Cadillac mt. II Cafillac Green Mt. Dor Tivelnet 3/31/08 CADILLAC MT. ROAD Bar CADILLAC SUMMIT and Park Loop Road ROAD Cadillac Cadillac Mt. Dorr Mt. Historic Road Sign C. 1932. Champlain Mt ATLANTIC OCEAN Kebo Mt. Old Toll Rd: To Jordan F CADILLAC MT. To Sand Beach Green Mtn. Railway ROAD (Abandoned) 1 To Visitor Center PARK LOOP ROAD Paradise Hill Rd. Rt. 233 EAGLE The present Cadillac Mountain Road was not the first route to the top Designed by the Bureau of Public Roads between of Acadia's highest mountain. Long before it was completed by the 1929 and 1932 Cadillac Mountain Road is an extraordinary exam Bureau of Public Roads in 1932, Abnaki Indians blazed a footpath to of construction in mountainous terrain. The nearly four-mile re Cadillac's Summit. By widening much of this Native American trail, maintains a positive grade for its entire length and inclue early white settlers were able to lay out the first buckboard toll road up Angular spiral transition curves, which were an adaptation fr the mountain during the 1850s. Because of increasing tourism on Coping Stones railroad construction, to give a smoother ride betw Mount Desert Island, a cog railway was also constructed up Cadillac the road's straight and curved sections. Guardr from the shore of Eagle Lake in 1883. The present Cadillac Mountain were fashioned by spacing three to four Road, which connects with the Park Loop Road near Eagle Lake, angular coping stones along the edg. allows visitors to drive continuously from the highest point on the road approximately four feet ap America's Atlantic seaboard down to the ocean's edge. Bituminous surface 1 with series of overla Crown 1/4" per foot Crushed Stone Rectilinear Cut Coping Stones Bituminous surface treatment with series of overlays Reinforced Concrete Culvert Crown 1/4" per foot Vegetated Shoulder Varies Varies 20'-0" 2-0" 20'-0" Varie Pullout Traveled way with curve widening Vegetated Traveled way with curve widening Feet 01 5 10 Shoulder 1 1. Kebo Mt. Section of 0 2. Cadillac Mt. Road Feet 1 2 3 Meters 0 1/2 1 Park Loop Road Meters NATIONAL PARK ROADS June 1938 for away Exten was Cadillac Mountain Summit Road you it show GED The road up Cadillac Mountain to its summit resulter was from the first a main object with me in the work entilion m-the Park's development. Such a was no new road indeeds feature but had existed in crude form from the adidas earliest summer resort days It was the only Van that offord another mt mountain up which a road could be built at all, so bold is the character of the whole range and its is where also the highest; the motorist could ask no more. Funds for its construction were provided by Congression- 1925 al appropriation and work was commenced in April, 1925. At the start the surveys were made by local engineers and work supervised by the Park Office, no contract being let; then, discussion arising as to the best route to follow, the Federal Bureau of Roads, then first coming forward as the great authority in the country on good motor road construction, was called in and made for many weeks a thorough study of the routes that offered, reaching to the summit. Since then all road work in the Park has been done under its plans and supervision. 2. The course laid out by the Bureau was essentially what was intended from the first, save that, had funds allowed, I would have taken the road out over the mountain's eastern spur, the White Cap, with its bold outlook over Eagle Lake and its magnif- icent sunset views, which would have eliminated also the sharp curve opposite it which now exists, but this would have involved a longer course and funds did not permit. With this exception the route chosen takes full advantage of the wonderful opportunity the mountain offers for broad ocean views and the magnif- icent coastal scenery of Eastern Maine. The summit road rises from the motor road to Jordan Pond which Mr. Rockefeller contributed to the Park, some years before, running from the Bar Harbor-Somesville Road at Great Pond Hill to connection with the Town Road from Seal Harbor to the foot of Jordan Pond. Other appropriations following the first the road was finally completed and in the late summer of 1932, it was formally dedicated to the people's use. 3. The road ends in a round turn and parking ground in a broad hollow of the mountain, unseen from below, and from this paths ascend to great, commanding points. To the south, the view extends over a broad ocean plain, terminated only, fifty miles away by the curvature of the earth; nothing intervenes. To the east one looks up into the Bay of Fundy, receiving over it the first rays of the morning sun as it illuminates our coast; to the west the view is bounded by the Camden Hills beyond Penobscot Bay, as we stand at the crowning summit of Maine's magnificent eastern coast. Seaward, the horizon is so far away that it merges with the sky and one may sometimes see ships sailing high -- apparent- ly among the clouds on the distant sea, with patches of fog banks between, resting on the ocean's surface. It gives one a sense of immensity few inland scenes can equal. Mount Desert Rock, twenty-five miles at sea, near which John Winthrop records in his journal that he lay to, to fish, on his way to Salem in 1630, seems close at hand, against the further sea, crowned by its light at dusk. Eagles and ospreys soar below, 4. watching for fish. In summer the whole scene is one that accords wonderfully with Wordsworth's description in "Morning in the Mountains, " from CBD'S s "The Excursion", of the Shepherd Boy growing up Andredic among his Gumberland hills. "Such was the boy -- but for the growing Youth What soul was his, when from the naked top Of some bold headland, he beheld the Sun Rise up, and bathe the world in light! He looked -- Ocean and earth, the solid frame of earth And ocean's liquid mass, beneath him lay In gladness and deep joy. The clouds were touched, And in their silent faces did he read unutterable love." [G.B.DoeR] Richard H. Quin, HAER Historian. CADILLAC MOUNTAIN ROAD 1994. Historic American Engineering Record. HAER No. ME-58 (page 2) II. HISTORY Cadillac Mountain, at 1,530' elevation, is the highest point on the Atlantic coast between Labrador and Brazil. It is the highest mountain on Mount Desert Island and one of the principal attractions of Acadia National Park. The Cadillac Mountain Road, which leads to the summit, is traveled by millions of visitors every year. Mount Desert Island was first spotted by French navigator Samuel Champlain in 1604. He described the island's mountains as "destitute of trees, as there are only rocks on them. " Champlain named the island the "Isle des Monts Desert, after the rocky, treeless summits, the chief of which is known today as Cadillac Mountain. The name "Cadillac Mountain" dates only to 1918, when Lafayette National Park (now Acadia) superintendent George B. Dorr led a campaign to adopt more colorful names for many of the island's landmarks. For years, it had been known as "Green Mountain, " probably on account of the luxuriant growth which cloaked the mountain's lower slopes. Dorr and his supporters renamed the 1 mountain after Antoine Laumet (later La Mothe) , the self- proclaimed "Sieur de Cadillac", who in 1688 received a grant or siegnurie to establish the settlement of "Douaquet", which included Mount Desert Island and parts of the mainland to the north. Cadillac did not stay on his grant long, as he went to Montreal then back to France before returning to North America to found the city of Detroit, ending his career as French governor of Louisiana. Cadillac's ownership of the island was later confirmed by the Massachusetts court when it recognized his granddaughter's claim to Douaquet in 1786. This claim included the greater part of the east side of Mount Desert Island, including "Cadillac Mountain. By the early 1800s, the land was largely sold off, the mountain tract being acquired by Senator William Bingham of Pennsylvania. Later, much of the Bingham 1There were other names, too. John and James Peters' "Survey of the De Gregoire half of the Island, 1807, " called it "Bauld Mountain. " Charles Tracy called it "Newport Mountain" in 1855, after Christopher Newport, captain of the 1607 Jamestown fleet, but this name was commonly attached to what is now called "Champlain Mountain. See Samuel Eliot Morison, The Story of Mount Desert Island, Maine (Boston, MA: Little, Brown and Company, 1960) 76. CADILLAC MOUNTAIN ROAD HAER No. ME-58 (page 3) land, including the mountain, was acquired from his estate by Edward Brewer, a shipbuilder from Hulls Cove. 2 Whatever its name, the mountain dominated the island and was a well-known landmark to passing ships as it was visible far out to sea. In 1853, its height drew the attention of the United States Coastal Survey. Professor Alexander Dallas Bache of the survey began mapping the Maine coast that year. A year later, he chose Cadillac Mountain, which he called "Mount Desert," for a triangulation station. Richard Hamor of Eden (as Bar Harbor was then called) erected a 10' X 12' frame house for the survey. quarters at a cost of $50, and Coast Survey Artificer Thomas McDonnell hacked out a rough road in order to drag up the survey equipment. C. O. Boutelle erected a heliograph signal here which remained in use until 1860. 3 The "road" to the survey office was the first route, other than old Abnaki Indian trails, to the mountain summit. The path to the observatory was popular, at times crowded with "troops of pedestrians. The Brewer family, which owned the mountain, improved the path into a buckboard road, so-named after the small spring wagons which were popular on the island late in the century. The Brewers tried to collect tolls from its users and erected a sign on the summit reading "Passengers will not forget to pay toll. The passengers usually "forgot" or refused to pay, though the owners insisted the tolls went toward the road's maintenance. Eventually, they stationed young boys at the road's lower end in an attempt to collect the fees. 4 In 1882, a robber jumped a buckboard party from the woods along the road and demanded all their valuables. However, when the women emptied their purses, the thief told them not to bother, as Richard Walden Hale, Jr. , The Story of Bar Harbor: An Informal History Recording One Hundred and Fifty Years in the Life of a Community (New York: Ives Washburn, Inc., , 1949), 124. Ibid. 128-2. Heliographs were mirrored devices used to reflect the sun's rays for triangulation. 4Tom St. Germain and Jay Saunders, Trails of History: The Story of Mount Desert Island's Paths from Norumbega to Acadia (Bar Harbor, ME: Parkman Publications, 1993) 35-36. CADILLAC MOUNTAIN ROAD HAER No. ME-58 (page 4) he robbed only men! Despite the issuance of a $5,000 reward, the gentleman robber was never caught. 5 Hoping to attract the tourists who began flocking to Mount Desert Island in the 1850s, the Brewers built a small hotel, the Summit Tavern, on the mountaintop. Visitors used the toll road for access. George Dorr, who later became the first superintendent of Lafayette National Park, later recalled it as "a simple frame structure which was admirably placed looking broadly out southward across the ocean and which gave welcome to visitors in the early days. The Brewer's hotel did not survive very long; it burned on 2 August 1884. 6 In 1881, Francis Hector (Frank) Clergue (or Clerque) of Bangor, a lawyer and entrepreneur who had organized the Mount Desert Fertilizer Company, leased the summit and a 160' wide right-of- way up the mountain from the Brewers and Walter H. Dunton, who owned a tract on the mountain's western flank. He then began the machinations to obtain a charter to operate a railway to the top. By February 1883, he managed to attract several investors and obtain the necessary permits. A. F. Hilton, who later that year built the Megantic Railway which connected the Canadian Pacific Railway with Portland, Maine was an investor and surveyed the route for the line. When snow cleared in the spring, construction began. Rails were bolted directly to the stone wherever possible, or laid on ties cut a few feet from the railbed. 7 The new "Green Mountain Railway" was a cog railway, constructed with a cog rail at the center to engage the locomotive's driving wheel and to allow the engine to help with the braking on the 33 1/3 percent grade. A 4' 71/2" gauge, the same as the Mount Washington cog railway, was adopted for the line. The new St St. Germain and Saunders, 28-29; Thelma A. Grindle, "Green Mountain R. R. in '80s was Operated by Cog Wheels, " Bangor Commercial, n.d. (1951) St. Germain and Saunders, 36; "Summit Cadillac Mountain Road One of Finest Scenic Roads in World, Portland [ME] Sunday Telegram, 24 June 1932; "Twice Told Tales, Bar Harbor [ME] Times, 9 November 1932; George B. Dorr, Superintendent, Acadia National Park, to Arno B. Cammerer, Director, National Park Service, 12 October 1939. Acadia National Park Library. Hale, 156; Grindle, 2; Frank J. Matter, "The Train Up Cadillac Mountain, Acadia Weekly, 28 August 1994, 7. CADILLAC MOUNTAIN ROAD HAER No. ME-58 (page 5) $110,000 enterprise was celebrated in the Bangor papers, which compared it with the railway up Mount Vesuvius. It was the second cog railway in the country, after the recently constructed Mount Washington line in New Hampshire. 8 When the railway's first locomotive arrived at the Portland wharf in April, it proved too big for the ferryboat City of Richmond to handle, and it was finally lugged to Bar Harbor by the schooner Stella Lee. Fourteen horses drug the locomotive as far as they could, after which it was winched all the way to Eagle Lake. Once there, Richard Hamor (who had built the first structure on the mountain thirty years earlier) carried the engine across Eagle Lake to the base of the railway on his SCOW. 9 All was in readiness by 23 June, when the state railway commissioners, accompanied by former Vice-President Hannibal Hamlin, made their formal inspection. As the railway did not connect with Bar Harbor, passengers traveled from town to Eagle Lake in four-horse "barges," then crossed the lake on the little steamer Wauwinnet. Then it was up the mountain in "high behinds" passenger cars (with large wheels on one end and small wheels on the other) behind the little locomotive. The passengers could then take in the views from the summit, now unfortunately defaced by the railway right-of-way. A round-trip ticket cost $2.50. 10 The railway proved a great success in its first year, carrying 2,967 passengers and paying dividends of 6 percent. This encouraged the investors to construct a new hotel, the Green Mountain House, after the Brewer's hotel burned. The new hostelry could serve one hundred for dinner and provided lodging for fifty. Clerque and his partners hoped the railway would attract visitors to stay at the hotel in order to see the sun set and rise. (Due to its height and longitude, the summit is one of the first places in the United States to greet the rising sun.) A second hotel was established at the base of the mountain by Samuel Head, who ran the summit hotel for the investors. The railway company also contemplated spur lines to Bar Harbor, Northeast Harbor, Seal Harbor, Southwest Harbor, Bass Harbor, Hale, 156-57; Collier, 46; St. Germain and Saunders, 38, Grindle, 1. 'Hale, 157. Ibid. 158; Matter, 9. While waiting on the Wauwinnet, passengers could refresh themselves at the island's first brew- pub, operated by a "suave Hungarian" at the north end of Eagle Lake. (St. Germain and Saunders, 38. ) CADILLAC MOUNTAIN ROAD HAER No. ME-58 (page 6) Somesville, and even Greening's Island, but the legislature refused to grant permission. The island's summer colony likewise forced the company to drop plans to open the nation's first electric railway to replace the horse-drawn "barges" to and from Bar Harbor. 