dennis S. Damon (born December 21, 1948) is an American politician from Maine. Damon served as a Democratic State Senator from Maine's 5th, then following redistricting, 28th District, representing much of Hancock County, including the populat ...
, state senator (2002–2010)
* Henry F. Dimock, lawyer
* William E. Dodge, Jr., businessperson
* George Dorr, preservationist, lived at Compass Harbor
* Matthew Dunlap, Maine Secretary of State
* Joseph T. Edgar, Secretary of State of Maine
The secretary of state of Maine is a constitutional officer in the U.S. state of Maine and serves as the head of the Maine Department of State. The Secretary of State performs duties of both a legislative branch as well as an executive branch off ...
and Speaker of the Maine House of Representatives
The Speaker of the Maine House of Representatives is the speaker and presiding officer of the Maine House of Representatives, the lower house of the Maine Legislature.
List of speakers
{{Years in Maine
*
Maine
Speakers
Speaker may refer to: ...
* Jill Goldthwait
Jill Goldthwait is an American politician from Maine. Goldthwait grew up in New Jersey and obtained a degree in nursing in California. She served a stint as a Peace Corps volunteer in Tonga. She moved to Maine in 1978 and settled in Bar Harbor, ...
, state senator (1994–2002)
* Carrie Jones, novelist, podcaster
* David E. Kelley, television producer
* George A. Phillips, medical doctor and state legislator
* Shirley Povich, sports columnist and reporter for ''The Washington Post
''The Washington Post'' (also known as the ''Post'' and, informally, ''WaPo'') is an American daily newspaper published in Washington, D.C. It is the most widely circulated newspaper within the Washington metropolitan area and has a large n ...
''
* Esther Ralston, actress
* David Rockefeller, banker
* Nelson Rockefeller
Nelson Aldrich Rockefeller (July 8, 1908 – January 26, 1979), sometimes referred to by his nickname Rocky, was an American businessman and politician who served as the 41st vice president of the United States from 1974 to 1977. A member of t ...
, businessman, governor of New York
The governor of New York is the head of government of the U.S. state of New York. The governor is the head of the executive branch of New York's state government and the commander-in-chief of the state's military forces. The governor h ...
(1959–1973), Vice President of the United States
The vice president of the United States (VPOTUS) is the second-highest officer in the executive branch of the U.S. federal government, after the president of the United States, and ranks first in the presidential line of succession. The vice p ...
(1974–1977)
* Jennifer Skiff
Jennifer Skiff (born 1961)Judy Harrison"Somesville author shows divinity of dogs through owners' stories,"''Bangor Daily News'', October 27, 2012. is an American author, journalist and television producer, best known for writing inspirational boo ...
, author, journalist, television producer
* George Davis Snell, Nobel Prize winning geneticist conducted his groundbreaking research at The Jackson Laboratory in Bar Harbor
* Marguerite Yourcenar
Marguerite Yourcenar (, , ; born Marguerite Antoinette Jeanne Marie Ghislaine Cleenewerck de Crayencour; 8 June 1903 – 17 December 1987) was a Belgian-born French novelist and essayist, who became a US citizen in 1947. Winner of the ''Prix Fem ...
, novelist and essayist
References
Further reading
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*
External links
Town of Bar Harbor, Official website
Bar Harbor Chamber of Commerce
*
by ''The New York Times
''The New York Times'' (''the Times'', ''NYT'', or the Gray Lady) is a daily newspaper based in New York City with a worldwide readership reported in 2020 to comprise a declining 840,000 paid print subscribers, and a growing 6 million paid ...
''
*
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Mount Desert Island
Populated places established in 1763
Towns in Hancock County, Maine
Towns in Maine
Acadia National Park
Populated coastal places in Maine
Resort towns