Not for distribution Draft Outline: Administrative History of Acadia National Park Table of Content, List of Maps and Figures Preface Acknowledgements Abbreviations 1 Creating Acadia: 1880-1915 Purpose and Legislation: Antiquities Act w/vision for NP status--corresponding emphasis on history, science People: Eliot, Dorr, Rockefeller, Homans, others. Emphasis on promotion, views of local residents compared to summer people, context of land uses Events: Context of carving public lands out of private lands, perception of towns first/park later Lands: Acquisitions, watershed protection, major gifts, introduce township form of govt., local opposition Partners: HCTPR, VIA/VIS Facilities: Hiking Trail System, Oldfarm, Boat and Rail Connections; Roads incl. Auto Wars Nat. Resources & Science: earliest science, glaciation/scenery forest harvesting/fire threat, other consumptive uses-quarries, focus on bird and plant life and biodiversity, Champlain Society History/Cult. Resources: focus on European history, tribal connections, trails, maritime history, land uses Ed/Outreach: Dorr's promotion, private guides, scientific and promotional articles (Natl Geo.) Visitor Uses (pre-park): walking, experiencing nature & scenery, cog railway/steamboat, sailing/boating, art, science 2 NPS Management Begins: 1916-1932 Purpose/Legislation: conversion to NP status, development VS preservation conflicts; 1929 land acquisition authority, increasing emphasis on recreation People: Dorr, Abbe, Sawtelle, first staff, Eliot II, Rockefeller Events: SdeM NM and NPS created, First appropriations, WW I, conversion to NP, visitors (Lane, Albright, etc) Lands: Acquisitions & major gifts Partners: HCTPR, Wild Gardens of Acadia Facilities: Planning, Park HQ on Park Street, Sieur de Monts, Carriage and Motor Road systems, Bear Brook campground development Nat. Resources & Science: Proctor History/Cultural Resources: Abbe Museum Ed/Outreach: Park promotion continues, park pamphlets, science articles (?), naturalist hired Visitor Uses: Types, levels, conflicts (?) 3 New Deal to World War II: 1933 1945 Purpose/Legislation: FERA, People: Dorr, Hadley, Breeze (?), Jacobson, others TBD Events: New Deal: CCC, Recreation Demonstration Projects, WPA, Ickes & Albright visit, World War II, Dorr & Jacobson die Lands: Green Lake fish hatchery, RDA lands, Old Farm, Isle au Haut lands gifted Partners: Acadia Corporation, Facilities: Radio station relocated to Schoodic, Seawall, Blackwoods, Wildwoods (?), Islesford Museum NR & Science: Larger context of NPS RM including George Wright, Pest mgmt. (white pine blister rust, etc.) History/Cultural Resources: Ed./Outreach: CCC, Naturalist staff, campfire programs, park brochures Visitor Uses: Motorized travel, camping, 6/20/2018 11:05 AM L:\ADMIN HISTORY\AI Draft Docs/Draft AH Outline.docx Draft Outline: Administrative History of Acadia National Park 4 Postwar: 1946-1956 Purpose/Legislation: Schoodic to Navy, Wildwood (Dane Farm), People: Hadley, Rockefeller, Events: Fire of 1947 and aftermath, Stables moved from JPH to Wildwood Lands: Tremont school tract, Green Lake hatchery deleted Partners: Acadia Corp, Facilities: Completion of motor road system, Seawall, Blackwoods, Wild Gardens of Acadia, NR & Science: Pest mgmt. (gypsy moth, aerial spraying, etc.), Echo Lake 'reclaimed', deer reduction History/Cult. Res: Ed/Outreach: Naturalist programs, park brochures, waysides (?) Visitor Uses: 5 Age of Autos: 1957-1968 Purpose/Legislation: Lead up to environmental and historic properties protection legislation People: Binniwies, Good, etc Events: Mission 66 (HC VC, etc.), demolition of Dane Farm house, Oldfarm, Master Plan, Job Corps, Rockefeller dies Lands: High school tract deleted, JAX exchange Partners: MCHT beginning, NPS/Rockefeller maintenance crews Facilities: Mission 66 development, Hulls Cove Visitor Center NR&S: Leopold Report (1963), deer reduction/fish stocking/relations with MIF&W, forest management (gypsy moth, budworm aerial spraying) History/CR: Cold War (WHNGA), Ed/Outreach: Naturalist programs, park brochures, wayside exhibits (?), Job Corps, Visitor Use: Expanding visitation and visitor season length, auto touring, "See America First" 6 Negotiating Community Conflicts: 1969-1985 Purpose/Legislation: CAA, NEPA, NHPA, ESA and other environmental legislation People: Miller, Hobbs, Sen. Mitchell, Wrye, Abrell Events: Master Plan and Boundary woes, first easements, RM established, IAH Legislation, Lands: First conservation easement as form of land protection; Navy relationship to NPS Partners: MCHT born-one of first land trusts, partner for land protection Facilities: Expansion of parking lots immediately fill, HQ moves to McFarland Hill, conversion of permanent employees in park housing to seasonal housing, recognition of poor state of facilities NR & S: air quality monitoring begins, exotics mgmt, eagles/peregrines, baseline inventories, History/Cult.Res.: RM Division born, focus of park mgrs. on ACAD as 'natural park', reliance on NARO staff Ed/Outreach: Naturalist programs, park brochures, wayside exhibits Visitor Use: Carrying capacity (IAH), parking lot expansion ineffective 7 Community Connections: 1986-2001 Purpose/Legislation: PL 420-99, GMP, Land Protection Plan, and Statement for Mgmt. People: Geo. Mitchell, Jack Hauptman, staff #s expand Events: Steinitz and Manning studies, General Management Plan (GMP) and related implementation planning (Land Prot., WFMP, Comm. Services, LR Interp., Hiking Trails MP); entrance fees established; Advisory Commission established, Target Org/Professionalizing Staff, Commercial Services Planning Lands: Permanent boundary established, Land Protection Plan, Wildland Fire Management Plan Partners: FOA born, MCHT, CPSU at UMO established, COA growing partnership Facilities: Carriage Road Rehabilitation & facility rehabilitation, Park St. HQ moved to COA, NR&S: Robust science program, Bibliography & I & M Proposals, Base & NR staff increases, NPS RM trainee program, 6/20/2018 11:05 AM L:\ADMIN HISTORY\A Draft Docs\Draft AH Outline.docx Draft Outline: Administrative History of Acadia National Park History/CultRes: Reiley Report on carriage roads; facility rehabilitation starts, carriage roads and FOA Outreach/Ed: School/NPS program established, Visitor Use: Manning studies, change in traffic patterns on PLRd, 8 Managing with Partners: 2002-2016 Purpose/Legislation: Schoodic and Acadia Gateway Ctr., Thomas Bill, Foundation Document People: Bob Reynolds, Paul Haertel, Sheridan Steele are Supt.: Roxane Quimby, Anonymous donor, staff #s contract, VIP #s expand Events: Development of SERC, budget expands, Acadia Trails Forever (FOA), Island Explorer, Facilities rehab continues, ARRA projects @ SERC, Wild Acadia & 2nd Century Campaign, Acadia Corp-->Dawnland Lands: Navy Base reverts to NPS: conversion to SERC (2002-2010), acquisitions - Inholdings, Easements and Schoodic Woods (MCHT, FOA, SI) Partners: MCHT, FOA, APLS>SERC Inst.