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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. The town is home to the College of the Atlantic, Jackson Laboratory, and MDI Biological Laboratory. During summer and fall seasons, it is a popular tourist destination. 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. The island is directly accessible by air at Hancock County–Bar Harbor Airport, and by ferry from Winter Harbor, Maine, and Yarmouth, Nova Scotia.


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 A fish (: fish or fishes) is an aquatic animal, aquatic, Anamniotes, anamniotic, gill-bearing vertebrate animal with swimming fish fin, fins and craniate, a hard skull, but lacking limb (anatomy), limbs with digit (anatomy), digits. Fish can ...
, 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 (; 13 August 1574#Fichier]For a detailed analysis of his baptismal record, see #Ritch, RitchThe baptism act does not contain information about the age of Samuel, neither his birth date nor his place of birth. – 25 December ...
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. Also named for him is Somes Sound, the only naturally occurring fjard on the East Coast of the US. Bar Harbor itself was incorporated as Eden on February 23, 1796. Early industries included fishing,
lumber Lumber is wood that has been processed into uniform and useful sizes (dimensional lumber), including beams and planks or boards. Lumber is mainly used for construction framing, as well as finishing (floors, wall panels, window frames). ...
ing and
shipbuilding Shipbuilding is the construction of ships and other Watercraft, floating vessels. In modern times, it normally takes place in a specialized facility known as a shipyard. Shipbuilders, also called shipwrights, follow a specialized occupation th ...
. With the best soil on Mount Desert Island, it also developed
agriculture Agriculture encompasses crop and livestock production, aquaculture, and forestry for food and non-food products. Agriculture was a key factor in the rise of sedentary human civilization, whereby farming of domesticated species created ...
, with a main focus on dairy. In the 1840s, its rugged maritime scenery attracted the Hudson River School and Luminism artists Thomas Cole,
Frederic Edwin Church Frederic Edwin Church (May 4, 1826 – April 7, 1900) was an American landscape painting, landscape painter born in Hartford, Connecticut. He was a central figure in the Hudson River School of American landscape painters, best known for paintin ...
, 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 Alpheus Harding. 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 A train (from Old French , from Latin">-4; we might wonder whether there's a point at which it's appropriate to talk of the beginnings of French, that is, when it wa ... , from Latin , "to pull, to draw") is a series of connected vehicles th ...
and
ferry A ferry is a boat or ship that transports passengers, and occasionally vehicles and cargo, across a body of water. A small passenger ferry with multiple stops, like those in Venice, Italy, is sometimes referred to as a water taxi or water bus ...
to the Gilded Age resort that would rival Newport,
Rhode Island Rhode Island ( ) is a state in the New England region of the Northeastern United States. It borders Connecticut to its west; Massachusetts to its north and east; and the Atlantic Ocean to its south via Rhode Island Sound and Block Is ...
. 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
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, a coastal path 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. US President
William Howard Taft William Howard Taft (September 15, 1857March 8, 1930) served as the 27th president of the United States from 1909 to 1913 and the tenth chief justice of the United States from 1921 to 1930. He is the only person to have held both offices. ...
played
golf Golf is a club-and-ball sport in which players use various Golf club, clubs to hit a Golf ball, ball into a series of holes on a golf course, course in as few strokes as possible. Golf, unlike most ball games, cannot and does not use a standa ...
in 1910 at the Kebo Valley Golf Club. He was the last sitting president to visit the town until
Barack Obama Barack Hussein Obama II (born August 4, 1961) is an American politician who was the 44th president of the United States from 2009 to 2017. A member of the Democratic Party, he was the first African American president in American history. O ...
in July 2010. On March 3, 1918, Eden was renamed Bar Harbor, after the sand 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. Bar Harbor was also used for naval practices during
World War II World War II or the Second World War (1 September 1939 – 2 September 1945) was a World war, global conflict between two coalitions: the Allies of World War II, Allies and the Axis powers. World War II by country, Nearly all of the wo ...
. More specifically, Bald Porcupine Island (one of the five Porcupine Islands) was used to fire live torpedoes. 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 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., son of
John D. Rockefeller John Davison Rockefeller Sr. (July 8, 1839 – May 23, 1937) was an American businessman and philanthropist. He was one of the List of richest Americans in history, wealthiest Americans of all time and one of the richest people in modern hist ...
of Standard Oil Co., 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. Roxanne Quimby, co-founder and CEO of Burt's Bees, has a home near Bar Harbor. Martha Stewart owns property in nearby Seal Harbor and frequents Bar Harbor.