11 The buckboard road remained in use, and to discourage this competition, the railway company erected gates across the roadway where it crossed their right-of-way. When these were torn down, they hired sixteen men to work all night laying dynamite charges, and blew the road up at dawn. 12 When the road was rebuilt, the railway company took no further action. By this time, the investors had other worries. To the dismay of Clergue and his backers, the railway's popularity proved short-lived. Traffic dropped off after the first year, and the "barges" were replaced by smaller buckboard wagons. Visitors were disinclined to make repeat trips. The trip to the summit took two hours, and the descent one hour. A newspaper reported that "No one who ever made the journey enjoyed the experience, either going up or coming down. 13 In 1890, the railway ceased operations. Clergue left the area, reportedly becoming engaged in business schemes with the Shah of Persia. The Wauwinnet was scuttled in 1893 and still lies at the bottom of Eagle Lake. 14 The rebuilt buckboard road remained popular with buckboard and carriage excursionists. An 1887 map of Mount Desert Island shows its route as leaving the Eagle Lake Road near the present golf links, climbing the west side of the "Great Hill" extension of the mountain's north ridge, crossing over the crest of the White Cap, a projecting spur, then following the remainder of the north ridge of the mountain to the summit. Total length of the road was 1 mile 307 rods. The hotel and the U.S.C.S. station were 11Hale, 156-59; Collier, 46; Matter, 9. 12 Hale, 158. 13Ibid. , 160; "Summit Cadillac Mountain Road One of Finest Scenic Roads in World. " 4Collier, 47. The locomotive was acquired by the Mount Washington cog railway in 1895 when that company's engine was wrecked. It was is use there for more than three decades, until on its last trip, it careened down the mountain out of control and was destroyed. CADILLAC MOUNTAIN ROAD HAER No. ME-58 (page 7) shown on the summit. 15 The road is still shown on early twentieth century maps, but by then it was impassible. The summit house hotel remained for nearly a decade. John D. Rockefeller, Jr. remembered it as becoming "more or less of a disorderly and disreputable resort, the character of which gave great concern to the summer people." The hotel was torn down in 1896; Rockefeller reported "the whole community was relieved. 16 In September 1908, a syndicate of automobile owners purchased the carriage road, announcing they would thoroughly repair it and establish a line of sightseeing automobiles to convey visitors to the top. This was at a time when automobiles were still banned from the island, but as this was a private road, such restrictions would not apply. 17 Nothing evidently came of this scheme, and pressure was already mounting to allow automobiles on the island. The island roads were opened to cars in 1915. Following the creation of Lafayette National Park in 1919, the idea of reopening or reconstructing the road to the summit was widely discussed. John D. Rockefeller, Jr., who was himself engaged in the construction of an extensive carriage road network [HAER No. ME-13] and who would soon fund the first park motor road, was an early advocate. In 1920, he expressed his views in a letter to George Wharton Pepper, congressman from Philadelphia and a Northeast Harbor summer cottager. Since there was once a carriage road to the top of Green Mountain, I should think it not improbable that some day it would be rebuilt or a new road built for automobiles. That people who cannot walk or conveniently drive should be able to go to the top of one of the mountains seems to me not inappropriate or unreasonable. If such a road were constructed, I should think it would be the best possible 15 'Mt. Desert Island, Maine, map (Boston, MA: Eastern R.R Co. n.d.) ; "Mount Desert and Adjacent Islands Embracing the Towns of Eden, Mount Desert, Tremont and Cranberry Isles, Hancock County, Maine" (Bar Harbor, ME: Colby & Stuart, 1887) Islesford Historical Museum Collection, Acadia National Park. Grindle, 2; John D. Rockefeller, Jr. to A. Atwater Kent, 11 December 1937. Rockefeller Archives Center, Office of the Messrs. Rockefeller, Record Group 2, Homes (Seal Harbor), , Box 127 Folder 119. 17 Paradise Auto Road, " Philadelphia Record, 22 September 1908; "Bar Harbor's Auto War, " Newark [NJ] Star, 3 November 1908. CADILLAC MOUNTAIN ROAD HAER No. ME-58 (page 8) argument against the construction of any road, whether for automobile or horses, to the top or near the top of any of the other mountains in the Park. 18 Rockefeller acquired a large amount of the mountain tract and began construction of a new road to the summit. However, after grading about 500' of the roadway, he transferred this section to the national park. He continued construction of the "Mountain Road" or Jordan Pond-Eagle Lake Road segment of what is now the Park Loop Road, but left it to the government to complete the summit road. 19 Congressman John A. Peters, representing Maine's Third District, wrote Park Service Director Stephen T. Mather on 9 April 1921 in support of the Cadillac Mountain road. He reported that a committee from Bar Harbor had indicated they were SO anxious to have the road built that they would raise "a substantial part of the cost. " He insisted the road should be designed and built to accommodate automobiles. Although the carriage road had been popular, he suggested that horsemen no longer showed much interest in making the trip. The old road was described as "washed out and obliterated. 20 Superintendent Dorr had long dreamed of making the views from the summit available to motorists, and in 1922 received directions to survey a road route and make a proposal for its construction. He had park engineer Walters G. Hill conduct the survey that spring. In June, he forwarded the survey report to Washington, along with letter which described the scenery the new road would afford. Rockefeller to George Wharton Pepper, 16 September 1920, cited in Ann Rockefeller Roberts, Mr. Rockefeller's Roads: The Untold Story of Acadia's Carriage Roads and Their Creator (Camden, ME: Downeast Books, 1990), 91. 19 Leo Grossman, Assistant Highway Engineer, Bureau of Public Roads, "Unusual Engineering and Construction Features, Acadia National Park, " MSS, n.d. Bar Harbor Historical Society Collection, Jesup Memorial Library. 20 John A. Peters, U.S. House of Representatives, to Stephen I. (sic) Mather, Director, National Park Service, 9 April 1921; Dorr to Arno B. Cammerer, Assistant Director, National Park Service, 14 June 1922. National Archives and Records Administration, Record Group 79, Central Classified Files, Arno B. Cammerer Papers. CADILLAC MOUNTAIN ROAD HAER No. ME-58 (page 9) At the mountain summit one comes out facing the road on its last turn--on a vast sweep of ocean to the far horizon fifty miles away. It is an extraordinary view; there is no other like it on our Atlantic coast, and few in the world accessible by road. The whole road, as planned, from start to finish, is singularly beautiful and impressive, a true park road and it will make a unique addition to our national park system. 21 Following an inspection trip to Lafayette National Park in June, Assistant Park Service Director Arno B. Cammerer urged construc- tion of the road to the summit, stating in his report to Mather: anyone who has climbed any one of the major mountain masses will come to the sure conviction that a road for motorists should lead to the top of at least one of the mountains SO that those who cannot climb may get an opportunity to receive the inspiration and feel the exaltation of spirit that come with an hour spent on the breeze-swept hills with their superb views over sea and island, losing themselves in the far distance. If the good motor road to the top of Cadillac Mountain is not provided in this plan, it will inevitably come through popular insistence in the future. In my opinion a road up Cadillac Mountain will not be equaled anywhere in the United States for its combination of mountain massing, valley, inland lakes, and ocean and should be given when built a distinctive name that will identify it as a national scenic road and give it individuality throughout the world, even as the Corniche and other old-world drives are world famous. 22 In granting permission to Dorr to proceed with the project, Cammerer added, "it is equally important in my opinion that no road go to the top of any other mountain in the park. 11 ,23 This dictum became a park policy, and no other motor road was ever constructed to one of the island's mountain summits. 21 Begin Construction of Automobile Road to Top of Champlain Mountain, " Bar Harbor Times, 11 October 1922. 22 Cammerer, "Report of Inspection Trip to Lafayette National Park, Maine " 10 June 1922. National Archives, Record Group 79, Central Classified Files. 23 Cammerer to Dorr, 26 July 1922. "Papers Relating to Road Hearing Before Secretary Work, March 16, 1924. Acadia National Park Library, Carriage Roads files. CADILLAC MOUNTAIN ROAD HAER No. ME-58 (page 10) The summit road project was announced in October 1922. The local newspaper reported it that the National Park Service had called for "the best and most permanent construction and for a road of easy ascending grade and liberal width " An editorial said that such a road "had been the dream of Bar Harbor people" since the passing of the old carriage road. The paper hailed Dorr for initiating the project and Secretary of the Interior Albert B. Fall and Director Mather for authorizing it. 24 Construction began that fall at the lower end of the road. Hill's specifications called for an 18' roadway with 3' shoulders, a maximum grade of 6 percent and an average grade of 4.41 percent, the use of earth and rock fill and a graveled surface. 25 Before the work progressed much further, a controversy erupted over the park road program. George Wharton Pepper, now U.S. Senator from Pennsylvania, objected to several road projects in the park. Pepper was particularly unhappy with the carriage roads being constructed by Rockefeller, but also objected to the new Cadillac Mountain Road. The protests, which ultimately led to hearings in Washington, threatened to delay further construction. The road's advocates claimed Pepper wanted to discourage the public from visiting the island, instead keeping it a private haunt for his coterie's pursuits. The Bangor Commercial attacked the Senator and his supporters among the summer community for obstructing the completion of the much desired road. It is the claim of this small group that with the admission of automobiles to a road over Cadillac Mountain that their enjoyment of nature while climbing the rough and rugged paths of the Park will be SO interrupted that they will return home with their day's outing spoilt by having the view from the top of Cadillac Mountain marred by the sight of a car which was not there when Champlain discovered the island. It has been the dream since the advent of the automobile on Mount Desert Island to have a road go to the top of Green-- now Cadillac--Mountain. - This dream is now in its budding stage through the construction that is now underway and it 24 Editorial, Bar Harbor Times, 11 October 1922; "Begin Construction of Automobile Road. " "Begin Construction of Automobile Road 11 ; "Section of Green Mt. Road Opened, " Bar Harbor Times, 12 September 1923. CADILLAC MOUNTAIN ROAD HAER No. ME-58 (page 11) is the wish of the residents of this section that the bud may burst forth into flower and give to the people of the eastern part of the country the fruits of this great undertaking. 26 After project advocates rallied behind the work, citing local support for the road and the large payroll the project entailed, Dr. Hubert Work, the Secretary of the Interior, gave orders for the construction to proceed. However, the failure of the National Park Service to obtain sufficient funds for its comprehensive system-wide road-building program forced another postponement. 27 In July 1924, Director Mather visited the park and inspected the work in progress on the summit road. He told the Bar Harbor selectmen that the needed funds would be released, and stated though he had thought the supervisor for the construction of the Going-to-the-Sun Road [HAER No. MT-69] in Glacier National Park had "had the last word in road construction without landscape marring, " he now felt that engineer Hill's work reflected the best efforts in road planning. He announced that he would convene a September meeting of all National Park Service engineers on Mount Desert Island, SO that they could "sit at the foot of your chief engineer" and study the Cadillac Mountain Road approach, where "the very minimum of marring has been SO well demonstrated." Secretary Work arrived in the park a few days later and also praised the new road. 28 In January 1927, Rockefeller wrote Cammerer, stating that he had had his own engineer, Paul D. Simpson, review Walters Hill's survey and cost estimates for the road. Simpson told him that he thought considerable savings in both distance and cost could be achieved by adjusting the location and grade of the road. While Simpson understood that Rockefeller was not financially involved 26 "Torrey Introduces Park Resolution, " Bangor Commercial, n.d. [1924]. . 27Dorr to Cammerer, 10 January 1924; Cammerer to Dorr, 24 July 1924; Hubert Work, Secretary of the Interior, to Dorr, 25 July 1924. "Papers Relating to Road Hearing Before Secretary Work, March 16, 1924. Acadia National Park Library, Carriage Roads files. 28 "Distinguished Specialists Overcome Obstacles in Park Road Case, " Boston Evening Transcript, 9 August 1924; "Sec'y Work Inspects Park at Bar Harbor. Unidentified newspaper clipping, 2 July 1924. CADILLAC MOUNTAIN ROAD HAER No. ME-58 (page 12) in the road project, he knew his employer would want the road situated on the best possible location, both from a scenic as well as an economic viewpoint. Rockefeller did not quote any specific recommendations that Simpson had made in his review, but forwarded the warning on to Cammerer, inferring that the Park Service might well reconsider the route. 29 That fall, Cammerer and NPS Chief Landscape Engineer Thomas C. Vint arrived in Acadia to study government policies regarding the park and the landscape problems involved in its development. The two drafted a general management plan for the park, which among other things, discussed potential concessionaire operations and the existing and planned roads. No concessions were operating within the park boundary. They took notice of the Jordan Pond House as an "attractive and popular teahouse, " but made the distinction that it was located on private land. However, they warned that once the Cadillac Mountain Road was completed, there would be demands to provide another tea-house or a hotel on the summit. While they agreed tea room service might be appropriate, as visitors coming to see the fabled sunrise were "entitled" to a good cup of coffee, they called the idea of a hotel "dangerous." If accommodations with meal service were offered for a few, they argued, demands for expansion would inevitably occur, eventually resulting in the development of a "regular seashore resort" to the detriment of both the park and the community. They urged that no other concessions should be planned. 30 Reporting on the Cadillac Mountain or "Summit Road, " they estimated that it would cost $250,000 and require four or five seasons to complete the remaining three miles. They urged the Park Service to immediately prepare plans and specifications prepared and to award the contracts so that the construction could be completed by the end of the 1929 season. They recommended that the work be done under force account, rather than by a contract with the Bureau of Public Roads (BPR) 31 Mather agreed the work should be pressed forward, but he wanted it done by the BPR. On 12 April 1928, he wrote BPR Chief Thomas Rockefeller to Cammerer, 14 January 1927. Rockefeller Archives Center, Office of the Messrs. Rockefeller, Record Group 2, Homes (Seal Harbor), Box 74 Folder 763. and Thomas C. Vint, Chief Landscape Engineer, National Park Service, "Memorandum on a Development Plan for Lafayette National Park, MSS, 1927, 19-21. National Archives, Record Group 79, Acadia National Park file. 31 Ibid., 33. CADILLAC MOUNTAIN ROAD HAER No. ME-58 (page 13) H. MacDonald, asking the BPR to take over the project. He indicated the NPS had programmed $115,00 in its 1928 budget for the work. He requested MacDonald to immediately assign an engineer to begin investigations for the work. Mather's request was made under terms of the 1926 agreement between the two agencies, under which the BPR became responsible for major road construction projects in the national parks. By this time, Park Service forces had only completed the grading of about 6,000' of the roadway. Maps published in 1926 show the road had been graded from the "Mountain Road" to the top of the White Cap, the spur on Cadillac's northwest flank. 