>SI, AAAS, others Facilities: SERC, Schoodic Woods, NR&S: Wild Acadia & 2nd Century Campaigns, History/CR: First cultural resource program mgr hired, Visitor Use: Visitor Use Guy hired, visitor counting methods change, Carriage Road VERP, MDI VU Conference, IAHVMP Appendices: Appendix A: Park-related Legislation Appendix B: Park visitation, budget, and staff Appendix C: Selected park personnel Appendix D: List of Oral History Interviews Appendix E: Notes about sources Selected Bibliography Index 6/20/2018 11:05 AM L:\ADMIN HISTORY\AH Draft Docs/Draft AH Outline.docx ANP Administrative History Received from JH, Connor. 6/20/18 Chapter One: Creating Acadia 1880-1915 copyz Revision, by R.H-Epp] DRAFT The meeting began promptly at four use, "as a place for healthful enjoy- o'clock, August 12th, 1901, at the Mu- ment." They voted to organize and sic Room in the village of Seal Harbor. form a corporation, with an executive Charles W. Eliot, President of Harvard committee consisting of Mr. Eliot as University and summer resident of the president, Mr. Dorr as vice-president nearby village of Northeast Harbor, and executive officer, George L. called the group to order and moved Stebbins as treasurer and Prof. Lea right to the point: It was time for con- McIlvaine Luquer as secretary. The servation-minded landowners to or- Bar Harbor law firm of Deasy and ganize and act to protect the scenic Lynam was chosen as the new corpo- lands of Mount Desert Island (MDI) ration's counsel. Thus was born the while they still could.¹ Hancock County Trustees of Public Reservations (hereafter Trustees), 2 Among those gathered was 47-year- chartered as a tax-exempt corporation old George Bucknam Dorr, represent- on January 1st, 1903. Its purpose: "To ing in an unofficial capacity the Village acquire, by devise, gift or purchase, and Improvement Society of Bar Harbor. to own, arrange, hold, maintain or im- He had arrived at the meeting with his prove for public use lands in Hancock friend and neighbor, John Stewart County, Maine, which by reason of sce- Kennedy, travelling there on Ken- nic beauty, historical interest, sanitary Mount Desert Island, Maine, from nedy's steam yacht that just that morn- advantage or other like reasons may Baker Island. ing had been anchored at Cromwell become available for such purpose. " NPS, Acadia National Park Archives. Harbor off his estate, Kenarden, just (Photo information?) to the north of the Dorr family cot- 4 The Trustees contributed to a new and tage, Oldfarm. Mr. Dorr had been en- growing national movement to pre- couraged to "bring some other gentle- serve and protect lands for public use. Number A men" from Bar Harbor; at Mr. Dorr's Their vision and efforts would eventu- request, summer residents George ally lead to the creation of Sieur de Vanderbilt and William Jay Schieffelin Monts National Monument-later joined them on the short voyage past Lafayette National Park, then Acadia iconic Sand Beach and the bold cliffs National Park-the first national park at Otter Point. fashioned from private lands, and the 1/22/18 first east of the Mississippi River. At Gathering together members of vari- the time of the Trustees' initial meet- Email and ous village improvement societies on ing, four national parks, all in the west comments sent back MDI, Mr. Eliot proposed that they as- and all comprised of mountainous semble a group that would hold lands lands, had been deemed of little to Judg H Cannors. on MDI for preservation and public value. Already in the public domain, constent 1 George B. Dorr, Acadia National Park: Its Origin and Background (Bangor, ME, 1942). 2 Ibid. 3 Paul Herman Buck, "The Evolution of the National Park System of the United States" (Ohio State University, 1921). An Essentially American Gift: Administrative History of Acadia National Park 1 George Bucknam Dorr and Charles W. Eliot along the southern shore of Jordan Pond. H.W. Gleason photo, Acadia National Park Archives,, copy print 302 These lands supported few inhabitants streams of MDI. Samuel Eliot, Charles of European descent.) W. Eliot's youngest son, was one of the founding members of the Northeast Charles W. Eliot and his eldest son, Harbor Village Improvement Society, Charles Eliot, had begun sailing to by established in 1897, and the Eliot fam- 3) MDI and camping in the area. the ily members were frequent ramblers 1870s.4 By the 1880s, Village Improve- on the early trail system.6 6 ment Societies were being established to improve physical and cultural quali- As an undergraduate at Harvard, ties of the community.5 Comprised pri- young Charles, his brother Samuel, marily of "summer people" but also and his associates journeyed to MDI including local merchants, doctors, over several summers, beginning in lawyers and naturalists, these groups 1880, to camp and enjoy the scenery, embarked on an extensive trail build- while studying geology, flora and ing program to provide opportunities fauna, calling themselves the Cham- for healthful "rambles" to the moun- plain Society. Within a decade, the El- tain summits, shores, and rocky iot family had established a summer put residence and Charles had become a 4 Ronald Epp, Creating Acadia National Park: The Biography of George Bucknam Dorr Friends of Acadia,2016. 