Mount Desert Island fire

In mid-October 1947, Maine experienced a severe
drought A drought is a period of 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, ...
, seeing only half of its usual rainfall. On October 17, sparks at a cranberry bog near Town Hill ignited a
wildfire A wildfire, forest fire, or a bushfire is an unplanned and uncontrolled fire in an area of Combustibility and flammability, combustible vegetation. Depending on the type of vegetation present, a wildfire may be more specifically identified as a ...
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"—nearly one-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 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 historic building, older buildings considered valuable for historical or architectural reasons. In some countries or jurisdictions, historic districts receive legal p ...
listed on the
National Register of Historic Places The National Register of Historic Places (NRHP) is the Federal government of the United States, United States federal government's official United States National Register of Historic Places listings, list of sites, buildings, structures, Hist ...
operate as inns.


Geography

According to the
United States Census Bureau The United States Census Bureau, officially the Bureau of the Census, is a principal agency of the Federal statistical system, U.S. federal statistical system, responsible for producing data about the American people and American economy, econ ...
, the town has a total area of , of which is land and is water. Bar Harbor is situated on Frenchman Bay, with multiple smaller islands just offshore. Twice a day, at low tide, a sand bar (Bar Harbor's namesake) is exposed, linking the town to Bar Island.


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 divides Earth climates into five main climate groups, with each group being divided based on patterns of seasonal precipitation and temperature. The five main groups are ''A'' (tropical), ''B'' (arid), ''C'' (te ...
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 cold ...
, 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 (from Latin ''censere'', 'to assess') is the procedure of systematically acquiring, recording, and calculating population information about the members of a given Statistical population, population, usually displayed in the form of stati ...
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 (disambiguation), 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 geog ...
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 chroma). It is the color of objects such as snow, chalk, and milk, and is the opposite of black. White objects fully (or almost fully) reflect and scatter all the visible wa ...
, 0.8%
African American African Americans, also known as Black Americans and formerly also called Afro-Americans, are an Race and ethnicity in the United States, American racial and ethnic group that consists of Americans who have total or partial ancestry from an ...
, 0.2% Native American, 2.8% Asian, 0.4% from other races, and 1.2% from two or more races.
Hispanic The term Hispanic () are people, Spanish culture, cultures, or countries related to Spain, the Spanish language, or broadly. In some contexts, Hispanic and Latino Americans, especially within the United States, "Hispanic" is used as an Ethnici ...
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 recognised union between people called spouses. It establishes rights and obligations between them, as well as between them and their children (if any), and b ...
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 (from Latin ''censere'', 'to assess') is the procedure of systematically acquiring, recording, and calculating population information about the members of a given Statistical population, population, usually displayed in the form of stati ...
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 chroma). It is the color of objects such as snow, chalk, and milk, and is the opposite of black. White objects fully (or almost fully) reflect and scatter all the visible wa ...
, 0.15%
Black Black is a color that results from the absence or complete absorption of visible light. It is an achromatic color, without chroma, like white and grey. It is often used symbolically or figuratively to represent darkness.Eva Heller, ''P ...
or
African American African Americans, also known as Black Americans and formerly also called Afro-Americans, are an Race and ethnicity in the United States, American racial and ethnic group that consists of Americans who have total or partial ancestry from an ...
, 0.21% Native American, 0.89% Asian, 0.08% from other races, and 0.79% from two or more races.
Hispanic The term Hispanic () are people, Spanish culture, cultures, or countries related to Spain, the Spanish language, or broadly. In some contexts, Hispanic and Latino Americans, especially within the United States, "Hispanic" is used as an Ethnici ...
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 recognised union between people called spouses. It establishes rights and obligations between them, as well as between them and their children (if any), and b ...
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 average income measures the average income earned per person in a given area (city, region, country, etc.) in a specified year. In many countries, per capita income is determined using regular population surveys, such ...
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 Boston is the capital and most populous city in the Commonwealth (U.S. state), Commonwealth of Massachusetts in the United States. The city serves as the cultural and Financial centre, financial center of New England, a region of the Northeas ...
. Bar Harbor is the western terminus for ''
The CAT The Cat may refer to: Nickname * Mathilde Carré (1910-2007), French spy, double and possibly triple agent * Peter Bonetti (1941–2020), English footballer * Greg Cattrano (born 1975), American lacrosse player * Ernest Miller (born 1964), Amer ...
'', a high-speed summer ferry service across the Gulf of Maine to Yarmouth,
Nova Scotia Nova Scotia is a Provinces and territories of Canada, province of Canada, located on its east coast. It is one of the three Maritime Canada, Maritime provinces and Population of Canada by province and territory, most populous province in Atlan ...
,
Canada Canada is a country in North America. Its Provinces and territories of Canada, ten provinces and three territories extend from the Atlantic Ocean to the Pacific Ocean and northward into the Arctic Ocean, making it the world's List of coun ...
, operated by Bay Ferries. 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 between Bar Harbor and Winter Harbor.