32 In 1928, BPR highway engineer H. G. McElvey conducted a new reconnaissance survey for the summit road. Soon afterward, BPR senior highway engineer W. J. Anderson was placed in charge of the survey. He was aided by assistant highway engineer Leo Grossman and junior highway engineer R. J. Zeglen. The crew ran a new and improved line. As much as possible of the existing graded roadway was retained from the "Mountain Road" to the White Cap. From there to the summit, the road was laid out on alignments and grades in accordance with accepted BPR standards for road construction in the national parks, these based on the 1927 Forest Highways Standard. On the BPR section of the road, grades would not exceed 7 percent and minimum curvature of 150' on open curves and 200' on blind curves. Spiral curves, a technique borrowed from railway construction, were to be employed. For economy of construction, no flat or down-grade section would be permitted; instead, the road was designed to climb all the way to the top. Flattening the grade would increase both the length and the cost of the road. 33 The typical road section adopted called for an 18' roadway with 2' shoulders in cuts, 3' shoulders in fill areas less than 3 high, and 4 shoulders with border stone guard rail in fill areas 32 Stephen T. Mather, Director, National Park Service, to Thomas H. MacDonald, Chief, Bureau of Public Roads, 12 April 1928. National Archives, Record Group 79, Central Classified Files; Waldron Bates, Edward L. Rand and Herbert Jaques, "Path Map of the Eastern Part of Mount Desert Island, Maine" (Boston, MA: Geo. H. Walker & Co, 1926) Grossman, 1; Idem, "Unusual Engineering and Construction Features, 2-3; Idem, "Cadillac Mountain Project, Acadia National Park, Mount Desert Island, Maine, April 19, 1928-July 31, 1929, Summary " MSS, Acadia National Park historical collection. CADILLAC MOUNTAIN ROAD HAER No. ME-58 (page 14) exceeding 3' As 90 percent of the project was located on rock, all fills and shoulders would be constructed of stone. 34 As it was thought that insufficient funds were initially allo- cated for the entire grading project, the Bureau of Public Roads first advertised only the portion of road to station 174+34.70, the location of a turnout on the mountain flank. The project was to be extended if more funds became available. When bids were opened in May 1929, Green and Wilson of Waterville, Maine had submitted the low bid of $146,175.10. As this figure exceeded the engineers' estimates, their bid was rejected by the Secretary of the Interior. The project was readvertised and bids were opened again late June. Joseph P. McCabe, Inc. of Boston submitted the new low bid of $146,323.60. Although this exceeded the original low bid, the Assistant Secretary of the Interior awarded the contract to the firm on 27 June. 35 Work began on 12 August. The contractor moved in his equipment consisting of a steam shovel, a gas shovel, five trucks, a caterpillar tractor, five compressors, nine jackhammers, a drill sharpener and two forges. Two 1 1/2 cubic yard "iron mules" were tried on the project but proved impractical. 36 Clearing was carried out by National Park Service force account labor, though the grubbing, or removal of stumps, was done by the contractor. Crews pulled out stumps with power shovels and then burned them on the right-of-way. 37 Most of the excavation consisted of rock which had to be drilled then blasted out. The drilling proved very difficult. The contractor resorted to a change of blacksmiths (who maintained the drills) and brought in experts from various compressor and explosive companies. The BPR Division of Management sent three engineers to study the project and make recommendations McCabe barely managed to break even on this phase of the project. Construction of embankments was generally uncomplicated except for one area which was SO steep that dumped material would not stay in place. At this point, it became necessary to construct a hand-placed rock embankment, 10' to 30' high. using a derrick. The contractor installed two stone 34 Idem, "Final Construction Report Grading, 2. 35 Ibid., 1-2. 36 Ibid. 37 Ibid., 2. CADILLAC MOUNTAIN ROAD HAER No. ME-58 (page 15) box culverts and a number of 18" concrete pipe culverts for drainage. 38 "Guardrails" for the road consisted of large boulder border or coping stones, about 3' 6" in height. The stones were closely spaced SO that gaps of only about 4' appeared between them. The BPR engineer noted they made a "very substantial and pleasing" effect. 39 Similar border stones had been used on the Rockefeller carriage roads in the park and on the earlier "Mountain Road" motor road segment. Dennis Doonan, dynamite man for the McCabe company, was fatally injured on the project on 10 September 1929. Doonan had been anxious to complete the drilling and blasting on a ledge face near the lower end of the road, and asked two employees to work overtime on the drilling. As one of the men, Jean Lipscomb, was drilling a hole, the drill steel snapped off. When he removed it from the hole, he found it very hot and showed it to Doonan. Although he had had thirty years experience in blasting work, Doonan disregarded the overheated steel, and proceeded to load the hole with a charge. He placed two sticks of dynamite in the hole, and tamped them down. Nothing happened, but when he added a third stick with an electric blasting cap, the charge exploded, injuring Doonan SO badly that he died in the hospital the following morning. The tragedy did not, however, seriously delay the project. On 17 June 1930, BPR District Engineer Guy M. Miller ordered the extension of the work to the summit. The grading contract was completed on 1 November at a total cost of $154,221.52. 41 In December, National Park Service Assistant Landscape Architect Charles E. Peterson came to Acadia to inspect the project for acceptance. As Peterson later recounted, "I met Grossman on the summit of the mountain. He was as proud of work as if he had just completed the Panama canal. I told him it was the worst piece of landscape damage ever inflicted on a national park. 42 Peterson was aghast by the lack of project cleanup work. The 38 Ibid., 2-3. 39 Ibid., 3. 40 40Grossman, Cadillac Mountain Highway project diary, 10 September 1930. MSS, Acadia National Park Historical Collection. 2, 4. 42 Charles E. Peterson interview, 23 August 1995. CADILLAC MOUNTAIN ROAD HAER No. ME-58 (page 16) contractor had left debris strewn all over the project, and the blasting had cast stone a considerable distance to either side of the road. In his report, Peterson recommended against accepting the project until the contractor removed his truck tires, rub- bish, and construction equipment and took efforts to clean up the sidecast stone. Peterson told BPR engineer Miller that the contractor's general disregard for the blasting restrictions outlined in the specifications had caused extensive landscape damage. As McCabe had failed to make any money on the work, he conceded it would be difficult to have him do any further clean- up work. Peterson warned Miller that it would be necessary. to place more stringent restrictions in future specifications for road work in the park. 43 Nothing was evidently done to correct the disfigurement. In September 1931, Peterson put his earlier impressions in writing. "The contract of the grading work on Cadillac Mountain which was completed last year constitutes the worst piece of landscape damage which any road has done in a national park." The contrac- tor had been required to pick up all rock lying outside of the toe of the slope within a distance of 30' from the road shoulders, while rock and dead vegetation outside the 30' area was to be handled by force account. McCabe had completed his work, but much debris remained. Peterson noted that $11,000 had been transferred to the Acadia park books for clean-up, but doubted it would be sufficient for the work. He stated there was a "crying need" to do something more, especially because of all the criticism of road-building work in the park and because the road would be judged against Rockefeller's excellent work. 44 Peterson also urged the widening of the road in several loca- tions, especially at major curves, noting that extra grading would generally not be required. The widening could utilize some of the waste rock which had been thrown over the edge. The only extra cost would involve relocating several stretches of the border stones, but he thought they could be eliminated altogether. He added that the use of guard rail (in this case, the stones) was "greatly in excess of that which we regularly follow in Park work, in some cases being employed on the insides of curves. He recommended that where the road needed widening, 43Charles E. Peterson, Assistant Landscape Architect, Branch of Plans and Design, National Park Service, to Guy M. Miller, District Engineer, Bureau of Public Roads, 20 December 1930, attached to Ibid. 44 Idem, "Memorandum for the Director No. 1: Clean-up on the Cadillac Mountain Road, " 26 September 1931. National Archives, Record Group 79, Central Classified Files. CADILLAC MOUNTAIN ROAD HAER No. ME-58 (page 17) the stones should simply be tipped over into the ditch and covered up. Any extra widened areas would be used by motorists, he felt, because "fine views are to be had at nearly all points. He urged the BPR be directed to submit an estimate for this work, and that it be carried out as soon as possible. 45 Another criticism Peterson noted was inadequate parking at the summit, which consisted only of a widened space below the terminal loop. He thought a main parking area should be constructed inside the loop, and the existing area designated for overflow. The loop was one of the areas "devastated" by the excessive blasting, and placing the parking here would concen- trate the damage in one spot. Along with the other work, Peterson felt the parking area should be constructed before the road opened the following summer. He added that as the parking area and loop lay in a saddle below a short rise, visitors would want to leave their cars and walk around to take in the views. Accordingly, he suggested the construction of a system of trails around the summit. To determine their location, he urged that the BPR topographic map of the summit be expanded so that the location of the trails, as well as the desired tea house, could be chosen. The trails, he believed, should be 4' 6" wide and paved with crushed rock. Their surfacing could use some more of the excess rock lying along the road. He insisted that all of the work on the mountain should be done under the supervision of a Park Service landscape architect in order to avoid such problems as had previously been encountered. 46 With the grading project complete, the BPR prepared designs and specifications for the subsequent surfacing project. The Bureau of Public Roads had initially decided to surface the road with a bituminous macadam using emulsified asphalt as a binder. However, an inspection of an experimental stretch of this surfacing at Dedham, Massachusetts showed such surfacing did not hold up well, being "shot to pieces" only five months after it had been laid. Rather than risking similar failure on the Cadillac Mountain project, BPR engineers decided to utilize "Pentolithic" macadam. The specifications called for a 22' 45 Idem, "Memorandum for the Director No. 2: Special Widenings for the Cadillac Mountain Road, = 26 September 1931. National Archives, Record Group 79, Central Classified Files. 46 Idem, "Memorandum for the Director No. 3 : Parking Area on the Summit of Cadillac Mountain, 26 September 1931; "Memorandum for the Director No. 4 : Path on the Summit of Cadillac Mountain, 26 September 1931. National Archives, Record Group 79, Central Classified Files. CADILLAC MOUNTAIN ROAD HAER No. ME-58 (page 18) pavement of pentolithic type bituminous macadam using 2 I of the stone shoulders on each side as part of the base course. 47 Pentolithic macadam was a patented type of bituminous macadam. The 2 1/2" thick pavement was laid 22' wide along the road. First, a layer of top stone was applied, then it was lightly sprayed with diesel oil. After this had penetrated through the top course, hot asphalt was applied with a pressure distributor and rolled. After the rolling, a layer of small stone was sprayed with light oil and spread over the surface to fill the voids. The pavement was then thoroughly compacted. An asphalt seal coat was then applied and its surface was again covered with more oiled stone and rolled. Due to the oiling of the stone, the contractor was able to use a harder grade of asphalt than could be used by the usual penetration method; this type of asphalt was generally used only in hot mix pavements such as sheet asphalt. Stone aggregate for the paving came from a 50' cut two-thirds of the way up the mountain. The pink granite gave the road a pleasing, pink surface, harmonious with the surrounding rock. 48 The paving project was advertised in the spring of 1931. Bids were opened in April and the contract was awarded to Green and Wilson of Waterville, Maine, on the basis of the firm's low bid of $60,760.62. 49 Green and Wilson began moving in construction equipment in May and proceeded with the construction of a crushing and screening plant. Other equipment used on the project included a gas shovel, ten trucks, a power roller, two stone spreaders, two compressors, two jackhammers, a drill sharpener and an oil forge. The work included some minor excavation for slight changes in alignment and to break off points to improve visibility. Several culverts were lengthened to conceal their outlets. Before the surfacing could be applied, it was necessary to reshape and compact the subgrade so that the proper depth of the surfacing could be obtained. Once this was completed, a broken stone base course, 3 1/2" thick, was applied. This was then compacted and filled with dust and screenings to make a firm and level base. 47Grossman, Project Diary, 30 December 1930-16 May 1931. 48Grossman, "Final Construction Report, 1931, Acadia National Park, Cadillac Mountain Surfacing Project, Hancock County, Maine, Project No. 1-A" (Albany, NY: Bureau of Public Roads, 1932) 1-34 4°Ibid., 1-3. CADILLAC MOUNTAIN ROAD HAER No. ME-58 (page 19) The surfacing contract was concluded in October 1931 at a cost of $68,069.34. The total cost of the 3.86-mile road was $350,000. 50 While this work was underway, park force account labor completed three buildings on the mountain. A small ranger shelter was constructed at the base of the road for $550; it was provided with a telephone SO rangers could report accidents or seek instructions. On the summit, a comfort station was built for $1,500, and a ranger station, designed by Charles Peterson, was constructed for $1,600. 51 As the work neared completion, a dedication was tentatively scheduled for 17 September, and President Herbert Hoover and Secretary of the Interior Ray Lyman Wilbur were invited to attend. 52 However, the dedication had to be postponed until the following summer. The committee reported that the President and the Secretary were not available, many of the summer colonists would be gone, and Superintendent Dorr indicated that while cars might be able to make the trip, the roadside cleanup work still needed to be done. 53 With the surfacing project complete, park officials began allowing automobiles to travel over the road during the day. Chief Ranger B. L. Hadley warned motorists they should exercise caution because work crews were still engaged in roadside cleanup and finishing work. More than 3,000 visitors in 800 cars made the trip on the first day, 11 October. 54 Charles Peterson inspected the surfacing project for the Park Service and recommended its acceptance on 27 October. He noted that the contractor had handled the cleanup of the scattered rock well, and stated that with the completion of the force account 50 Ibid. 51 " Three New Buildings for National Park, 11 Bar Harbor Times, 15 June 1932. 52 To Open Mountain Road Sept. 17th," Bar Harbor Times, 12 August 1931. 53 Road Opening is July 4, 1932," Bar Harbor Times, 26 August 1932. 54 Summit Road Now Open to Traffic, 11 Bar Harbor Times, 7 October 1931; "3000 Visitors to Cadillac Sunday, " Bar Harbor Times, 14 October 1931. CADILLAC MOUNTAIN ROAD HAER No. ME-58 (page 20) cleanup of rock outside the 30' margin, "the whole road will certainly be as orderly as it is practical for us to make it. " Peterson later stated that much of the scarring had been concealed with blueberry sod. 55 Rockefeller, who had carefully monitored work on the road while he was engaged in constructing other parts of the park motor road system, was disappointed in the shortcomings of the roadside cleanup program and the poor facilities provided at the summit. He wrote Mather's successor as Park Service director, Horace M. Albright, urging the matters be addressed before the road was opened. 