5 NPS, "Cultural Landscape Inventory: Sieur de Monts Spring, Acadia National Park" (Boston, MA, 2009). 6 Maine Historical Society, "Maine Memory Network Web Exhibit - Northeast Harbor: From Rustic to Rusticators," accessed April 16, 2018, https://www.mainememory.net/bin/Features?fn=268&fmt=list&n=1&supst=Exhibits&mr=all. 2 6/20/2018 11:08 AM Chapter One: Creating Acadia 9- cessful landscape architect and For four decades New Hampshire- riter, while his father was leaving his born Bostonian, Eliza Homans, had mark as the youngest, longest serving spent part of almost every summer at nearly 91/ and most influential leaders of Har- the family cottage near Schooner vard. The younger Charles believed Head. The Eliots, Dorrs and Homans that selected scenic lands should be were old family friends. 10 After the made available as places for rest, re- death of her husband in September newal and inspiration for an increas- 1886, and her two adult children in ingly urban population, and that these 1902 and 1903, she was concerned lands should be held free of taxes, about what would happen to her "just as a Public Library holds books property. The purpose of the Trustees, and an Art Museum holds pictures. "7 under the leadership of her long-time View of Sand Beach and Great Head Charles Eliot was instrumental in Dr. friend Mr. Eliot provided a perfect fit from the Beehive (circa Date?) forming the first private nonprofit for her goal of land protection. Writ- From L: Photos/Historic Photos/Wood- lawn collection. conservation organization of its kind ing to Mr. Eliot, she applauded his ef- would in the country in 1891 the Massachu- forts to conserve land (I just made that setts Trustees of Reservations. Its pur- up need to research this! Epp cites pose: "to acquire, hold, protect and ad- "Homans to Eliot, May 7, 1908 Rec- minister, for the benefit of the public, ords of the President of Harvard Uni- CWE beautiful and historical places." versity. Charles W. Eliot. B.83. Har- vard University Archives.") and said DRAFT limited that she hoped her gift would serve as Charles Eliot died suddenly in 1897 at "a bright example" of the work of the the age of 37 of spinal meningitis. His Trustees. She donated two parcels to- grief-stricken father wrote an exten- taling 140 acres, including The Bowl, a What Busing sive biography of his son to honor the lovely mountain pond, and next to it a many accomplishments he had prominent and picturesque cliff called Cource painting? achieved in his short life. 8 The idea for The Beehive, both on nearby Newport the Hancock County Trustees of Pub- (Champlain) Mountain. Given the lic Reservations emerged during this Trustees' goal of protecting MDI's writing as Mr Eliot watched lands on scenery, no first gift could have been Dr. MDI being bought and developed into more fitting. With sweeping and dra- residences by wealthy summer visitors, matic ocean views from its trails, and many of whom then restricted tradi- it's strikingly beautiful profile rising tional public access. The development above Sand Beach from the ocean ap- of the portable saw mill made timber proach at the mouth of Frenchman that had previously been difficult to Bay, this gift would forever be availa- extract more vulnerable to harvest. ble for public use and enjoyment. Those harvests, and the fires that sometimes came afterward, threatened the scenic values the Northeastern elites came to enjoy. 8. The first major gift of land to the Trus- tees came in May 1908.9 This well- publicized but anonymous gift from Eliza Lee Homans, widow of promi- nent surgeon Dr. Charles Dudley Profile of the Beehive from Sand Homans, jump-started the Trustees' Beach. land conservation efforts, just as she HW Gleason photo, NPS, Acadia National intended. Park Archives, copy print #276 7 Trustees of Reservations, "Trustees History," 2018, http://www.thetrustees.org/about-us/history/. "Public" was removed from the legal name in 1954 to nonherat address confusion that it was government-owned land. 8 Charles W. Eliot, Charles Eliot: Landscape Architect (University of Massachusetts Press and Library of American Landscape History, 1999). Hancock County Trustees of Public Reservations, "The Hancock County Trustees of Public Reservations: An Historical Sketch and a Record of the 2nd Holdings of the Trustees" (Bar Harbor, ME, 1939). edition. 10 Dorr, Acadia National Park: Its Origin and Background. An Essentially American Gift: Administrative History of Acadia National Park 3 13 Charles W. Eliot told George Dorr The free-flowing spring and surr about the gift from Eliza Homans on a ing lands south of Bar Harbor were visit to Oldfarm.1 Not only did the gift bought by Mr. Dorr in 1909. In an of launch the work of the Trustees-it ten-told story, the purchase was se- served as a catalyst for what would be- cured by Mr. Lynam, with only come George Dorr's passion and life's minutes to spare, by a race in his work, and consume all of his wealth. horse-drawn buggy from an im- At age 54, after living largely off his promptu meeting with Mr. Dorr, back family fortune and pursuing horticul- to the Bar Harbor village green to ex- ture, travel, history and philosophy as ercise an option on the land before it his primary interests, his true life's was sold to competing interests at the adidas purpose had begun to unfold; acquir- stroke of noon. ing lands for the public and steward- + ing those properties for permanent Mr. Dorr promptly renamed the water preservation and public access. source Sieur de Monts Spring in honor George B. Dorr, "Father of of the patron of Samuel Champlain's Acadia.' Inspired by son Charles Eliot's vision, explorations of the New England coast NPS, Acadia National Park Archives. his father's call to action, and Mr. in the early 17th century. Mr. Dorr was Copy print #7. Dorr's energy, enthusiasm, community particularly enamored with the prop- connections, and political skill, addi- erty at the base of the mountain that tional tracts were