A wayside exhibit entitled "Hot Line to Europe" features an informational panel angled atop a rectangular stone base, near the former site of the Otter Cliffs administration building and U.S. Naval radio tower. In the present day, restrooms, a parking lot, and a picnic area occupy the surroundings. A short distance away, across Park Loop Road, a boulder displays a plaque dedicated to Alessandro Fabbri, who built the radio station.
The exhibit's title appears next to a world map showing a dotted line from Otter Cliffs to Europe.
Text explains: "A US Navy radio station here at Otter Cliffs served as the most important World War I facility for receiving transatlantic messages - including the first bulletin about the armistice, received at Otter Cliffs on October 6, 1918. Alessandro Fabbri, a wealthy island resident and inventor, built the station and offered it to the federal government in exchange for a commission as its commanding officer." The station remained in service into the 1930s when John D. Rockefeller Jr. successfully lobbied to relocate the facility to the Schoodic Peninsula and extend the Ocean Drive section of Park Loop Road.
Five photographs capture moments in history:
-An American flag flies from a pole in front of the Otter Cliffs administration building and tall radio tower.
-Alessandro Fabbri wears a military uniform as he stands with two electricians.
-Fabbri poses with his officers and crew in 1929. They stand on rungs of the tiered radio tower.
-A radio technician sits at a table covered with equipment, listening for long-wave messages.
-Rockefeller Hall formerly housed Navy personnel on the Schoodic Peninsula. The sprawling three-story building, made of red brick and local stone, has steeply pitched slate roofs.
A timeline notes Military Facilities in Acadia:
1853. US Coast Survey Triangulation Station placed on Cadillac Mountain.
1917. US Naval Transatlantic Radio Station commissioned at Otter Cliffs.
1918. Seawall long-range radio transmitter set up in the nearby village of Manset.
1918. Otter Cliffs station receives first message from Kaiser Wilhelm to President Wilson concerning armistice.
1934. Otter Cliffs site dismantled; Seawall facility transferred to US Coast Guard.
1935. US Naval Radio Station at Winter Harbor, Schoodic Peninsula, commissioned.
2002. Winter Harbor Station transferred back to the National Park Service. Now used as Schoodic Education & Research Center.