56 Albright made his first visit to Acadia in June 1932 and inspected the project. On his return to Washington, he wrote Rockefeller with his impressions of the work. The importance of the Cadillac Mountain Road looms larger every day. I have taken all feasible steps to program its further development through roadside clean-up and we are shortly sending to Acadia two of our best men, Assistant Engineer O. G. Taylor and Landscape Architect Zimmer, who will spend considerable time studying the problems that need more attention. 57 Albright also indicated that Assistant Director Harold C. Bryant, in charge of the Park Service's educational work, accompanied by Dr. Herman C. Bumpus, Director of the American Museum of Natural History, would soon arrive in Acadia for an extended stay, during which time they would work out a series of trails and interpretive displays for the summit. 58 At last the big day came. On 23 July 1932, the new Cadillac Mountain Road was dedicated under cloudy skies. President Hoover was represented by Secretary of the Navy Charles Francis Adams, and Secretary of the Interior Ray Lyman Wilbur sent his Peterson to Miller, 27 October 1931, attached to Grossman, "Final Construction Report Surfacing"; Peterson interview, op cit. 56 Horace M. Albright, Director, National Park Service, to Rockefeller, 13 June 1932, cited in Joseph W. Ernst, editor, Worthwhile Places: Correspondence of John D. Rockefeller, Jr. and Horace M. Albright (New York: Rockefeller University, 1991), 125- 26. 57 Ibid. 58 Ibid. CADILLAC MOUNTAIN ROAD HAER No. ME-58 (page 21) assistant, Joseph M. Dixon. The events began with a dog show at the Bar Harbor casino, at which Edsel Ford (a summer cottager at Seal Harbor) delivered the prize. At noon the official party journeyed up the road. After the Bar Harbor band played the national anthem, Superintendent Dorr cut a silk ribbon, formally opening the road. At this point, the clouds broke loose and a hard rain began falling, forcing the remaining exercises to be hastily relocated to the Malvern Hotel. Following an invocation by the Rt. Rev. William T. Manning, Episcopal Bishop of New York, Maine Governor William Tudor Gardiner, Senator Frederick Hale, Congressman John E. Nelson and Rhode Island Governor Norman. S. Case all spoke briefly to the crowd of about 1,000 before Secretary Adams delivered the keynote address. John D. Rockefeller III represented his father, who was ill at his Seal Harbor summer home. A bonfire and fireworks display planned for the evening had to be canceled on account of the weather. 59 The Portland Sunday Telegram extolled the road as "one of the finest mountain drives in the world.' It noted that it was now possible to motor to the summit in "high gear, the former steep grades having been eliminated. The pavement was supposedly "non- skid" if drivers exercised normal caution. The paper noted that the road was completed exactly fifty years after the Green Mountain Railway had gone into use. The park's 1940 master plan stated that the road had cost $315,550.89. 60 On 26 July 1932, John Richardson of Parsons, Kansas became the first person to ride a bicycle up the road to the summit. (Actually, he walked his bike over several sections.) When the local newspaper asked him why he undertook the trip, he replied "I wanted to have some way to get down easily. 61 With the road complete, park officials began to host sunrise breakfasts at the summit. While visitors had to bring their own 59 Will Dedicate Road July 23, " Bar Harbor Times, 11 May 1932; "Many Thousands will Witness Cadillac Mountain Road Dedication, " Bar Harbor Times, 20 July 1932; "Old Cadillac Stormy as Road is Dedicated, 11 Bar Harbor Times, 27 July 1932; "Notables of State and Nation Attend Opening of Cadillac Mountain Road, " Portland Sunday Telegram, 24 July 1932. National Park Service, "Acadia National Park Master Plan, 1940" (Richmond, VA: National Park Service, Region One, 1940), 4. 61 Rides Bike Up Cadillac Road, " Bar Harbor Times, 27 July 1932. CADILLAC MOUNTAIN ROAD HAER No. ME-58 (page 22) food, water and a place to cook were provided for them, and a park ranger was present to receive them. The breakfasts were scheduled only for Fridays, but visitors could make arrangements for other days of the week. 62 In August 1932, the McCabe Company began work on a $13,000 contract to enlarge the parking space at the summit. At the same time, Leo Grossman was directing twenty men in additional roadside cleanup along the road. The 2,000' parking area was completed in November. In September, Edward Zimmer began supervising the construction of the summit trail network. 63 The Acadia Corporation, the principal park concessionaire, began construction of a refreshment stand on the summit in summer 1934. Plans for the structure were drawn up by New York architect Grosvenor Atterbury for a site chosen by landscape architect Frederick Law Olmsted, Jr., consultant to the Park Service and Mr. Rockefeller. The stand, called the "Cadillac Mountain Tavern, opened in July. 64 The National Park Service issued a motorists' guide titled "Are You Driving Down Cadillac Mountain?" in the mid-1930s. It was intended interpret some of the most outstanding vistas and natural phenomena along the route. Among the scenes it called attention to were distant vistas of the Cranberry Islands and nearer views of Eagle Lake and Bar Harbor. Where the road crossed through deep cuts, it described the various rocks at hand, mostly granite or slate-colored trap dikes. Near the bottom of the road, it discussed the various trees through which the road passed, conifers higher up, giving way to more deciduous 62 " Park Service Will Sponsor Breakfasts, Bar Harbor Times, 13 July 1932. This practice evidently continued only a short while; no park employee in 1994 seemed to remember them. 63 Parking Space is Being Made, " Bar Harbor Times, 3 August 1932; "Complete Parking Space on Summit, Bar Harbor Times, 2 November 1932; Will Protect Summit Plants," Bar Harbor Times, 26 September 1932. 64 'Refreshment Stand Being Built at Summit of Cadillac Mountain, 11 Bar Harbor Times, 20 June 1934; "Cadillac Mountain Tavern Opened Tuesday, " Bar Harbor Times, 18 July 1934. CADILLAC MOUNTAIN ROAD HAER No. ME-58 (page 23) trees near the end. 65 Today, interpretation is provided by roadside displays and seasonal ranger programs on the summit. In March 1941, with war clouds looming, the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers selected a site on the mountain summit for a radar station. The Public Roads Administration [PRA], Depression-era - successor to the Bureau of Public Roads, was asked to draw up plans for a concrete platform and short connecting road. The BPR designed the layout to use existing paths and cleared area as much as possible in an effort to reduce damage to the summit landscape. The work was financed by a $7,000 allotment from the National Park Service Roads and Trails account and reimbursed by the Corps of Engineers. National Park Service force account labor carried out the work under the PRA supervision. The work was completed on 17 June at a cost of $4,556.75. 66 The Cadillac Mountain Radar Station, operated by the U.S. Army Air Corps, was established to seek out enemy submarines plying the coast. The summit road was closed during the war while the station was in operation. It was dismantled soon after the end of the hostilities. The Cadillac Mountain Road reopened in October 1945; the parking area for the former radar site is now known as "Sunset Overlook. 67 Today, the Cadillac Mountain Road remains one of the principal attractions of Acadia National Park. Visitors make more than a million visits to the summit annually. Many take the extra effort to arrive before dawn in order to be among the first Americans to see the sun rise over the Atlantic. While the mountain is frequently shrouded in clouds, reducing visibility to a few feet, on a clear day the mountain offers far-flung vistas of the Gulf of Maine to the southwest, the Atlantic Ocean to the southeast, and the northern Appalachians on the mainland to the north. The parking area and paved trails designed by Charles Peterson are crowded with visitors during the main tourism season, and cars often slow to a crawl behind other vehicles 6National Park Service, Acadia National Park, "Are You Driving Down Cadillac Mountain?" brochure, n.d. (1930s) Acadia National Park historical collection. "Philip Mabel, Junior Highway Engineer, Public Roads Administration "Final Construction Report, 1941, Acadia National Park, National Defense Installation, Cadillac Mountain, Hancock County, Maine" (Albany, NY: Federal Works Agency, Public Roads Administration, 1941), 2-5. 67 "Cadillac Summit Now Open Except Camp Area, " Bar Harbor Times, 18 October 1945. CADILLAC MOUNTAIN ROAD HAER No. ME-58 - (page 24) laboring up the grade. But the view from the top is worth the effort to most visitors, and every trip over the road is a memorable one. CADILLAC MOUNTAIN ROAD HAER No. ME-58 (page 25) III. BIBLIOGRAPHY PRIMARY SOURCE DOCUMENTS National Park Service reports Cammerer, Arno B., Assistant Director, National Park Service. "Report of Inspection Trip to Lafayette National Park, Maine. MSS, 10 June 1922. National Archives, Record Group 79, Central Classified Files. Cammerer, Arno B., Assistant Director, and Thomas C. Vint, Chief Landscape Engineer, National Park Service. "Memorandum on a Development Plan for Lafayette National Park.' Typed MSS, 1927. National Archives, Record Group 79, Acadia National Park file. National Park Service. "Acadia National Park Master Plan, 1940. Richmond, VA: National Park Service, Region One, 1940. National Archives, Record Group 79, Acadia National Park file. Bureau of Public Roads/Public Roads Administration reports Grossman, Leo, Assistant Highway Engineer, Bureau of Public Roads. "Cadillac Mountain Project, Acadia National Park, Mount Desert Island, Maine, April 19, 1928-July 31, 1929, Summary." MSS, Acadia National Park historical collection. --Cadillac Mountain Highway Project, Project Diary. MSS, Acadia National Park Historical Collection. --"Final Construction Report, 1930, Acadia National Park, Cadillac Mountain Grading Project, Hancock County, Maine, Project No. 1-A." Albany, NY : Bureau of Public Roads, 1931. Acadia National Park historical collection. "Final Construction Report, 1931, Acadia National Park, Cadillac Mountain Surfacing Project, Hancock County, Maine, Project No. 1-A." Albany, NY: Bureau of Public Roads, 1932. Acadia National Park historical collection. "Unusual Engineering and Construction Features, Acadia National Park." MSS, n.d. Bar Harbor Historical Society Collection, Jesup Memorial Library. Mabel, Philip, Junior Highway Engineer, Public Roads Administration. "Final Construction Report, 1941, Acadia National Park, National Defense Installation, Cadillac Mountain, Hancock County, Maine." Federal Works Agency, CADILLAC MOUNTAIN ROAD HAER No. ME-58 (page 26) Public Roads Administration, 1941. Acadia National Park historical collection. Maps Bates, Waldron, Edward L. Rand and Herbert Jaques, "Path Map of the Eastern Part of Mount Desert Island, Maine." Boston, MA: Geo. H. Walker & Co, 1926. Islesford Historical Museum collection, Acadia National Park. "Mount Desert and Adjacent Islands Embracing the Towns of Eden, Mount Desert, Tremont and Cranberry Isles, Hancock County, Maine. " Bar Harbor, ME: Colby & Stuart, 1887. Islesford Historical Museum collection, Acadia National Park. "Mt. Desert Island, Maine. " Boston, MA: Eastern R.R. Co., n.d. Islesford Historical Museum collection, Acadia National Park. Correspondence Albright, Horace M., Director, National Park Service, to John D. Rockefeller, Jr., 13 June 1932. Cited in Joseph W. Ernst, editor, Worthwhile Places: Correspondence of John D. Rockefeller, Jr. and Horace M. Albright. New York: Rockefeller University, 1991. Cammerer, Arno B., Acting Director, National Park Service, to George B. Dorr, Superintendent, Lafayette National Park, 26 July 1922. "Papers Relating to Road Hearing Before Secretary Work, March 16, 1924." Acadia National Park Library, Carriage Roads files. --to Dorr, 24 July 1924. "Papers Relating to Road Hearing Before Secretary Work, March 16, 1924." Acadia National Park Library, Carriage Roads files. Dorr, George B. Superintendent, Lafayette National Park, to Arno B. Cammerer, Acting Director, National Park Service, 14 June 1922. National Archives and Records Administration, Record Group 79, Central Classified Files, Arno B. Cammerer Papers. --to Cammerer, 10 January 1924. "Papers Relating to Road Hearing Before Secretary Work, March 16, 1924." Acadia National Park Library, Carriage Roads files. --to Cammerer, 12 October 1939. Acadia National Park Library. Mather, Stephen T., Director, National Park Service, to Thomas H. MacDonald, Chief, Bureau of Public Roads, 12 April 1928. CADILLAC MOUNTAIN ROAD HAER No. ME-58 (page 27) National Archives, RECORD GROUP 79, Central Classified Files. Peters, John A. , U.S. House of Representatives, to Stephen I. (sic) Mather, 9 April 1921. National Archives and Records Administration, Record Group 79, Central Classified Files. Peterson, Charles E., Assistant Landscape Architect, Branch of Plans and Design, National Park Service, to Guy M. Miller, District Engineer, Bureau of Public Roads, 20 December 1930. National Archives, Record Group 79, Central Classified Files. --to Miller, 27 October 1931. National Archives, Record Group 79, Central Classified Files. "Memorandum for the Director No. 1: Clean-up on the Cadillac Mountain Road, " 26 September 1931. National Archives, Record Group 79, Central Classified Files. "Memorandum for the Director No. 2: Special Widenings for the Cadillac Mountain Road, " 26 September 1931. National Archives, Record Group 79, Central Classified Files. "Memorandum for the Director No. 3 : Parking Area on the Summit of Cadillac Mountain, " 26 September 1931. National Archives, Record Group 79, Central Classified Files. "Memorandum for the Director No. 4 : Path on the Summit of Cadillac Mountain, " 26 September 1931. National Archives, Record Group 79, Central Classified Files. Rockefeller, John D. Jr. to A. Atwater Kent, 11 December 1937. Rockefeller Archives Center, Office of the Messrs. Rockefeller, Record Group 2, Homes (Seal Harbor), Box 127 Folder 119. --to Arno B. Cammerer, Assistant Director, National Park Service, 14 January 1927. Rockefeller Archives Center, Office of the Messrs. Rockefeller, Record Group 2, Homes (Seal Harbor) Box 74 Folder 763. Work, Hubert, Secretary of the Interior, to George B. Dorr, Superintendent, Lafayette National Park, 25 July 1924. "Papers Relating to Road Hearing Before Secretary Work, March 16, 1924. Acadia National Park Library, Carriage Roads files. Guides, etc. CADILLAC MOUNTAIN ROAD HAER No. ME-58 (page 28) National Park Service, Acadia National Park, "Are You Driving Down Cadillac Mountain?" Brochure, n.d. (1930s). Acadia National Park historical collection. Newspaper articles "3000 Visitors to Cadillac Sunday. " Bar Harbor Times, 14 October 1931. "Bar Harbor's Auto War." Newark [NJ] Star, 3 November 1908. "Begin Construction of Automobile Road to Top of Champlain (sic) Mountain. " Bar Harbor [ME] Times, 11 October 1922. "Cadillac Summit Now Open Except Camp Area." Bar Harbor Times, 18 October 1945. "Cadillac Mountain Tavern Opened Tuesday. " Bar Harbor Times, 18 July 1934. "Complete Parking Space on Summit. ' Bar Harbor Times, 2 November 1932. "Crews Cleaning Up on the Cadillac Mountain Road. " Bar Harbor [ME] Times, 2 December 1931. "Distinguished Specialists Overcome Obstacles in Park Road Case." Boston Evening Transcript, 9 August 1924. "Fireworks and Bonfire to Close Dedication. " Bar Harbor Times, 13 July 1932. "Many Thousands will Witness Cadillac Mountain Road Dedication. " Bar Harbor Times, 20 July 1932. "Notables of State and Nation Attend Opening of Cadillac Mountain Road. " Portland Sunday Telegram, 24 July 1932. "Old Cadillac Stormy as Road is Dedicated." Bar Harbor Times, 27 July 1932. "Paradise Auto Road. " Philadelphia Record. 