acquired. Two small would later bear his name. "I called properties near Seal Harbor were these waters, flowing out at the moun- deeded to the Trustees in June and tain base in such purity and abun- September of 1908. One, only a rod dance, The Sweet Waters of Acadia, square (5.5 yards by 5.5 yards), was to carving this upon a granite rock I be the site of a commemorative tablet placed beside the spring."12 honoring Samuel de Champlain's 1604 voyage. The other parcel consisted of Public use was encouraged, the area five acres on Barr Hill, near Seal Har- was landscaped and developed exten- bor. George Borwick Cooksey, a sively with paths, trails and roads, and wealthy grain merchant from New it served as a centerpiece of the lands York who built a summer house in that were to become Acadia. But this Seal Harbor, was involved with these tract was so dear to Mr. Dorr that it two donations. Neither of these par- would not be until 1930 that he would cels would eventually end up in federal finally be persuaded to allow John D. ownership, being traded out for other Rockefeller, Jr. to purchase his prop- lands. erties at Sieur de Mont, and in 1935 12. and 1936 Mr. Rockefeller gifted them how Mr. Dorr was a life-long hiker, well fa- to the United States government. miliar with the extensive trail system that had developed across the MDI In 1909, the lands on both sides of Lit- landscape. He had climbed Green tle Meadow (later dammed and re- Mountain (now Cadillac) many times. named the Tarn) in the valley known Now he and Harry Lynam, his friend as the Gorge-between Dry (Dorr) and legal assistant, hiked for a pur- Mountain and Pickett Mountain (Hu- pose: to secure for the Trustees the 85- guenot Head)-were acquired with fi- acre Mountain House Lot, the island's nancial help from Mr. Kennedy, Mr. scenic centerpiece at the top of the and Mrs. John Innes Kane, and Mrs. Sieur de Monts Springhouse and highest mountain along the Eastern Kane's sister, Mrs. William Bridgham 'Sweet Waters of Acadia" boul- coast of the United States. With finan- der. along with her husband. It included NPS, Acadia National Park Archives. cial backing from John S. Kennedy and the steep cliffside of Dry (Dorr) Copy print 496 on behalf of the Trustees, Mr. Dorr ar- Mountain and stretched westward ranged the purchase of the property from near the spring to the Cadillac from the Brewer family through the summit tract. Rodick Realty Company. 11 Ibid. Dorr is also teail developer. See 12 Ibid. 4 6/20/2018 11:08 AM Chapter One: Creating Acadia 17, AS gift was followed by one from Mr. hydrants in town. By 1900 new reser- Dorr-the portion of his property sur- voirs and a network of water pipes had rounding Beaver Dam Pond. A decade replaced and more than doubled the before, he had built a bicycle path en- size of the original system. By 1909 the circling the pond that he opened to Bar Harbor Water Company had in- the public to enjoy with their new rub- stalled another water supply main run- ber-tired bikes and where his mother ning from the lake along Duck Brook, loved to drive her one-horse carriage. and a state of the art sand filtration It gave him pleasure to pass it along to and aeration system. By 1910 the sup- the Trustees and see it protected with ply capacity of the system was enough public access ensured. He turned again that it has never needed expansion de- to Mr. Kennedy to help protect lands spite growth in the system both geo- on Champlain Mountain beyond his graphically and in the population tract. It was being held for its timber served. value, and the owners agreed to the 20 purchase. But while Mr. Dorr was still During the water company's establish- Bicycle path on Dorr property, arranging clear title and finding the ment and expansion, the directors of June, 1905. NPS, Acadia National Park Ar- bounds on the land, Mr. Kennedy sud- the Bar Harbor Water Company chives. Copy print 129 denly died at his winter home in New demonstrated little concern about the York. His death jeopardized the fi- few hotels or developments on the nancing that had been arranged. How- lakeshore, nor were they concerned ever, Mr. Kennedy's dying words to about the operation of the steamboat his wife were to make sure his promise Wauwinnet that ferried passengers be- to Mr. Dorr was fulfilled. 13 The next tween the north shore and the Green DRAFT year Mr. Dorr received his pledge and Mountain Railway station on the east- the property was purchased for the ern shore1 All of those installations Trustees to hold. were short lived-the railroad oper- ated for only six years before the 18 Concurrently, Philip Livingston began buildings were abandoned. One of the constructing a large cottage on the hotels burned, and the other was pur- redicted eastern shore of Eagle Lake-the water chased and razed by the water com- source for the village of Bar Harbor's pany. Around the same time as the public water system. other developments were disappear- ing, the F.W. Brewer Ice Company 9. Thirteen deaths associated with a ho- built an ice house to store ice they cut tel in Bar Harbor in 1873 were at- from the lake to supply summer visi- tributed to typhoid fever from a con- tors, town businesses and residents. taminated well. 14 News of the tragedy threatened the growing tourism indus- When Mr. Livingston began building try on MDI, and raised concerns about his cottage on the lakeshore, it jolted the safety of local drinking water. In both the directors of the water com- response, the privately-owned Bar pany, and later those involved with the Harbor Water Company was formed Trustees, who in some cases belonged in 1874 and within a year had built to or at least had an interest in both open wooden flumes to transport Ea- groups. Not only might the cottage's gle Lake water north to a reservoir on septic discharge contaminate the lake, Scott's Hill, just outside the village. it also foreshadowed additional resi- From there water was distributed to dential development in the watershed. homes and businesses, or could be The water company board of directors purchased