Tourism

The population of Bar Harbor, and Mount Desert Island generally, increases dramatically from May through October with "seasonal" residents and tourists. Many come for Acadia National Park, with its hiking trails and carriage roads, providing opportunities for biking, bird watching, and mountain climbing, with Cadillac Mountain being the highest point on the Atlantic seaboard. Maritime tours are available, on a wide variety of boats, introducing visitors to puffins, whales, seals, seabirds, lighthouses, even lobsters, illustrating the working waterfront side of Bar Harbor. The town has many historic houses, including large "cottages" along the shore, often converted to other uses today. To protect its housing supply for residents, citizens voted in 2021 to cap the number of vacation rentals in Bar Harbor. In 2012, the American Planning Association named the
Village Green A village green is a commons, common open area within a village or other settlement. Historically, a village green was common pasture, grassland with a pond for watering cattle and other stock, often at the edge of a rural settlement, used for ...
one of their top ten Great Places in America for Public Spaces. Cruise ships visit Bar Harbor from May through October (most in September and October), 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. In November 2022, concerned about crowding and overtourism, the citizens of Bar Harbor voted for a citizens' initiative to cap cruise ship disembarkations to 1,000 per day. 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, Washington, is the western terminus), and the northern terminus of its Atlantic Coast Bicycle Route (
Key West Key West is an island in the Straits of Florida, at the southern end of 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 con ...
,
Florida Florida ( ; ) is a U.S. state, state in the Southeastern United States, Southeastern region of the United States. It borders the Gulf of Mexico to the west, Alabama to the northwest, Georgia (U.S. state), Georgia to the north, the Atlantic ...
, is the southern terminus). Mount Desert Island Ice Cream, ranked among the best ice cream shops in the country, made the news in 2010 when President Obama and his family made a surprise visit for a treat. Ben & Bill's Chocolate Emporium, with its
lobster Lobsters are Malacostraca, malacostracans Decapoda, decapod crustaceans of the family (biology), family Nephropidae or its Synonym (taxonomy), synonym Homaridae. They have long bodies with muscular tails and live in crevices or burrows on th ...
-flavored ice cream and lobster statue, is a popular stop.


In popular culture

Bar Harbor is featured in the 2007 book '' The Titan's Curse'' by
Rick Riordan Richard Russell Riordan Jr. ( ; born June 5, 1964) is an American author, best known for writing the ''Percy Jackson & the Olympians'' series. Riordan's books have been translated into forty-two languages and sold more than thirty million cop ...
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, co-founder of College of the Atlantic * Dennis Damon, 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 and Speaker of the Maine House of Representatives * Jill Goldthwait, state senator (1994–2002) * William Jencks (1927–2007), organic chemist, biochemist, enzymologist, born in Bar Harbor * 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'', locally known as ''The'' ''Post'' and, informally, ''WaPo'' or ''WP'', is an American daily newspaper published in Washington, D.C., the national capital. It is the most widely circulated newspaper in the Washington m ...
'' * Esther Ralston, actress * David Rockefeller, banker * Nelson Rockefeller, 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 ...
(1959–1973),
Vice President of the United States The vice president of the United States (VPOTUS) is the second-highest ranking office in the Executive branch of the United States government, executive branch of the U.S. federal government, after the president of the United States, and ranks f ...
(1974–1977) * Jennifer Skiff, author, journalist, television producer * George Davis Snell, Nobel Prize winning geneticist conducted his groundbreaking research at The Jackson Laboratory in Bar Harbor * Marguerite Yourcenar, novelist and essayist


References


Further reading

* * * Bar Harbor's Existing Conditions Report (2022). https://www.barharbormaine.gov/DocumentCenter/View/6373/100422-Bar-Harbor-Existing-Conditions-Analysis-Report


External links


Town of Bar Harbor, Official website

Bar Harbor Chamber of Commerce
* * * * {{authority control Populated places established in 1763 Towns in Hancock County, Maine Towns in Maine Acadia National Park Populated coastal places in Maine Resort towns