22 September 1908. "Park Service Will Sponsor Breakfasts. " Bar Harbor Times, 13 July 1932. "Parking Space is Being Made Bar Harbor Times, 3 August 1932. CADILLAC MOUNTAIN ROAD HAER No. ME-58 (page 29) "Refreshment Stand Being Built at Summit of Cadillac Mountain. " Bar Harbor Times, 20 June 1934. "Rides Bike Up Cadillac Road." Bar Harbor Times, 27 July 1932. "Road Opening is July 4, 1932." Bar Harbor Times, 26 August 1932. "Section of Green Mt. Road Opened." Bar Harbor Times, 12 September 1923. "Sec'y Work Inspects Park at Bar Harbor." Unidentified newspaper clipping, 2 July 1924. Bar Harbor Historical Society collection. "Summit Cadillac Mountain Road One of Finest Scenic Roads in World. " Portland Sunday Telegram, 24 June 1932. "Summit Road Now Open to Traffic.' Bar Harbor Times, 7 October 1931. "Three New Buildings for National Park. Bar Harbor Times, 15 June 1932. "To Open Mountain Road Sept. 17th." Bar Harbor Times, 12 August 1931. "Torrey Introduces Park Resolution." Bangor [ME] Commercial, n.d. [1924] "Twice Told Tales." Bar Harbor Times, 9 November 1932. "Will Dedicate Road July 23." Bar Harbor Times, 11 May 1932. "Will Protect Summit Plants." Bar Harbor Times, 26 September 1932. SECONDARY SOURCES National Park Service reports Foulds, H. Eliot, Landscape Architect, and Lauren H. Meier, Historical Landscape Architect, Olmsted Center for Landscape Preservation, National Park Service. Compliance Documentation for the Historic Motor Roads, Acadia National Park, Federal Highways Project #PRA-ACAD-4A10. Boston, MA: CADILLAC MOUNTAIN ROAD HAER No. ME-58 (page 30) National Park Service, North Atlantic Regional Office, September 1993. Books Collier, Sargent F. Mt. Desert Island and Acadia National Park: An Informal History. Camden, ME: Downeast Books, 1978. Hale, Richard Walden, Jr. The Story of Bar Harbor: An Informal History Recording One Hundred and Fifty Years in the Life of a Community. New York: Ives Washburn, Inc., 1949. Hansen, Gunnar, editor. Mount Desert: An Informal History. Mount Desert, ME: Town of Mount Desert, 1989. Morison, Samuel Eliot. The Story of Mount Desert Island, Maine. Boston, MA: Little, Brown and Company, 1960. Roberts, Ann Rockefeller. Mr. Rockefeller's Roads: The Untold Story of Acadia's Carriage Roads and Their Creator. Camden, ME: Downeast Books, 1990. St. Germain, Tom, and Jay Saunders, Trails of History: The Story of Mount Desert Island's Paths from Norumbega to Acadia. Bar Harbor, ME: Parkman Publications, 1993. Newspaper articles Grindle, Thelma A. "Green Mountain R.R. in '80s Operated by Cog Wheels. " Bangor Commercial, n.d. (1951). Matter, Frank J. "The Train Up Cadillac Mountain." Acadia Weekly, 28 August 1994. FINOI AUIU HKP TO CADILLAC Distinguished National Park Offi- cials Make O ficial Visit to New Summit Road Project Tues- day BHTR 10/15/30 Three distinguished men came to Bar Harbor Tuesday and made the first trip by automobile to the summit of Cadillac Mountain, excepting only the automobiles of the engineer in charge and his assistants. They were Dr. L. I. Hewes, Deputy Chief En- gineer of the United States Bureau of Public Roads, from San Francisco. Major Gilmore D. Clark, Landscape Architect for the Westchester Park Commission of New York, and R. E Toms, District Engineer of the United States Bureau of Public Roads, Washington, D. C. They were met a the boat Tuesday morning by Supt. George B. Durr and Chief Engineer Leo Grossman of the Cadillac summit road project, and were joined by Chief Engineer Walters G. Hill and James Fallon, State of Maine engineer for the Federal Bureau of Public Roads They made the trip straight to the summit of Cadillac and were delighted by the superb heights and by the splendid const ruction+ MOUNT DESERT ISLAND HIGHWAY READY FOR SUMMER MOTORISTS By ALFRED ELDEN. New York Times (1857-Current file), May 22, 1932; ProQuest Historical Newspapers The New York Times pg. XX5 MOUNT DESERT ISLAND HIGHWAY READY FOR SUMMER MOTORISTS By ALFRED ELDEN. Not until three years later. however. PORTLAND, Me. were funds provided for constructing 1925 M OTORISTS who tour next Sum- the first section. Congress then ap- mer over the Atlantic Highway propriating $50,000. Subsequent ap- into Eastern Maine and Canada propriations brought the total outlay will have two interesting side trips practically to $350,000. available. A remarkable example of engineer- The Cadillac Mountain Road, in ing skill, the Cadillac Mountain Acadia National Park. Mount Desert Road is bound to take its place as Island, completed last Fall, is now one of the great scenic highways of open for traffic. This scenic high- the world. Three and seven-tenths way has come into being as a miles long, 22 feet wide, it winds its monument to the foresight and hard way in graceful curves to the sum- work of one man-George B. Dorr. mit of the mountain, 1,529 feet above superintendent of this only national sea level. The average grade is 5 park in the East. For years it was per cent and never more than 7-an his dream; once begun, his unremit- easy automobile ascent and a pleas- ting energy insured its completion. ant descent. Government officials approved the A View of the Sea. road plans in 1922, following a visit to Acadia by Stephen T. Mather, di- At many points of vantage the rector of the National Park Service. roadway has been widened to permit temporary parking for the enjoyment of the incomparable marine vista. The broad plateau on Cadillac's peak is the highest land on the Atlantic Seaboard from the coast of Labrador to South America. The exotic, ever changing panorama of a sunset from Cadillac's heights brings a rare thrill. In the vista of forest-bordered lakes and ponds. mountains, broad bays and the sil- very-surfaced Atlantic. dotted with myriads of big and little islands. are blended all the colors of the rainbow. As the shadows deepen the yellow eyes of the lighthouse towers begin winking their warnings. At the foot of the mountain glow the lights from Bar Harbor, Seal Harbor, Northeast Harbor, Southwest Harbor, and to the north-Ellsworth. Here is a scenic jaunt which brings to the motorist a comprehensive view of Acadia National Park, hith- erto impossible. Surrounded by the sea. this paradise has for its nucleus and central feature the famous moun- tains which prompted Champlain. their discoverer in 1604, to give the island its name, "Isle des Monts Deserts." At Eastport, Me., adventure awaits the motorist who seeks novelty. There next Summer for the first time he may drive his car on to a picturesque, eight-car scow ferry, where a power- ful motor craft lashed alongside will convey him one mile across Passama- quoddy Bay to the southerly end of Deer Island, N. B. This is a beauti- ful spot, the largest of the West Isles archipelago. Reproduced with permission of the copyright owner. Further reproduction prohibited without permission. MOUNTAINS MEET THE OCEAN ( Continued from Page 10 And everywhere is a springy carpet of soft mosses and brown needles. to be Lafayette's most extraordinary The entire park is a garden. Many scenic feature. species of wild flowers, in danger of Across the sound is Acadia Moun- extermination before this land be- tain, another locale rich in natural came a sanctuary, are now preserved charm and teeming with tradition. to present and future generations. It was once called Robinson's Moun- The outcropping rocks, split by the tain, after an early settler with a frost and lichen-painted, with gran- penchant for seeking buried pirate ite sands sifted into the clefts, afford plunder. This is one of the many holding ground for the roots of mis- spots which Kidd is credited with cellaneous vegetation. These color- having selected for the inhumation ful growths remind of vast areas of of his ill-gotten ingots. natural rock gardens of great charm. West of St. Sauveur and Acadia Lafayette National Park lies di- Mountains nestles Echo Lake. Then rectly in the coast migration route comes Beech Cliff. separated from of all bird life and has already be- Beech Mountain by a gorge. Just come a haven of refuge. What beyond is Long Pond. the largest more fitting than that the American body of fresh water on the Island. bald eagle should make its home in The extreme western end of Lafay- this national sanctuary? The ever ette Park encloses a splendid double increasing numbers of feathered in- mountain. known as the Western habitants and of deer and all small Mountain. Its summits have been wild animals, including a colony of named Mansell Peak and Bernard busy beavers are by no means the Mountain to perpetuate names Im- least of the park's many delights. portant in the Island's early history. Here is a paradise for campers, While the mountains and lakes Last Summer thousands of visitors mentioned constitute the principal availed themselves of the privileges ones within the park boundaries, afforded by this only national park there are many smaller elevations in the East: thousands more will and lakelets, all of which contribute revel in its beauties this season. their share toward the perfect beauty Unrivaled Crown of Rock of the whole. Lafayette's forest is a luxuriant The walks and climbs in Lafayette growth enriched by its position at seem almost endless. Those who the meeting point of zones of vege- would woo the solitudes of the wil- tation. More than 225 species of derness should skirt Eagle Lake, the plants common to the Arctic mingle Bubbles, Bubble Pond and Jordan here with those common to Georgia Pond. From the summit of Acadia and Florida. Red spruce predomi- Mountain unfolds the greatest va- nates, although white spruce is riety of mountain, sound and inland found in the open places and skirt- waters. The pilgrim who makes the ing the forest edges. No more ma- -ascent of Cadillac will be rewarded jestic tree is to be noted than the by a horizon panorama of sea and white pine, which gave Maine the shore. Sargent's rocky crown is name of the Pine Tree State. Be. probably unrivated as a point of cause it was the tree mainly sought vantage from which to command a by the lumbermen it was well-nigh view of the sparkling bay and out- exterminated. Vigorous Dew growth lying Islands. The Western Moun- is noted in the park, and in years to tain may well be selected for broad come the white pine forest of Lafay- sweeps of land, lake, sea and distant ette will be famous. headlands. Balsam fire and graceful bemlocks Lafayette National Park is the are plentiful. Although conifers pre- outcome of a work that George B. dominate, there is a profuse and Door of Bar Harbor began a quar- varied growth of deciduous trees. ter of a century ago. At first it was which impart R richness of coloring. his thought only to preserve a small particularly in the Autumn, that is unknown in any other national park. area of beauty on the Island that The red oak is the most stalwart should be open and free to all. In among the hardwoods, while the 1901. with the assistance of Dr. familiar "scrub oak" of New Jersey Charies W. Ellot of Harvard Uni- and Pennsylvania grows in a single versity, Mr. Door formed an organi- locale-the southern slope of Acadia zation for holding gifts of land. Mountain. Tracts were accumulated until. by The undergrowth is similarly rich. 1914, thousands of acres had been Shad bush, sweet forn and bayberry, acquired. Under the provisions of elder. hazel. viburnum. black aider the Monuments act the new park with its bright autumnal` berries, was turned over to the nation in wild rose. goldenrod, aster, arbutus, partridge berry and wild lily-these President Wilson's_fir Administra- and many other plants are found. tion. Reproduced with permission of the copyright owner. Further reproduction prohibited without permission WORTHWHILE PLACES 1924 1100 March 10, 1932 Birthplace National Monument the land you recently conveyed to the United States. Private and Confidential Your public-spirited and far-sighted action in thus rounding out the area necessary to maintain and develop for Dear Mr. Albright: posterity the birthplace of George Washington as a great national shrine is one of the many fine things your interest Your two letters of March 7th in regard to the Radio has impelled you to do. I am confident that as time goes on the vital effect of this will be more and more appreciated by Station at Otter Creek, are received. The shorter letter passing on to me a rumor which you have not been able to confirm, the people of the country, and that you yourself will derive is exceedingly significant. If this rumor is confirmed it will afford in increasing measure the satisfaction that your generous a very easy solution to a difficult problem. I shall be interested donation deserves. to hear if confirmation is had. Sincerely yours, As to the other letter, I am glad to find you feel I have HORACE M. ALBRIGHT accurately analyzed the attitude of the Navy Department. That the passage, both in the Senate and the House, of legislation including an appropriation of $250,000. for the removal of the Radio Station, is so likely is most gratifying. That will give you the whip hand and completely alter the situation. I agree with June 13, 1932. you that the original estimate of $350,000. for removal is probably an outside estimate and that it undoubtedly could be greatly reduced. If relocation rather than permanent removal is the thing finally Dear Mr. Rockefeller: decided upon, I am much pleased to have you say that you still feel the Schoodic Head site can be adopted, for from my point I am leaving for the West today and am attaching hereto, of view that is distinctly the best location under the circumstances, for the use of your office in the event that for any reason you Thanking you for keeping me advised of this interesting want to get in touch with me, a copy of my itinerary. This situation, I am, is only tentative and may be changed from time to time. I am inclined to think, however, that it will be followed pretty closely Very truly, until I reach Glacier National Park. JOHN D. ROCKEFELLER, JR. I want to tell you again how much I enjoyed my day with you in Acadia National Park. It was one of the most interesting days of my national park career. The unfolding of your plans for Acadia Park very greatly broadened my view of the whole project. I came back from Acadia this April 11, 1932 time with greater enthusiasm than ever for this exquisitely beautiful park. Dear Mr. Rockefeller: The importance of the Cadillac Mountain Road looms larger every day. I have taken all feasible steps to program I am glad to inform you that on March 30 the President its further improvement through roadside clean-up and we are signed the proclamation adding to the George Washington shortly sending to Acadia Park two of our very best men, 125 124 WURTHWHILE PLACES 1924 1933 Assistant Chief Engineer O. G. Taylor and Landscape Architect September 26, 1932. Zimmer, who will spend considerable time there studying the problems that need more attention. Dear Mr. Rockefeller: In August, Assistant Director Harold C. Bryant, who is in charge of our educational work and who was a member Last'Saturday night in the Shenandoah National Park area of the original educational advisor committee financed by the Mr. Cammerer and I had a long final conference with the Laura Spelman Rockefeller Memorial, will go to Acadia Park Virginia State authorities in direct charge of the State's program for an extended stay. It is likely that Dr. Bumpus will join for the acquisition of that park. We all believe that matters him there. They will devote attention to the Cadillac summit are now in such shape that they are ready to proceed with with a view to working out a plan for trails and such educational the work of acquiring the land. structures and equipment as will provide the visitors with In an earlier letter I wrote you that I was not willing to facilities not only for enjoying the beauty of the scenes spread accept less than 192,754.09 acres for that park at an estimated out before them but also to tell the story of the forces of nature cost of $1,745,869.58, barring minor adjustments here and there that constructed these superb scenic features. that might raise or lower that amount slightly. Included in that Mr. Dorr doubtless told you before you left Acadia that estimate were timberlands belonging to two lumber companies the boathouse at Eagle Lake will be removed at once and that for which they, as seems customary with lumber companies, with the cooperation of your trapper the beavers will be taken wanted an exorbitant price. As they were going to fight their from park waters. cases to the highest courts, it presented a picture of interminable Secretary Wilbur has just told me that he expects to visit delays, possibly over a period of years. The President and Acadia Park late this month, going thence from Dartmouth Secretary Wilbur both have expressed the wish that these College. I understand he is to speak at Dartmouth on holdings be eliminated from the park area, at least for the Commencement Day and is to receive the honorary degree of present, so as to do away with all these complications. This Doctor of Laws. I, therefore, reluctantly did, fully concurring in the wisdom of I hope to go back to the park in September to review the move, but it necessarily involved some boundary adjustments the accomplishments during the summer and to bring to a head, that do not alone reflect the acreage and value of the timberlands. I hope, all matters relating to the removal of the radio station. It, however, brought the total acreage down to 176,710 acres In the meantime, if in the economy provisions of the legislative at an estimated cost of $1,719,687.63, or a reduction of appropriation bill there is retained a measure to reorganize the $26,181.95 below the original figure. This presents a reduction Government activities it may be that the radio station will be in that amount of your pledge, or from $189,813 to $163,631.05. abandoned. Will you kindly forward your check to Mr. Cammerer I hope you will pardon this rather lengthy letter. at this address for that amount, payable to John F. Purcell, With all good wishes for a restful summer, I am Treasurer of Virginia, For Credit to the Shenandoah National Park Fund, so that Mr. Cammerer as Executive Secretary to Faithfully yours, the Virginia organization collecting these funds may transmit HORACE M. ALBRIGHT it to him with remittances made on other pledges? While there probably will be a number of instances where final court action over a course of months, or even years, may Dr. Herman C. Bumpus. Director, American Museum of increase the base estimate somewhat, the State authorities say Natural History. that the State may be depended upon to appropriate any 126 127 Mountain to Be Dedicated TIMES Times Jul 17. 