in barrels. By 1880 the wa- involved Mr. Dorr, who was a share- ter company had enlarged the system holder but not a board member, and to serve village hotels and installed fire 13 Ibid. 14 Peter Morrison, "History of the Bar Harbor Water Company, 1873-2004, and Cultural Resource Assessment of Water Company Facilities, Acadia National Park, Maine," 20051199 15 NPS, "Cultural Landscapes Inventory: Cadillac Mountain Summit" (Boston, MA, 1999, rev. 2008). Provides a complete and fascinating history of devel- A8k opment and use of the slopes and summit of Cadillac Mountain. An Essentially American Gift: Administrative History of Acadia National Park 5 23. Green Mountain The Trustees realized that if they Railway, MAINE. waited to purchase important cons vation tracts until after they were de veloped or partially developed, the price would be greatly inflated. This would encourage landowners to begin development as a way to prioritize and maximize their earnings from sale. Working together, the water company and Trustees came up with a plan to protect the lands along the lake; the water company identified important parcels and financed the purchase, while the Trustees would hold the ti- tle. The water company purchased its The steamer Wauwinnet (lower first property, 75 acres from Andrew right) ferried passengers from Rodicks (Rodick?) in 1910, followed the north end of Eagle Lake to by six additional lots and the Living- the Green Mountain Railway Sta- ston lot in 1911. 16 tion at the midpoint on the lake's eastern shore. The cog rail line 24 ran up the western slope of Mr. Dorr saw the crisis of protecting Green Mountain to the summit. he in turn enlisted his friend Dr. Rob- Eagle Lake's clear waters as an oppor- NPS, Acadia National Park Archives. Copyprint #? ert Abbe, a prominent New York sur- tunity to further the goals of the Trus- geon and summer resident, who was tees. With the support of Dr. Abbe and also Chairman of the Bar Harbor Vil- Seal Harbor summer resident Prof. Dorr had also lage Improvement Association Sani- William T. Sedwick of the Massachu- tary Committee. At Mr. Dorr's request, setts Institute of Technology, at that Sedgwork comm Dr. Abbe drafted a letter for possible time one of the foremost authorities member. cleck publication in the local newspaper, on sanitation. and with broad support criticizing the construction if it contin- of summer residents and taxpayers on ued. Mr. Dorr provided the letter to the eastern side of MDI a bill was in- the president of the water company, troduced to the State legislation grant- Fred C. Lynam, who then approached ing the Trustees the authority of con- Mr. Livingston. Despite the project be- demnation across MDI. The Maine ing well along, Mr. Livingston agreed Legislature passed the bill, authorizing to abandon it, and the water company the Trustees to condemn lands of im- agreed to repay him for not only the portance to protecting water quality in land, but his expenditures to that the Eagle Lake and Jordan Pond wa- point. tersheds. D The Livingston development played a By 1915 only a few lots in both the Ea- pivotal role in renewed focus by both gle Lake and Jordan Pond watersheds the Bar Harbor Water Company and remained in private hands. the Trustees. The water company was 26 " now clearly focused on the need to Even today, although the Bar Harbor preserve lands in the watershed to Water Company was acquired by the protect water quality. They also real- Town of Bar Harbor in 2001, the ized how powerless they were to deal deeds of these parcels specifically re- with uncooperative landowners whose tain the owner of the public water sys- development might jeopardize the wa- tem right to develop infrastructure or the/ ter supply and the company's consid- manage the land (exact wording?) as erable investments; they lacked the needed to maintain the public water power of condemnation to protect supply. (Supplies plural? - need to re- public interests. search language of property deeds in other watersheds. Get specific lan- guage to clarify or add here). 16 Hancock County Trustees of Public Reservations, "The Hancock County Trustees of Public Reservations: An Historical Sketch and a Record of the Holdings of the Trustees." 6 6/20/2018 11:08 AM Chapter One: Creating Acadia where are references to land tite info from Chapman ? 27. by 1912 the Trustees had secured the acquired the lands that would form quickly realized that past and future remaining high peaks on the east side the heart of the future national park. achievements by the Trustees were of MDI through a variety of partner- tenuous at best. Paying a visit to Mr. ships, purchases, and donations that a Eliot, he related all that had occurred totaled 3,600 acres and included more Trustees Status Challenged in Augusta, and his concern for the fu- of Green (Cadillac), Pemetic, South In January, 1913, heperhaps the ture had Mr. Lynam not been atten- Bubble, Sargent and Jordan (Pe- gravest threat to the work of the Trus- tive, Mr. Dorr not dropped everything nobscot) Mountains. A 2,000-acre par- tees and also an event that was to a to respond, and Mr. Peters not been cel that included Jordan Mountain, greatly influence federal involvement willing to assist, all would have been the Amphitheater, and Cedar Swamp in conservation and stewardship along lost Mr. Dorr proposed that the next Mountain were purchased by John the coast of Maine. Melcher and George L. Stebbins for arose step for permanent protection would be to have the lands of the Trustees less than $10,000 from the estate of 30Mr. Harry Lynam called Mr. Dorr at granted federal protection. After Charles T. How.17 According to Mr. his home in Boston to tell him that a thoughtful discussion, Mr. Eliot Dorr, all of these lands were a signifi- bill had been introduced to the Maine agreed. Mr. Dorr wrote in his memoir: cant addition to the holdings of the Legislature to annul the charter of the "It was here that the story of our Trustees for their beauty and the pro- Trustees. Mr. Dorr boarded the first National Park begins, born of the at- tection afforded to the watershed and train to Augusta, where he took up tack upon our Public Reservations' drinking water supplies. 