Oldtarm Waystaten ! just Oct. 2016-Marie Yarbororian 10.6.16 Epp Revisions: [Note that assessing these stations is difficult without a map or site locations to pinpoint the appropriate narrative. ] Dorr Station 1 (Intro to GBD still to come) Follow Compass Harbor Trail and look for evidence [of what?] along the way. Discover the remains of Dorr's principle residence, follow the way stations throughout the property, and learn about the role of this property in the creation of Acadia National Park. Dorr Station 2 Not needed. Please explain. I do believe you need a couple of stations to get visitors to the shoreline in Station 3. Perhaps information on the Rusticator culture of the day and what attracted families like the Dorrs to MDI in the first place. Dorr Station 3 It's not hard to imagine the quiet beauty of this shoreline first viewed by the Dorr family in 1868. George Dorr, known as the "Father of Acadia National Park", walked from his Oldfarm residence atop this hill to this rocky shoreline to swim year round in the cold ocean waters of Frenchman Bay. MCY script for virtual tour of old farm 9_29_2016 DRAFT Dorr Station 4 When Dorr's mother Mary Gray Ward died in 1901, he inherited a substantial sum of money and began the purchase of parcels of land. At the same time, he allied himself with Harvard president Charles W. Eliot and others to prevent further private ownership of select portions of the coastal landscape. This preservation organization was the Hancock County Trustees of Public Reservations whose purpose was to acquire and conserve county lands for free public access. Dorr Station 5 Although they retained their winter quarters in Boston, in 1880 George Dorr and his parents moved into their 30 room summer house which once stood at the top of these stairs, overlooking Compass Harbor. Walk up the steps to the remains of Oldfarm and discover the history of this special spot. Dorr Station 6 Dorr wrote that "the site my mother, father, and I chose for the Old Farm house in the fall of 1878, was the broad, flat top of an old sea cliff, facing north to the Gouldsboro Hills across the long reach of Upper Frenchmans Bay." In 1878 Charles and George Dorr built a summer cottage to the east MCY script for virtual tour of old farm 9_29_2016 DRAFT called Storm Beach Cottage-which is still utilized by park staff-- while the main residence was under development. Maine architect Henry Richards designed the residence known as Oldfarm. It became widely known as a place of great hospitality. Beneath its roof conversed a veritable cross section of the most prominent 19th and 20th-century writers, preachers, attorneys, politicians, scientists, and artists. George Dorr reserved the uppermost floor "Searoom" for his private quarters with its commanding view of the Porcupine Islands. Notice the veranda flooring and envision the conversations held between Dorr and philanthropist John D. Rockefeller Jr. about park road development. Dorr Station 7 The Dorr family prospered through commerce in the years leading up to the Industrial Age. George's father, Charles Hazen Dorr, was a successful merchant while his mother Mary Gray Ward Dorr was the daughter of Thomas Wren Ward who represented the powerful London banking firm of Baring Brothers. Both sides of the family matured near the Boston Commons. Dorr station 8 As a Harvard College student Dorr traveled with his family-including his elder brother-throughout Europe. Following his graduation in 1874, they covered the landscape on foot, bicycle, and horseback, absorbing the full history, customs, and ambiance of the locale visited. After Oldfarm MCY script for virtual tour of old farm 9_29_2016 DRAFT was built, they traveled to the Nile Valley and Palestine while George Dorr's enthusiasm for mountains took him up the eastern Sierra slopes to the summit of Mt. Whitney. Dorr station 9 While the maternal side of his family was beset with furor hortenesis - the term used by English gentry to indicate a passion for gardening - the Oldfarm grounds are best described by renowned landscape gardener Beatrix Farrand, a family friend: "We went to Old Farm, where there was a perfect composition The prominent objects in the immediate foreground were a paper birch and a white spruce. The birch had had turned deep gold and against the white spruce was a beautiful piece of coloring The trees along the Oldfarm waterfront are quite tall SO that one cannot see their coastline. This seems to give the effect of quite a big drop, that is, it looks as though the trees were on top of a cliff, and SO gives the hill on which the house stands more height". Given this context, it is not surprising that Dorr would dedicate a portion of Oldfarm to establish in 1896 the Mount Desert Nurseries. MCY script for virtual tour of old farm 9_29_2016 DRAFT Dorr Station 10 "It was the wonderful beauty of the flowers that grew SO naturally and simply in my mother's garden by the sea at Old Farm that more than aught else, led me along the way, step-by- step and all unconscious of the greater goal which would lead me to the founding of Acadia National Park." By 1913 more than 5,000 acres had been assembled and after three years of negotiation in Washington, President Wilson accepted the Trustee lands as Sieur de Monts National Monument, seven weeks before the establishment of the National Park Service. Dorr Station 11 Oldfarm remained private property although Presidents Coolidge and Roosevelt were offered Oldfarm as a summer White House, in part to enlarge public awareness of the charms of the property and to also ensure its survival as a public place of recreation beyond Dorr's lifetime. The elderly and now nearly blind park founder argued eloquently and incessantly that Oldfarm should be incorporated into the park. In 1942, the government accepted the property, two years prior to Dorr's death. Despite the earnest actions of his Executors, immediately following the end of World War II, the National Park Service questioned the value of Oldfarm. The decision was reached, however, that the expense associated with preserving and maintaining Oldfarm for public use was too heavy for the park service to bear. MCY script for virtual tour of old farm 9_29_2016 DRAFT The Dorr home was razed. The grounds became 'naturalized,' overgrown through neglect. The severe coastal weather has taken its toll. For the last seventy-five years local residents have walked its grounds, a place of historic repose. Dorr Station 12 Current studies are underway to determine what should be 'the right use' of this historic cultural landscape. How do you envision its use for future generations? As stewards of this park, Dorr's legacy might best be served if visitors invite others to experience this place. The second century of Acadia National Park is best developed when park visitors share their aspirations with park rangers. MCY script for virtual tour of old farm 9_29_2016 DRAFT