1932 ProQuest Historical Newspapers The Kw York Times BAR HARBOR Mountain Highway to Be Dedicated Special to THE NEW YORK Trues. B AR HARBOR.-All Bar Harbor is lifting up its eyes unto the hills this week, for on the sum- mit of Mount Cadillac on Sat- urday the ceremony of dedicating the new mountain highway will take place. This highway. just completed, has been built by the United States Government as a part of the develop- ment of Acadia National Park. It twines itself around Cadillac like a vine. until it reaches its summit 1,525 feet above sea level, whence the glo- ries of New England scenery, sea coast and mountain, from New Hampshire to Canada, are spread out before the spectator. The celebra- tion on Saturday. which the Bar Har- bor Chamber of Commerce is spon- soring, will be an impressive one. Secretary of the Navy Charles Francis Adams and Joseph M. Dixon, Assistant Secretary of the Interior, and Admiral Pratt, U. S. N., will be among the guests of honor and speak- ers. Governor Gardiner of Maine has invited all the New England Gover- nors to attend as his guests, and three ships of the United States Navy will be in the harbor in time for the ceremony. They are to remain here until after the annual tennis cham- pionship matches have been played at the Bar Harbor Club, during the first week in August. The committee in charge, headed by Charles W. Shea, is impressive both as to numbers and personnel. Besides the directors of the Chamber of Commerce and the Selectmen of Bar Harbor, it includes representa- tives of the "four harbor" com- munities, both of Summer and Win- ter residents, B ESIDES the specially invited guests the general public will be welcome and elaborate traffic arrangements have been perfected in anticipation of receiving at least 3,000 cars. The ceremonies will take place between noon and 1 o'clock, presided over by Lucre B. Deasy of Bar Harbor, former Chief Justice of the Supreme Court of Maine. The principal speakers will be As- sistant Secretary Dixon, former Gov- ernor of Montana; Governor Gar- diner of Maine and Senator Hale and Congressman Nelson of Maine. After the mountain-top ceremony a luneheon for about 500 of the in- vited guests will be served at the Ho- tel Malvern in Bar Harbor, and in the evening a dinner for 200 will be given at the Bar Harbor Club, which will be followed by a dance. And this is not all that is to hap- pen on this great Saturday which looms so large on the social map. Every dog has his day, and the dogs of our Island will have theirs on Sat- furday-even though the lack of a broadcasting system will keep them from being heard as widely as the mountain speakers. The dogs are to gather in the Casino of Bar Harbor to compete for the prizes and trophies offered by the Island resi- dents for this first show to be staged by the new Kennel Club, the proceeds to go to the Red Cross. * * * T HE Kebo Valley Golf Club will repeat this Summer its popular putting teas, which will be held on Monday afternoons, beginning this week. Mrs. Victor Cushman is chairman for the season. Her as- sistants on Monday will be Mrs. Robert Hall McCormick of Chicago and Bar Harbor, and Miss Helen Jones of Washington and Bar Har- bor. The Surry Players are putting on Rachel Crothers's comedy, "Let Us Be Gay," beginning on Tuesday evening. The Garden Club makes its first garden visit of the season on Tues- day afternoon to see the naturalistic garden of "Woodleigh," the home of Mrs. L. Dean Holden in Bluehill. An amateur cast will present the play of "Peter the Rock," by Mary Hamlin, co-author with George Arliss of "Alexander Hamilton," in the Neigh- borhood House of Seal Harbor this evening. The educational side of life is never neglected on Mount Desert. The Roscoe B. Jackson Memorial Lab- oratory, under the direction of Dr. Clarence Cook Little. is offering a series of lectures-"as nearly non- technical as possible"-on Wednes- day evenings at 8 o'clock at the laboratory. Dr. Little introduced the series on the first Wednesday in July. Miss Elizabeth Feketa is to speak this week. Reproduced with permission of the copyright owner Further reproduction prohibited without permission Participating In Dedication Exercises, Cadillac Mountain Road JOSEPH M. DIXON CHARLES FRANCIS ADAMS ADMIRAL WILLIAM V. PRATT First Assistant Secretary of the Secretary of the Navy Chief of Naval Operations Interior Department of Navy WALLACE H. WHITE, JR. FREDERICK HALE United States Senator United States Senator NORMAN S. CASE JUDGE LUERE B. DEASY JOHN C. WINANT Governor of Rhode Island Master of Ceremonies Governor of New Hampshire Sunday -AND- Telegram The Weather Generally Fair Sunday And Monday Sunday Bress Herald R MAINE SUNDAY, JULY 24, 1932 Issued by Portland Maina Publishing Company SEVEN CENTS lillac Road Opening Notables Of State And Nation Attend Opening Of Cadillac Mountain Road Maine To Receive Dixon, Adams, Gardiner, Hale, $1,067,079 From U.S. On Road Aid Join In Tribute To Superin- tendent Of Acadia Park Highway Commission Will Put Loan Into More Of Four Year Work OUTDOOR PROGRAM CURTAILED Maine will be entitled to $1,067,079 BECAUSE OF TORRENTIAL RAIN from the Federal Government for highway construction under the $120, 000,000 special fund provided in the relief bill signed recently hv Presid Walt 1. T 1 C from the Federal Government for VI MAIN highway construction under the $120.- 2 000,000 special fund provided in the relief bill signed recently by President Hoover, according to an Associated Walter Damrosch Leads Cheering As Silver Press despatch from Washington, Saturday night. Band Is Severed; John D. Rockefeller, This allotment will be made use of immediately for completion of Maine's Jr., Ill, Represented By Son four year building program and for special road projects already planned by the State Highway Commission. Bar Harbor, July 23-Here on the loftiest headland of the This Information was given the Tele- entire Atlantic coast, commanding a view in any direction of gram by Col. Edward E. Farnsworth of South Portland, member of the unsurpassed beauty and magnificence, and overlooking a region commission. rich in historical lore, distinguished representatives of State and To Be Used Within Year Nation assembled today to participate in a simple ceremony of Col. Farnsworth said the commis- great significance not only to the present generation of Ameri- sion understands that the special cans, but those to follow. With the severing of a narrow silver band by Superinten- Continued on Page 2A; 2nd Column dent George B. Dorr of Acadia National Park, the wonderful Find Philadelphia new highway to the summit of Cadillac Mountain constructed by the Federal government at a cost of $350,000 and opening Teft to Walice Damrosch of New York, Mrs. Damrosch, By Staff Photographer up a new vista to the pleasure-seeking public was formally William fuder Gardiness and Secretary of the Navy Charles Woman Slain In opened, and fitting recognition of this event was voiced by sev- Superints Jane George B Derr of Arcadis National eral of the noted men. who came here to witness THE UT the road. John D Bockefeller Speakers Laud Dorr 10 Brave Rain Threat To New Summer Home Australian Stand Those who spoke paid splendid tributes to the part which Mr. Dorr and associates have played in the Attend Chapman Day Concert Mrs. Catherine Reynolds' Surprises Empire consummation of this plan evolvad several years ago, and Joseph M Dixon, assistant secretary of the In Head Nearly Severed; ndous Ovation Greets Dr. Chapman- Envoys At Ottawa terior, who delivered the principal ad dress of the day, suggested that no Found By Husband time should be lost in erection 50 From All Parts Of Maine Take bronze plaque setting forth the good work done by Mr. Dorr. Insistence Or Preferences Part In Program Ocean City, N. J., July Other speakers, Charles Francis With her throat slashed. from ear to Adams, Sécretary of the. Navy; Goy Would Mean Raising William Tudor Gardiner, Gov Nor- ear and her head nearly sévéred, the man S. Case of Rhode Island United patch to Sunday Telegram Pres. Hoover Directs body of Mrs. Catherine Reynolds, 35, Tariff To Outsiders States Senator Frederick Hale and July 23-Traveling from of Philadelphia was found today in Representative John E Nelson, also n of the Pine Tree State, Survey Of Question lauded Mr. Dorr. bungalow at Strathmere by h braved threatening skies band, Robert C. Reynolds, 8 By Frank Weller Unfortunately not all of the exer- ke an active part in the Of Five Day Week brother. Associated Press Staff Writer cises could be carried out in the open, Ottawa, July 23.-(AP)-The in- ay concert program in the Furniture in the bungalow owing to a torrential downpour of Eastern Music Camp, sistence of Australia upon effective set and the front room rain and the dense fog which hung ne assistance from Great Britain in mar- over the mountain, but the ribbon Ice estimated at 3,000 at- Instructs Departments Of Labor body lay was spattered wj ood. keting Australian products threw in- oncert, which was termed indicating police said, there havi been was cut in the presence of a gather- to bold relief tonight the differences musical event that Maine And Commerce To Study ing of about 1,000, including many a terrific struggle. In a preliminary of opinion on the manner of granting Itnessed. A. student sym- newspapermen, photographers, and Possibilities Of Plan search of the structure and its imme- empire/prefere bes. estra of more than 100 diate vicinity, investigators could find At the outs the sh delegates Continued on Page 2A; 1st. Column the grand chorus and, no trace of a knife or other weapon. declared th selves the general Madame Marie Sundelius, Washington, July 23.-(AP-Presi+ Reynolds and his brother went to principle lowe: siff walls Small Launch Sinks a of the Metropolitan dent Hoover, leaving for his Rapidan the bungalow from their home in f tions, opposed to any, 11 guest artists ap camp today, announced in a state: Philadelphia this afternoon to spend 11s against foreign Following Explosion ment he had instructed the Depart- n R. Chapman of Bethel Continued on Page 2A; 2nd Column ments of Labor and Commerce to im- remendous ovation as he mediatelv UMMIT ROAD BIG STEP IN PARK DEVELOPMENT Project Was Dreamed Of For Many Years Before Actual Construction Started Government Project The history of actual work on the stressed, would do much towards dr. mmit Road dates back to 1925, veloping the only National Park in the hough dreams of seeing the project Northeastern part of the country. It come a reality have existed in the was a fundamental stop towards th ods of those who have been inter- future development of Acadia. ed In developing Acadia National The first section of the read was or many more years. Since the surveyed in 1925 ur the fforts of the Hind of the crudely built carriage boosters began to best fruit The up the mountainside, Superin- work was under the direction of den't George B. Dorr and others Walters G. Hill, National Purk Service planned and waited for an op- engineer and required remarkable skill tunity to interest Uncle, Sam in and a lot of difficult engineering 111 king it possible for motorists to cidentaliy Mr. Hill is it rutive of ch the summit by automobile. Maine and was greatly interested in Pressure was brought to bear after the project from n patriotic standpoint Park was established and main- as well AM commercial. heit lintil something was done about Construction started ufter the sur It was pointed out by boosters of vey and before 1929, 6,000 lineal font project that Bar Harbor, Mt. of the highway had been graded This sert Island and all Maine would section brought care to is rrasonable efit greatly by the construction of altitudo and offered many cernie scenic highway. This move, it was (Continued on page 1) DEDICATION DAY PROGRAM 100,00 starts at Casino. 11.00--Official Party and guests assemble at Malvern Hotel. 11.30--Official party leaves for summit to arrive by noon. Supt. Dorr will cut ribbon as party enters Mountain Road. 12.00-Program on summit starts with band and the speakers. Ex-Justice Deasy will preside. 2.00-Luncheon at Malvern for official party. 4.00-Ball game at Athletic Field. 4.30-Tea for official party at Kimball House. 8.00-Dinner and dance at Bar Harbor Club for official party and guests. 9:00-Bonfire and rocket display from summit with warships giving searchlight display in harbor. PROGRAM ON DAYLIGHT SAVING TIME. CENTSKA COPY ROAD DEDICATION ARRANGEMENTS COMPLETE FOR A BIG CELEBRATION Weather Only Thing In Doubt As Village Prepares For Eventful Day - Special Traffic Rules Announced Bar Harbor will play host to Admiral and Mrs. Pratt will arrive thousands of visitors and entertain Friday evening and Saturday morning them well Saturday in an effort to the hilis of Mt. Desert will greet the make the dedication of the Cadillac Secretary of the Navy, Charles Francis Mountain Summit Road one of the Adam:, Governor. William Tudor biggest évents in the history of this Gardiner, Ansistant Secretary of the section of the State. The stage is set Interior Joseph Dixon, Senator Fred- and the curtain ready to risc. All crick Hale, Congressman John Nelson, details for handling traffic and taking Governor Norman S. Case of Rhode care of official and non-official guests Island, Governor Stanley C: Wilson have been outlined. The program is of Vermont and Governor John C. arranged. Special rule3 and regula- Winant of New Hampshire. tions for the day have been made. Precording and following these The Weather Man alone now holds official guests will be hundied of the magic wand that brings success or cars from every section of New Eng- failure. land with folk who will witness the Thursday morning the new Coast exercises. The dedication has had na- Guard cutter Cayuga" will steam in- tionwide publicity and it is expected to port to bc followed before Friday that the week-end population of Bar noon by three Navy destroyers, the Harbor will be much greater than Goof, Tillman and Bainbridge in usual. The committee has not ven- command of Captain R. A. White. (Continued on page 4) col. 3 MUCH PRELIMINARY WORK PLANS ALL SET FOR DEDI- NECESSARY BEFORE ROAD CATION PROGRAM--HUGE BECAME REALITY CROWD EXPECTED (Continued from page 1) (Continued from page 1) panoramas, but the bald top of tured to estimate the number of viti- Cadillac off in the distance was in- tors who will be in town for the day. triguing to those who love nature The program will start Friday one of the lounders and wented to go' the limit in their evening when a dance will be held nt The official party will have lunch inspection of the Park. the Casino for the men from the visit- at the Malvern at 2 o'clock and will In 1929 the National Park Service ing ships. Music will be furnished by be escorted to places of interest on requested the Bureau of Public Holt's Melody Boys and the Com- Mt. Desert in the afternoon, attend- Roads to ay out the highway to the mittee has requested as many Indies ing the Dog Show, a ball game and mountain top. This work was done