18 residence at the Augusta House hotel charter. 28 so he could mingle with members of A few weeks after my talk with Pres- While initially the Trustees holdings the Legislature because many of then ident Eliot, I went on to Washington, focused on lands in the towns of stayed there during legislative ses timing my visit to coincide with the Mount Desert and Bar Harbor, by sions. Mr. Dorr's political connections coming in of the new administration check 1916 (or 1917? See HCTPR Lot 95 or in Augusta, and in particular, his under President Wilson, inaugurations 97) they would hold lands in all four friendship with Hon. John A. Peters of then still taking place upon the tradi- HCTPR MDI townships. The first property ac- Ellsworth proved indispensable. tional March 4th." quired in the town of Southwest Har- Speaker of the House Peters' and Mr. I took up my stay there with my bor in 1911 was a 100-acre parcel on friend Gifford Pinchot 20 Dorr's campaign was immediate, ex- the east side of Dog (now Flying) tensive, and vigorous, and was so ef- 32 Mountain. The first properties ac- fective that when the bill came up for And so began the next phase of pro- quired in Tremont included lands on vote ten days later, it was easily de- tecting the scenic lands on Mount De- the eastern side of Seal Cove Pond. feated19 sert Island.² 21 the In just four years since the first dona- tion by Mrs. Homans, the Trustees had Upon his return to Boston, Mr. Dorr reflected on his recent experience. He Why all the "Mr"." Explain origin of bill. Jordan Pond north to the Bubbles, circa 1892. NPS, Acadia National Park Archives. L:\Photos\ Historic PhotosVordan Pond House\1892.jpg 17 Epp, Creating Acadia National Park: The Biography of George Bucknam Dorr. 18 Dorr, Acadia National Park: Its Origin and Background. 19 Ibid. 20 Ibid. 21 Ibid. An Essentially American Gift: Administrative History of Acadia National Park 7 Early scientific works were foun- The Value for Science attracted to MDI after Thomas 0 dational to understanding the By the time Mr. Dorr went to Wash- first visit in 1844.25 Acadian landscape and support- ington in 1913, MDI already had a rich ing its preservation. Edward Both art and science generated inter Rand, a member of Charles El- tradition of scientific study by gifted est in the landscape by educated and iot's Champlain Society, joined professionals and amateur scientists wealthy members of society looking attorney and amateur botanist alike, and in a great variety of subjects. for a place to relax, study, socialize, John Redfield to produce an ex- and be soothed by beautiful land- tensive catalog of MDI flora, One of the first published scientific re- scapes away from the sweltering heat published in 1894. They de- ports associated with MDI appeared in and humidity of the cities where they scribed over 1500 species of vas- 1859, in the Conference Proceedings resided-primarily Boston, Philadel- cular plants, lichens, bryophytes and algae on MDI and adjacent of the Boston Society of Natural His- phia, and New York. islands. Their pressed specimens tory. 22 It reported that Dr. C.T. Jack- 8' were preserved at a number of son exhibited crystals of green feld- By the turn of the 20th century, MDI prestigious herbaria, and today spar that he had collected near Sea- had inspired notable scientific works serve as an invaluable "snapshot wall, on the southwestern shore. Less in archeology, botany, geology, marine in time" of ecological conditions than ten years later, the nationally ac- biology and ornithology. These would on MDI at the end of the 19th claimed scholar, Dr. Louis Agassiz, vis- document the unique ecology of the century. Today, the College of ited MDI and included its landscape in landscape where northern and south- the Atlantic in Bar Harbor coop- erates with the NPS to house and his book Geological Sketches in 1866 ern species intermingle, habitat diver- curate the park herbarium. and in the first volume of two articles sity abounds, and the coast provides in the Atlantic Monthly describing his one of the East's most important fly- theories of continental glaciation and ways for migrating birds, bats, and in- the ice age. 2324 William Morris Davis, sects. These early studies provide a who would become "the Father of rare and exceedingly thorough inven- American geography," and was part tory-baseline information that today t can be used to track changes in envi- of the Champlain Society outings with ronmental conditions over time. 26 Few Charles Eliot, remarked on the geol- national park units in the system today ogy of MDI at a meeting of the Boston have as/rich and longlegacy of science Society of Natural History in 1881. as does Acadia. Just as importantly, 35% stated by Catherine Schmitt on the the early recognition of the value of Maine Historical Society website the landscape for scientific inquiry about the Champlain Society: would later provide a key justification "In their words and actions, the mem- for federal protection under the An- bers of the Champlain Society were tiquities Act. representative of their era. In the late nineteenth century, science was not as specialized nor as exclusive as it is to- day. Naturalists mingled with artists and writers; the distinctions between "professional" and "amateur" were fuzzy at best. Pressing plants and other types of natural history collecting, as well as sharing findings from collect- ing excursions, remained popular among Victorian-era middle and up- per classes." 3 ,These early scientific works were pro- duced concurrently with works of art by noted painters such as those by the Hudson River School who were also 22 23 C. Jackson, "Crystals of Green Feldspar, Mount Desert, Maine," Proceedings of the Boston Society of Natural History. 7, no. 160 (1859). Louis Aggasiz, Geological Sketches (Boston, MA: Ticknor & Fields, 1866). 24 Louis Aggasiz, "Glacial Phenomena in Maine: Part I," Atlantic Monthly 1, no. 19 (1867): 211-20. 