The Encyclopedia Americana (1920)/Bar Harbor

BAR HARBOR, Me., a popular summer resort in Eden township, Hancock County, Me., on the east shore of Mount Desert Island. It is on a branch of the Maine Central Railroad and is also served by steamship lines from New York, Boston, Portland and other Atlantic coast ports. The ocean here is often too cold for bathing, even in summer, and a large open-air sea-water swimming pool serves as a substitute. There is a naval coaling station on the north shore of Eastern Bay, and Bar Harbor is frequently the rendezvous in summer of the north Atlantic squadron of the United States navy. It derives its name from a sandy bar which connects Mount Desert with the largest of the Porcupine group. The surrounding scenery is very pleasing, and within a short distance are many points of interest readily accessible to the tourist. Among these are the summit of Green Mountain, Eagle Lake, Mount Newport, Kebo, The Ovens, Great and Schooner Heads, Spouting Horn, Thunder Cave and Eagle Cliff. First discovered by Champlain, Mount Desert was settled in 1608 by French Jesuits, whose colony was destroyed eight years later by an expedition from Virginia. A permanent settlement was effected by the English in 1761, The town of Mount Desert was incorporated in 1789. Since that date the towns of Eden, Cranberry, Tremont and Southwest Harbor have been formed from the original tract. Consult Street, &lsquo;Mount Desert: A History&rsquo; (1905). Pop. about 2,200.