as possible to attend to provide danc- having tea at the Kimball House at by the J. P. McCabe Company of ing partners for the visitors. Northeast Harbor at 4.30. At 4 Boston, under contract. Saturday's program will commence o'clock a ball game between Ells- The construction work was difficult with the opening of the Dog Show ut worth and Bar Harbor will be held at and required a maximum of engineer- the Casino at 10 o'clock at which over the Athletic Field. ing skill. Some of the work was car- 200 canines from every section of the At 8 b'clock in the evening a dinner ried on in the winter months and this country. will be on display. Edsel and dance will be held at the Bar brought additional hardships. The Ford will make a personal sentation Harbor club for the official party and sturdy engineers kept on the job of his $50 prize to a winner of one of their guests. however and blasted their way the classes. The day will close with one of the through great barriers of stone, At 11 o'clock the official party will finest spectacles of all. From the around jagged cliffs onward to the assemble at the Malvern to be escorted summit of Cadillac, 1600 feet in the summit. Nothing stood in their way to the summit by Stato and National air a flaming Flag of France in to reach the 1500 foot top of Cadillac Park police. As the paity enters fluttering tri-color will sparkle in the with a small degree of grade on the the Summit Road, Super'intendent darkness at 9 o'clock. This will be in road. In, some instances many hun- George B. Dorr of the Park will honor of the French discoverers of dreds of feet of highway were built cut d ribbon that serves as a silkon Mt. Desert and will be followed by a across difficult places to eliminate a barrier across the highway and will grand display of rockets shooting out high hill or rise. A minimum number officially open the road. To Superin- over the crags and cliffs of the barren of men were injured in the construc- tendent Dorr the honor is given as he mountain top into space. The ships in tion work. is considered one of the chief workers the harbor will present a searchlight The road cost $350,000 and is con- for the realization of the project. display as the ir part in the magnificent sidered one of America's finest scenic When the party arrives on the sum- show. No cars will be allowed on the drives. It leaves the Rockefeller mit, the Bar Harbor Band will grout mountain during the display and chief road which crosses the flank of Cadil- them with an inspiring air. The musi- ranger Hadley suggests that the ideal lar, just above Echo Lake. cians will start playing at 11.30 and place to see the fireworks will be from It was constructed by the Federal will play at intervals throughout the the town or in the harbor. Bureau of Public Roads, under the program. The visiting Governors will spend direction of Leo Grossman, Civil The official party will sit on a spe- the night with Governor Gardiner at Engineer and except for a stretch of cially built platform and ex-Justice Augusta and will motor here Satur- 400 feet climbs continuously, The B.B. Deasy will preside. The Right day morning. While here Secretary grade nt a maximum is seven percent Reverend William T. Manning, Bishop Adams will be the guest of Peter and the avorage grade is five percent, of New York will offer prayer to be Augustus Jay at the Breakwater on Ninety percent is rock elevation and followed by Senator Hale as the first the Shore Path and Admiral and Mrs. one of the cuts is through a hundred speaker. Congressman Nelson, Gov. Pratt and aide will be guests of Mr. yards of lid ledge. The road is 22 Gardiner, Gov. Wilson, Gov. Winant, and Mrs. Marshall Langhorne at foot wide and of bituminous macadam. Gov. Case, Secretary Adams, As- Saltair Mr. Dixon will be enter- The surface in very hard and durable sistant Secretary Dixon, will then tained by Superintendent George and is designed to withstand the speak in the order named with Mr. B: Dorr severest tests, Dixon giving the principal address. MT. DESERT HIGHWAY OPENED TO TRAFFIC New York Times (1857-Current file); Jul 24, 1932; ProQuest Historical Newspapers The New York Times (1851 - 2003) pg. 15 MT. DESERT HIGHWAY tional Park was severed at noon to- Florida were Secretary Adams, Jo- Cadillac by his government in Que- day, officially opening the road to seph M. Dixon, Assistant Secretary bec exactly 244 vears ago. OPENED TO TRAFFIC travel. of the Interior; Senator Frederick "We come today," he said, "to dedicate what-many of us regard:as The dedication ceremonies were Hale, Representative John E. Nelson, one of the finest. scenic highways to held at the summit of Mount Desert, former Chief Justice L. B. Deasey of be found in our nation." Road 1,525 Feet Above Sea Level where the vast panorama of ocean, Maine, Governor Wilson of Vermont, Far below in Frenchman's Bay, at the foot of the mountain, three de- forest, mountain and lake which the Governor Case of Rhode Island and Leads to Panorama of Ocean, stroyers rode at anchor durinng the highway opens to motorists may be Admiral William B. Pratt. ceremonies. They were the Bain- Forest and Lakes. viewed on every side. Governor Winant of New Hamp- bridge, Tillman and Goff. Tonight George B. Dorr, superintendent of shire expected to attend but was pre- they will fire a salute opening a fire- works display commemorating the the park, cut the ribbon. Bishop vented by illness. French discoverers of Mount Desert BAR HARBOR, Me., July 23 (AP). William T. Manning of New York Governor Gardiner of Maine spoke Island. While a distinguished group of men City pronounced the invocation. briefly, recalling that the deed to The 22-foot road is 3.86 miles long, prominent in public life looked on, a hard surfaced, and was constructed Among those assembled for the cere- Mount Desert Island, on which the at a cost of $350,000. Its peak is silken ribbon across the new Cadillac mony on the highest peak on the At- park is located, was conveyed to the 1,525 feet above sea level. Nine years Mountain Highway in Acadia Na- lantic coast between Labrador and French nobleman Antoine de la Moth were required for its completion. Reproduced with permission of the copyright owner. Further reproduction prohibited without permission. 2012.95 UNITED STATES DEPARTMENT OF THE INTERIOR NATIONAL PARK SERVICE ACADIA NATIONAL PARK BAR HARBOR, MAINE OFFICE OF THE SUPERINTENDENT August 16, 1932. Dear Richard: I will take care of your three placards about the Black House, placing one in the Park office, onein the pump-house at Sieur de Monts Spring, and the third in our ran- ger station on top of the mountain. I have spoken to Mr. Had- ley about it and he will attend to it. This brings up a point which I want to bring before you while it is in my mind. I am laying down a principle in re- gard to the mountain top that no notices or placards, no monu- ments, plaques or memorials shall be placed there out-of-doors whether on the summit or along the roadside leading to it to distract people's attention from the one purpose of the road: To exhibit the landscape. The whole mountain I feel, now opened by the road, should remain as wild as the foot-paths have left it heretofore with the single exception of what good administration makes necessary in the way of ranger shelter and a few simply designed rock tables on the summit, indicating what one is looking at as he turns toward the different points of the compass. Some low building where tea may be served or simple meals be had and visitors if they wish may rest will be needed but my plan is that any such development shall be kept wholly to the west of the little ravine that runs across the mountain top, north and south, dividing it into two portions of which the western one, slightly lower but with a superb sunset view, is wholly unused in our present layout. This can have its own separate entrance and parking ground and not be visible ei ther on the sky-line from below or conspicuous from the road. Have the placards left at the Park office. With regards, Yours sincerely, CBD-0 Richard W. Hale, Esq., Box 688 Bar Harbor, Maine. ub in one of the The little ceremony OI presency force at Washington, was present als ough which we hope much needed contri Mountain Road there; on the mountain top amid and Mrs. Nowack and Mrs. Zimm grey rocks in a howling wind, of the were guests with other visiting ladi life of the young people pen which signed the first Act of the and the Legion auxiliary members days when the fishing indus- ading. Opened Monday 86th Legislature, used by Governor the Congregational church dinner. Brann, to make possible the taking Gifts of beautiful flowers to M1 -REV. ORVILLE J. GUPTILL. MAY 3 over of land, if necessary, to expedite Brann and to Mrs. Waterhouse, pres the building of the Rockefeller road, dent of the Legion Auxiliary of Mai: Governor Brann Comes to Bar so-called, the new project long con- were a gracious and graceful featu Harbor for Season's Official sidered, was a simple but impressive of the day. Mrs. Charles Parke ISTS SIR SAMUEL ARGALL Opening of Acadia Park one: AMONG MAINE PIRATES past president of Kirk Post Auxiliar Highway Supt. George B. Dorr to whom; at presented to Mrs. Waterhouse, the request of Senator George Har beautiful bouquet, while Mrs. Jc (Special to THE TIMES) Bar Harbor's part in the May Day mon of Hancock County, a resident of B: Ells, president of Kirk Post Auz Augusta, April 24.-Sir Samuel Ar- celebration, cooperating with Ells- Bar Harbor, the pen was to be pre- ary, made a like presentation to iv all, piratical admirai of Virginia, worth on the occasion of the visit of sented, was represented by Chief Brann. ho sacked the colony of Saint Governor Louis J. Brann, was carried Ranger B. L. Hadley as acting super- Beautiful flowers were also auveur, Mount Desert, is one of the out under sunny skies. intendent, Supt. Dorr being in Wash- sented to Mrs. Brann and to IV arly freebooters whose character It was the third occasion of note to ington and Assistant Superintendent take place on Cadillae's summit sitice Waterhouse by the Bar Harbor nd careers are described in the forth A. H. Lynam being just recovering oming book "Pirates of the Maine the founding of Ácadia National ber of Commerce. These were ur from illness. ally exquisite corsages, of orchids written by and to be published Park and the only time when the The entire ceremony was one not Hawes, Hallowell, sun has shone. The beautiful land other flowers, from the Malvern to those who attend scape was spread out in loveliness, Shop: ed it and there were hundreds. The Argali's early The m Virginia, his with neither rain nor fog to mar. scene was a picturesque one. Over The Pen Which Signed the predations along the Maine coast, The program of the head circled an airplane. Uniforms, Act of the 86th Legislature d his subsequent history as a graft- where the Governor opened Acadia the khaki of several of the staff, the g governor and a comparatively un- National Park's summit road fcr the The pen presentation was one deep handsome, gold-corded blue of ccessful naval officer, are the sub- first spring season since its dedica- thoughtful courtesy on the part of the Legionnaires, the forest green of concerned. While this had to do e cts of a lengthy chapter in Mr. tion, and in Ellsworth, where he was the ranger force of Acadia, the blue of awes' manuscript. head of the distinguished group tirely with the Governor's visit to t the State Police, all went to make up The author of "Pirates of the Maine honoring Commander E. V. Cleaves Park, yet the American Legion is W a perfect ensemble. And moving of the Department of Maine, Ameri- represented in the Park Service her oast" declares that the Jamestown slowly, but surely and steadily smart Imiral can be quite properly included can Legion, went through to perfect by Mr. Hadley, by Chief Engine spirited and graceful, came a group, success and there was scarcely W. G. Hill of Acadia, and by Range the mounted men of the Headquarters Mr. Hawes, would at- variation from the time schedule, so MacQuinn and Campbell. So, in th Battery and Combat Train, 2d :k a peaceful colony of a friendly well had Roy C. Haines of Ellsworth too, Commander Cleaves and 1 Battalion, 152d Field Artillery, of planned the whole. Legionnaires were interested. tion, make prize of its only ship, Bar Harbor. Their bright scarlet Arriving in Bar Harbor, the Govern Some weeks ago in response it its dwellings, steal its founder's pennon gleamed, they sat their horses immission, and charge its leaders and or and his party went to George Ed- letter from Senator George Harmc well, they were trig and smart from win Kirk Post Headquarters. From Bar Harbor, Governor Brann W ests with piracy? visor to spur, and they were in com- People of eastern Maine should there they went to the high school, the following: mand of Sergeant Walter I. Leland, d much to interest them in the where they were received by Supt. Lieut. Seth E. Libby, next in com- Office of the Governo on-to-be-published volume, which George H. Beard and Principal Carle- mand to E. V. Cleaves, who is captain Augusta, April 2, the result of fifteen months' re- ton S. Fuller, the teaching staff and of the Battery, he organized, being Hon. George Harmon, irch in the Maine State Library at students: Governor Brann though gusta spoke briefly, succeeded, apparent with the Legion party. Bar Harbor, Me. Governor Brann, in speaking at the ly, in winning everyone in the Dear Senator: curate narratives included, is that summit, recalled a vivid bit of his- scribed the conquest on what is building. I am sending you the pen us Then the Governor and his staff tory, paid tribute to the man who W Eastern Maine then westerly the Chief Executive in the sigr founded the Park, Supt. George B. adia, by the Dutch pirvateer took time to pay a brief visit to the the first Act of the 86th Legis1 'lying Horse" and the Rhoades Casino where the local Red Cross Dorr, and to his able and courteous known as the "Acadia Park Act. Chapter was putting on its usual May staff, who had greeted him. rates. One John Rhoades of Boston, I take great pleasure in ser adventurer, entered Fort Pentagoet Day party. There he was greeted by The mountain top presented a pic- the pen and trust I may have Mrs. W. E. Patterson, Mrs. C.,E. ture, too, of activity which was heart- Castine in disguise and obtained Marcyes, Miss Louise Leland and ening to the state's chief executive, he opportunity soon of renewing my VC formation which he passed on to remarked as he looked about, for the agreeable acquaintance with you. uptain Surraen Aernouts of Curacao. Mrs. Mark Grant, the chairmen of the summit project of paths, under the di- to remain, ernouts took Pentagoet Fort Jem- day. The procession fo med again and rection of Edward S. Zimmer, land- Faithfully yours, 3. and various trading posts along the cars swept out of town and on up scape architect of the Park Service, LOUIS J. BRANN Maine and New Brunswick coast, over Eagle Lake road. Everywhere who has just arrived from Washing- Govern claim to the entire district. flags were flying and tbn, underway with a crew of nearly When the Governor made region, for looting the ships of lined eager for a glimpse a hundred men. presentation to Chief Hadley ders along the coast, Rhoades and of the State's Chief Executive. Assisting in parking Monday he said: eral followers were convicted of On the mountain summit, though commodious arranged park- "At the request of Senator H acy. the beautiful area basked under sunny ing space on the summit were Ranger mon of Bar Harbor, I am pleased Pirates of the Maine Coast," which skies, the wind was so strong that Charles Haas, Ranger-Naturalist Ar- present to Supt. George B. Dorr of be illustrated, indexed, and will hearing speeches was next to impos- thur Stupka, who has arrived for his Acadia National Park, through ain a list of sources, is now being sible. second season. and Ranger Orient Y. personal respresentacive, Chier na on subscription. Governor Brann was introduced by Thompson. Rangers W. B. Campbell er B. L. Hadley, this pen used by Capt. E. Vaughan Cleaves of Bar and Vernon A. MacQuinn were with as Chief Executive of the State Harbor, Commander of the Depart- State Motor Patrol Officer Arthur Maine in signing the first Act pas ment of Maine, American Legion and Ashmore, escorting the Governor's by the 86th Legislature and known a member of the Governor's Staff. party, meeting them at the bridge, the "Acadia National Park A Scarcely more than ten minutes while Ranger Dana Young was driv- (being an Act to Amend Section went by in that speechmaking. Chair- ing the Park car in which Mr. Had- FRANKLIN of Chapter 5 of the Revised Statu man of the Day Roy C. Haines seemed ley met the Governor's party. of 1930) making possible the tak to be everywhere at once, looking out At the banquet Monday night at of land for National Park purpo Charles E. Dwellev not alone for the comfort of dietin- Ellsworth, Chief Ranger Hadley hav- thereby removing the Progress Views of Construction Sta. 174+50 - 170+00 Source ANP. ACAD. 29257. B. 2.f 7. 