26 25 John Wilmerding, The Artist's Mount Desert: American Painters on the Maine Coast (Princeton, NJ: Princeton University Press, 1991). Caitlin McDonough MacKenzie, "The Boys of Summer," Field Book Project, Smithsonian National Museum of Natural History, 2012, tp://nmnh.typepad.com/fieldbooks/2012/07/the-boys-of-summer.html. 8 6/20/2018 11:08 AM Chapter One: Creating Acadia DRAFT ature Meets Culture cordwood, fishing and shipbuilding. Coastal schooners carried trade south Townships Versus Counties By the mid-1800s, colonial settlers had significantly changed the MDI land- and returned with homesteading es- In 1878, local townships within Han- 39 sentials otherwise unavailable. In cock County on MDI and surrounds in- scape, ecology, and culture from what had existed before. After several hun- their Cape Cod style homes, settlers cluded Eden, Mount Desert, Tremont dred years of conflicts between Euro- prospered living off the land, and at- (including the portion that would sep- arate off as the town of Southwest pean interests over the coast of Maine tracted skilled laborers to support Harbor in 1905), Cranberry Isles, -primarily the British and French-, their industries, service providers Gouldsboro (then including the town MDI was finally claimed by the British such as doctors, storekeepers, law- of Winter Harbor), and Trenton. Inter- and granted to Francis Bernard, the yers, and blacksmiths. estingly, the town of Isle au Haut was also then part of Hancock County- Royal Governor of Massachusetts in 43 though it is now part of Knox County. 1762. After the Revolution, the land By the time of the Civil War, MDI's was claimed by the Commonwealth of population was over 3,500. The war Massachusetts as part of the District of A new arrival to New England will had an impact on village life. Men Maine, and eventually, Bernard's son, quickly realize the pivotal role of the went off to fight, or paid others to do John, was granted the western half of township form of government, as op- so. Women were left to run house- posed to the minor role county gov- MDI in 1785. In 1787, nodding to pro- holds and farms, mills and also raise ernment plays. They will also soon dis- French sentiment, the eastern half of families. The effects of war on the cover how politically-complicated it is MDI was granted to Madame de economy of MDI mirrored that of to administer a large federal landhold- Gregoire, granddaughter of Antoine New England; an economic and social ing that includes lands in many town- de la Mothe Cadillac, who had earlier strain that took several decades from ships-each supporting multiple vil- been deeded MDI by the French which to recover. O lages. Today, as it was in 1878, every crown in exchange for his military ser- township is fiercely independent and vice. Today, all property deeds on 44 each has its own distinct culture, econ- Recovery was underway in 1878, omy, demographics, and ethnography. MDI can be traced back to these two landowners. when Samuel Wasson published A Survey of Hancock County. In it, he Federal holdings that now make up provides a glimpse, township-by- Acadia National Park include lands 40 The entire island was incorporated as township, of history, agriculture, and held in fee simple ownership in ten the town of Mount Desert in 1789. Sa- industry in the second half of the 19th townships; lands with other federal in- lem Towne Jr., Esquire, was hired by terests such as conservation easements century. 27 His book further illus- the Commonwealth to survey settler's can be found in 19 townships from trated the inseparable link between properties originating from Bernard's east and south of the Penobscot Bay nature and culture on MDI and be- ship channel to the Schoodic Penin- lands; a map of his surveys was pro- yond. sula duced.in 1808. The Peters Plan map is called the first survey of the early land divi- 45 Source? sions on the east side of MDI, pub- Wasson provides a snapshot of local lished in 1807. natural history information such as Re descriptions of MDI's geology and to- pography, forest condition in the con- Why no referenento George The earliest MID villages were located text of timber supplies, invasive plants A. Sheet's book? along harbors and coasts, easily ac- and disease conditions, discussions of 15th cessed by boat; Somesville, Southwest fresh- and salt-water fisheries, and ac- ut.Desert: A History Harbor (originally called Tremont), counts of habitats as seen through the Eden (Bar Harbor), McKinley (now eyes of a mid-1800s agriculturalist: Bass Harbor), and Long Pond (Seal "There are thousands of acres of Harbor). Coastal Maine islands were populated by colonial settlers before low, wet, swampy lands in the county, the interior mainland. utterly worthless for general cultiva- tion, that are admirably suited to the cranberry, and it is a wonder that no 48. By 1820, when Maine became a sepa- more of such worthless tracts are put rate state, the number of settlers on into cranberries." MDI had swelled to 1300. Most were Lumber schooner Rayo. supporting themselves by farming, NPS, Acadia National Park Archives Box 042, Print 0780 harvesting timber for both lumber and 27 Samuel Wasson, Survey of Hancock County, Maine (Augusta, ME: Sprague, Owen & Nash, 1878), http://onlinelibrary.wiley.com/doi/10.1002/cbdv.200490137/abstract An Essentially American Gift: Administrative History of Acadia National Park 9 The residents of Eden were already us- ble woodlands on MDI and surround- ing these "worthless tracts;" Wasson ing islands had either been cut or lists the town of Eden as one of the burned, or both. 28 county's leading producers of cranber- 50 ries-explaining the canals, dams, and Mr. Wasson's report also informs our excavations that remain in some MDI understanding of the area's cultural wetlands today, affecting habitat, history, particularly related to cultural flood control, and water filtering val- landscapes and ethnography. In addi- ues. tion to an overview of European ex- ploration and settlement history of the 48 As the population of white settlers in- mid-coast of Maine, he describes mid- creased, especially in the mid-1800s, 1800s agrarian activities such as apple so too did their effects on the land- production (even naming the most scape. By the time Wasson's Survey commonly planted varieties), dairying, was published, the once-abundant and the status of fish, seaweed and ice moose, caribou, beaver and white- harvests. Demographic and economic tailed deer were mostly gone, as were information confirms that mid-1800s most remaining predators-sea mink, settlers focused on using the sea for bear, wolves, otter, fisher, martin and transportation and commerce, and foxes (true of foxes?)