![]() Photo by Yehyun Kim, Friends of Acadia, NPS Human History and Culture![]() Wabanaki: People of the DawnlandNative American peoples have inhabited the land we now call Maine for over 12,000 years. Acadia is located in the homeland of the Wabanaki. ![]() Colonization & Early SettlementLearn about European Colonization starting in the 1600s to the homesteading settlers on Mount Desert Island as early as 1760. ![]() Rusticators & Early TourismArt brought tourism and starting in the late 1800s, wealthy "rusticators" arrived by steamboats and yachts to Mount Desert Island. Becoming Acadia National Park![]() Founding AcadiaPhilanthropists, conservationists, and landowners all played a part in the founding of Acadia. ![]() Building AcadiaTrail construction began long before the park's founding. Building infrastructure, motor roads, and carriage roads soon followed. Places![]() Carriage Roads and GatehousesLearn the history behind Rockefeller's planning and construction of the famous carriage road system. ![]() Fire TowersTwo lookouts were located on Beech Mountain and Sargent Mountain, and used for short periods of the park's history. ![]() Historic TrailsMount Desert Island’s present-day trail system evolved over centuries of human use and settlement of the land. ![]() LighthousesLighthouses play an important role in understanding the nautical history of Mount Desert Island and along Maine's coastline. ![]() Memorials & MonumentsThe park today contains a wealth of memorials that give us information into its history, establishment, and management. ![]() Motor RoadsAcadia’s motor road system involved engineers, landscape architects, conservationists, local skilled laborers, the federal agencies. Museum Collections & Archives![]() CollectionsLearn about the William Otis Sawtelle Collections and Research Center, dedicated to the founder of the Islesford Historical Museum. ![]() Historic Audio Files and InterviewsSongs, stories, interviews and oral histories from Acadia's past. |
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Last updated: October 16, 2020