8/18/12 5605 Aita Vigta Road Bethedda, Maryland 20034 February 28, 1978 Mr. Keith M. Miller, Superintendent Acadia National Park R.F.D. #1, Box 1 Bar Harbor, Maine 04609 Dear Mr. Miller: Many thanks for your kind letter of January 25th reminding me of my 75th birthday. Both Mary and I were gorr y to have missed meeting you last Octo- ber when we visited the Park Office. We were told you were out of town on that particular day. Your letter brought back many pleasurable memories of our stay in Bar Harbor and of my work in (Lafayette) Acadia National Park from 1928 to 1942. As you say in your letter, we old timers, like your father, look back with particular ple. aure on or construction accomplishments as something that will last much longer than the files of paper and blueprints. It would be fun to swap yarns with him some day. I cannot help but recall details of the many projects we built in the Park during those years. Aa your records may show, the contire loop road except for the two bridges on the approach road (Paradise Hill Road), the Bubble Pond Road (from Eagle Lake Road tn the Jordan Pond House) and the Ocean Drive Road (at Thunder Hole) were designed and built under my supervision. We also built all of the Park roads on Schoodic Peningula at that time. Cadillac was only the first. I have made a few notes of the many unusual features of the Park history and of construction details which may be of general interest. I shall expand there into narrative form and if you would let me know that you would like to have them I will be glad to cooperate with your Washington office to record them on professional tape. Again, many thanks for writing to me and we will most certainly let you know next time Mary and I vigit Acadia. Most sincerely, for Grossman Leo Grossman PHOTOGRAPHIC REPORT PROGRESSIVE CONSTRUCTION VIEWS CADILLAC MOUNTAIN PROJECT ACADIA NATIONAL PARK MAINE Introduction The Acadia National Park on Mount Desert Island, Maine, is the only National Park which combines mountains, lakes, islands, ocean and forest. It is within two days by automobile travel of millions of people and such large cities as New York, Boston, Springfield and Providence are within this radius. The highest and largest of the mountains within the Park is Cadillac Mountain. Although it is only about 1525 feet in height, it is said to be the highest point of land within twenty miles of the seacoast from Labrador to the Amazon River. A beautiful and varied panorama of ocean, inland lakes and forest can be seen from almost any point on the mountain. History of the Project Prior to 1929, the National Park Service had graded about 6000 lineal feet of road up this mountain from the existing Bubble Pond Road. In 1929 the Bureau of Public Roads was requested by the National Park Service to lay out the remainder of the work to the top of the mountain and to supervise its construction. Design The entire length of the project is 3.575 miles. The maximum grade is seven percent and, except for a short stretch of about four hundred feet, the grade is continuously climbing. The average grade is about five percent. The minimum radius of curvature on the portion of the project staked out by Bureau engineers is 150 feet. It was estimated that at least ninety percent of the grading would be of rook excavation. The work was let in two contracts - the first for grading was let in 1929 and a second contract for surfacing was let in 1931. The design for the grading contract provided for an eighteen foot pavement with two foot stone shoulders in out, three foot shoulders in fills of less than three feet and four foot shoulders with boulder guide rail in fills of over three feet. In accordance with the contract, the contractor was required to build a box section, - 2 - that is, the eighteen foot width preparatory to the construction of the pavement was completed to the subgrade and the stone shoulders on both sides were completed to the finished grade of the completed road. Upon completion of the grading project, the National Park Service requested that the design for the pavement be changed 80 that the pavement would be twenty-two feet in width. This was accomplished by consolidating two feet of the shoulders on each side of the originally planned eighteen foot pavement. The new design for the pavement provided a bottom course eighteen feet in width and three and one-half inches in thickness. The two fest of shoulders on each side of this base was compacted to meet the three and one-half inch thickness of the base, thus providing a total base width of twenty-two feet. The bituminous macadam surfacing is 22 feet wide and two and one-half inches thick. It is of a patented type known as Peno- lithic Pavement. This pavement differs from the standard pene- tration bituminous macadam pavement in that before the surface course stone is penetrated with asphalt it is sprayed with a light film of an oil of Diesel Engine fuel type. This oil permits the use of a harder and more stable grade of asphalt than would be permitted by the usual method of penetration bituminous macadam. Cost of Project The total cost of the work done under Bureau supervision amounts to $222,290.86. The cost of the grading contract was $154,821.52 or at the rate of $43,139 per mile. The cost of the surfacing contract was $68,069.34 or at the rate of $19,040 per mile. The completed project cost $62,179 per mile. Photographs At many of the locations presenting difficult construction features photographs were taken of the work at various stages. A series of these progress views follow: MEMORANDUM TO: Regional Director, Att: Chief, Division of Interpretation FROM: Keith E. Miller, Superintendent SUBJECT: Taping of History Recollections - Cadillac Mountain Road The enclosed correspondence indicates the willingness of Mr. Grossman to tape some of his recollections of the construction of the Cadillac Mountain Road. We have just recently brought to light a considerable number of pictures of the construction and a tape would be a valuable addition to the story of hhis project. Mr. Grossman is located in Bethesda, Maryland and has offered to tape down there since there is no planned trip to Maine at this time. If it is possible to do so, I would appreciate your arranging for this taping to be accomplished in Washington. Keith E. Miller Enclosure Construction problems mm projects GO Recalls tires local feelings Thurs 3/23/78 Rock - Called Jun Corson about the oral interview request The man's name is Leo Grossman 5605 Alta Vista Rd Bethesda. Phone book lists , his member as 530-2725 He volunteered to do tapes for Acadia but won't be going to Maine. Apparently, he built road to top of Cadillac mtn. He is 75 yrs old, worked in park from 1928-1942. The park staff has recently uncovered some phot to of the period which they hope to complement and identify thru this interview. I ashed Corson to hair park send these photos, or copies, so that they could be used a basis for discussion. He said he'd check He also has a memo, signed by Supt. Keith miller on the subject Asked him to send us a copy. Chief of Interpretation at Acadia is Bob Rothe - be may be involved, but Jim can't tell from memo. Suggest we. call Acadia & talk w/Keith and/or Bot try to get photos sent here con tact mr Grossman offer we all hair our act to gether w/Acadia people GOOD Many Progress Views of Construction Station 75 - 83 APPENDIX VIII. Bar Harbor Times, January 25, 1968 Designer of carriage roads dies The designer of Mt. Desert Is- land's well known carriage roads, Walters G. Hill, of Bar Harbor died Thursday in a Bangor hospital at the age of 79. Born at Medicine Lodge, Kan, on Aug. 31, 1888, he was the son of Elwood and Letitia (Joy) Hill. He attended Bar Harbor schools, graduating in 1907 from Bar Harbor High School, He also attended the University of Me. and was a mem- ber of Sigma Nu fraternity. During World War 1, he attended the Field Artillery Officers Training camp in Louisville, Ky. After his discharge from the Army, he went to Canada to work for the Great Eastern Paper Co. as a for- ester and engineer He had also worked as an engineer in Puerto Rico - and Spain. Locally, he had been employed by the late John D. Rockefeller Jr., and made the preliminary survey of the Summit Road here With the late Paul D. Simpson, he also sur- veyed and superintended the build- ing of the carriage roads on Mt. Desert Island. Upon completing his work in Acadia National Park the last be- ing the Ocean Drive extension, he worked for the U.S. Army En- gineers at Presque Isle. Limestone, and Bangor; and later for the Maine State Highway Commission, from which he retired at 70. Hill had served as a Bar Har- bor selectman and town councilor. In 1938 he became president of the Clark Coal Co. board of directors. He was a member of the Bar Harbor Masonic Lodge, the Ameri- can Legion and World War 1 Vete- rans Association, The 40 Hayseeders, the Maine State Employees Associa- tion, and the Maine Society of En- gineers. Surviving are his wife, Sylvia (Leland) Hill of Bar Harbor; one daughter, Mrs. Charles A. Marinke of Bar Harbor: one son, David; two grandchildren; a sister, Mrs. C.H. Richardson of Bar Harbor; and two nephews. Funeral services were held Satur- day at the McFarland Funeral Home with the Rev. Harold Symons officiating. Burial was in the Ledgelawn Cemetery, Bar Harbor. Steam to the Summit The Green Mountain Railway Bar Harbor's Remarkable Cog Railroad PETER DOW BACHELDER WITH Rou, TO Ellsworth ME Breakwater Press, 2005. 7/13/2016 XFINITY Connect XFINITY Connect eppster2@comcast.net + Font Size - RE: RAC & Acadia's Cadillac Summit Road From Michele Beckerman Wed, Jul 13, 2016 05:57 PM Subject : RE: RAC & Acadia's Cadillac Summit Road To : 'Ronald Epp' Cc: Marie' 'Yarborough , 'Rebecca Cole-Will' , Web Archive Dear Ron- I am currently on vacation, but will be returning to work on Monday July 18th. When I return, I will look into the status Cadillac Summit Dedication newsreel footage since I do not believe we have received the films yet from Alex Albanese (but I could be mistaken about that). I will also look into the logistics of having a duplicate made for Acadia National Park's William Otis Sawtelle Collections & Research Center. I believe arrangements could be made to view the film at the Archive Center. I am also looking forward to seeing your biography of George Dorr. It will be a great addition to the library at the archive center. Best wishes, Michele Michele Hiltzik Beckerman Assistant Director- Head of Reference Rockefeller Archive Center 15 Dayton Avenue Sleepy Hollow NY 10591 Mbeckerman@rockarch.org (914)366-6342 Sent with Good (www.good.com) Original Message From: Ronald Epp [eppster2@comcast.net] Sent: Wednesday, July 13, 2016 04:24 PM Eastern Standard Time To: Beckerman, Michele Cc: Yarborough, Marie; Rebecca Cole-Will Subject: RAC & Acadia's Cadillac Summit Road Dear Michele, I forward to you a series of emails regarding a RAC newsreel project about which you may have some pull. Last month Friends of Acadia published an article of mine on the impact of the Cadillac Summit Road, developed from my April 7, 2016 publication Creating Acadia National Park: The Biography of George B. Dorr. Can you believe that after all this time, Mr. Dorr's fascinating life is now in the public record? A copy will shortly find its way into your hands as it has into the hands of David Rockefeller whom I met last fall. Here is a link: http://friendsofacadia.org/news-publications/books/george-dorr-biography/ https://web.mail.comcast.net/zimbra/h/printmessage?id=380181&tz=America/New_York&xim= 1/4 7/13/2016 XFINITY Connect The point of this contact is to ask whether you have any cataloging information on the Cadillac Summit Dedication newsreel footage referred to below. Further, whether this singular documentation might be shared with the William Otis Sawtelle Collections and Research Center. If access is restricted to the RAC, might I visit and view it when the newsreel is returned by Fun City Films to you? All the Best, Ronald H. Epp From: funcity@mac.com To: "Marie Yarborough" , "Ronald Epp" Sent: Wednesday, July 13, 2016 1:35:11 PM Subject: Re: Park Dedication Ceremony Marie & Roland - Thank you both so much for the information. Let me give you a bit more background on this project - I am doing the work for the Rockefeller Archive Center. We are in the middle of scanning / digitally restoring a selection of family films in their collection that date from the teens to the 1940's. While the bulk of the material is actual home movie footage, there are also some newsreels - it seems these prints were given to the family by the various studios at the time as a courtesy. This is not the first time, in trying to track down more information about a newsreel title, that we have discovered the RAC may hold the only surviving copy. As to the Arcadia image it is from a Paramount Newsreel, "A Peek at the Peak." There is sync sound, and the runtime is 70 seconds. There certainly could have been Pathe coverage of this event as well - going by material I've seen on this project, between Paramount, Pathe, Universal and Fox/Movietone two or more studios often covered the same story. I must say the July date surprised me - the event took place on a misty, rainy day and everyone seems dressed for chilly weather, so I would have guessed April or May. But people dressed much more formally then, and I've never been to Maine so I don't know what the summers there are like. Unfortunately I personally can't provide you with a copy - but I will tell the RAC about your assistance and interest in this title. I should be delivering finished clips to them around the end of this year. Thank you again for the help. Sincerely, Alex Albanese Fun City Films 630 Ninth Ave, suite 202 New York, NY 10036 212-262-0221 On Jul 13, 2016, at 11:17 AM, Ronald Epp wrote: Dear Alex, htps://web.mail.comcast.net/zimbra/h/printmessage?id=380181&tz=America/New_York&xim=1 2/4 7/13/2016 XFINITY Connect ANP curator Marie Yarborough copied me on her response to your inquiry. I was delighted to find out that there survived moving film footage of the dedication of the Cadillac Mountain summit road. In my research several newspapers reported that footage was taken yet after careful research I thought I had tracked down the last surviving PATHE News footage abroad in a Paris archive. Only later did I learn that it had not survived WWII. Would you share with us a couple of details and a high resolution copy for archival research? Besides the frame below, how many seconds or minutes of footage has survived? We can also identify individuals in the image provided below. If I can assist with other details, please contact me. Sincerely, Ronald H. Epp, Ph.D. 532 Sassafras Dr. Lebanon, PA 17042 717-272-0801 From: "Acadia Collections, NPS" To: funcity@mac.com Sent: Wednesday, July 13, 2016 9:40:24 AM Subject: Fwd: Park Dedication Ceremony Dear Alex, thanks for your inquiry--that is a really amazing picture. The official party/dedication for the road was July 23, 1932. Also, if you want the best possible research that exists on this topic, and anything else related to the creation of Acadia National Park, you should pick up the newly published biography of George B. Dorr, by Dr. Ronald Epp. He has done 20 years of research on Dorr and has uncovered any and everything there is to know about the creation of the park. His book, in fact, is "our" go to reference now. "Creating Acadia National Park" by Ronald H. Epp He has a section in the book related to both the July 1932 road dedication and the July 1932 dedication of the Stephen Tyng Mather Memorial Plaque on Cadillac. Is there a chance that we could have a high resolution copy of this image for archives? Let me know if you have any more questions~ All the best, Marie C. Yarborough Curator, Acadia National Park William Otis Sawtelle Collections & Research Center Acadia National Park, Bar Harbor, Maine For research questions or appointments visit: http://go.nps.gov/Acadia_Collections http://www.nps.gov/acad/learn/historyculture/collections.htr https://web.mail.comcast.net/zimbra/h/printmessage?id=380181&tz=America/New_York&xim= 3/4