- many having families were sustained by fishing, been the subject of bounties offered by guarrying/granite) and a hodge-podge the government. As demand for feath- of subsistence farming, clamming, and ers increased for the millinery trade, hunting. And perhaps most interest- and eggs of colonial nesters such as ei- ingly, Wasson notes that as county for- ders and gulls were harvested indis- ests had already been exploited and criminately, bird numbers were on the agriculture was fading, both were be- decline/ the flightless great auk was ing replaced by tourism, especially in long extinct and passenger pigeons the towns of Eden and Mount Desert. soon to follow. Diadromous fish- No reference Eliot's smelt, shad, sturgeon, salmon, ale- wives, and sea-run brook trout-that 51. clasic on Gilley. had provided a critical source of pro- A Culture Ignored tein to settlers in the early spring and In their excellent ethnographic over- had been carefully managed by "fish view of Wabnaki history, Prins and wardens" in the early days, were see- McBride note that by 1790, "the num- ally reduced ing drastic reductions as mill dams in- ber of white settlers on MDI had creasingly blocked fish passage to in- grown to 800, about the same number land spawning grounds. The great as all Penobscot and Passamaquoddy schools of porgies that were used for Indians combined in all of Maine.' "29 oil and fertilizer were quickly de- Inter-tribal wars, conflicts with Euro- pleted. pean colonists, and especially diseases introduced by Europeans including HG measles, influenza, small pox, and tu- Following logging and burning, tim- berculosis had by 1620 reduced by as bered lands were converted to grazed much as 90 percent the coastal Native meadows, and browsers wereyre- American population in New England. placed with grazers-sheep, cows, and horses. Photos from that period show vast expanses of tree-free pastures Most popular accounts of MDI history dotted with granite boulders and written in the late 1800s and early ledges, hinting of the young and shal- 1900s ignore the presence of native low soils distributed over much of the peoples at the time of Champlain's island. Samuel Eliot Morrison notes "discovery" or afterward. However, and that by 1870 all but the most inaccessi- MDI was no 'wilderness" as it had L Cantul here. Define" wildeness supported human life for thousands of 28 Samuel E. Morrison, The Story of Mount Desert Island. Maine, 1960. 29 Harald E.L and Bunny McBride Prins Asticou's Island Domain: Wabanaki Peoples at Mount Desert Island 1500-2000; Acadia National Park Ethnographic Overview and Assessment, Volume I (Boston, MA: NPS, Northeast Region Ethnography Program, 2007). 10 6/20/2018 11:08 AM Chapter One: Creating Acadia Administrative Histories: Overview and Background Paraphrased from NPS Administrative History: A Guide https://www.nps.gov/parkhistory/hisnps/NPSHistory/adminhistory.htm Audience: Administrative histories provide current and future park managers with easily accessible, analytical summaries of major issues affecting the park. They provide clear and concise information about chronologies, past controversies, context, and the 'why and how' of past decisions and help managers prepare for future ones. Administrative histories often address topical treatments of key activities, events and issues. Community relations, interpretation, resource management and protection, visitor use, and threats to the parks are often appropriate. "The more valuable administrative histories resist the temptation to indulge in an exhaustive account of a park area's history and focus instead on the things managers need to know as they assume their duties." Administrative histories normally include the following: A brief statement describing the park, its location, primary resources, values, purpose and significance. A description of who administered the area, how it was administered, how it was used before the NPS acquired it. An account of the movement to establish a park is a vital part of the administrative history because it can provide critical insight about legislative intent. This should note key organizations and individuals promoting and opposing park establishment, and include the legislative process. A discussion of major activities and events that subsequently affected the area under NPS administration, e.g., master or general management planning; land acquisition; development of administrative and visitor facilities; natural resource management; cultural resource management; partnerships; interpretation; recreational and other public use; new or amendatory park legislation. It should include a description and analysis of how the unit was managed and developed during different eras as well as its dealings with other federal, state and local agencies and entities. More detailed coverage should be given to topics that concerned park managers in the past and are relevant to present and foreseeable management concerns. The use of maps and photographs can greatly enhance the manuscript. Appendix(es) containing copies of key park legislation, executive orders, cooperative agreements, personnel rosters, visitation statistics, and other documents and data valuable for management reference. Notes, bibliography, and index. 20+ Oral Histories - Summer, 2018. Comp leted by Aug 20th Timeline: 1st Draft by Jan 1st Final Draft by March 1st