Becoming Acadia National Park

This place has been known by many names through time; sometimes multiple different names at the same time. Pemetic. Sieur de Monts. Lafayette. Acadia. Since time immemorial it as been the Wabanaki homeland and it always will be. The living cultures surrounding what is now known as Acadia National Park have worked the land and worked the waters for generations.

But its preservation as a national park, we can look back at the forces in time that led to the creation of 'Acadia National Park.' The path from colonization to early tourism to the formation of civic groups who eventually proposed and created Acadia National Park was far from a straight line. But each step along the way planted a stone along the trail to becoming Acadia National Park. Along the way, a world-renowned network of historic trails, motor roads, and carriage roads and bridges built the 'park-itecture' that now defines Acadia National Park to the world.