City/Town

Bar Harbor (1886)

Map Title

Bar Harbor Mt. Desert Island

Artist

C. E. Jorgensen

Preview

Publication Date

1886

County

Hancock

Artist

C. E. Jorgensen

Lithographer

Geo. H. Walker & Co.

Publisher

G. W. Morris

Dimensions

53.3 x 69.9 cm

Owner

Maine Historic Preservation Commission

Additional Institutional Copies

Library of Congress

Population of City/Town at Time of Publication

1,629

Description of City/Town

The varied charms of sea and shore through which this spot has endeared itself to a vast number of persons of wealth and taste renders a residence here agreeable during a large portion of the year….The application for rooms at the various hotels is unprecedented in point of number. Some of the houses are already engaged to the extent of their sheltering capacity. The landlord of the Belmont informed your correspondent that he is endeavoring to secure rooms in adjacent cottages to accommodate the many applicants for quarters….During the height of the season there are about ten thousand strangers in Bar Harbor. The country around as far as the eye can view, with the varied landscape of mountain, vale and plain, is dotted by costly villas. The general plan has been to respect the handiwork of nature as far as possible, and a fifty thousand dollar cottage will be found surrounded by a wilderness of rocks and chapparal. Excepting Newport no other watering place in America contains so many ornate summer dwelling houses as may be found in a circle of a few miles around Bar Harbor.

Bangor Daily Whig and Courier, June 2, 1886

Historic Newspaper References

Bar Harbor Times, September 13, 1922

A series of interesting photographic views of old Bar Harbor and its vicinity have recently been donated to the Belmont Hotel....Two birds-eye views, taken from an elevated position on Bar Island, respectively dated and issued in 1880 and 1886, and photographed from the engravings, are most interesting, as a careful comparison of the pictures is valuable, showing the rapid growth, and many notable changes that took place during the intervening years, and indicate also a period of great prosperity and development. The signature of A. F. Poole as artist appears on the earlier engraving, it being published by J. J. Stoner of Madison, Wisconsin, and lithographed at Milwaukee. In the margin are inserted pictures of the Hotel des Isles, Grand Central, Rodicks and the West End, also the Bradley Block, and St. Saviours’ Church. The later engraving fills a larger space in order to contain the many additional buildings erected, being published by G. W. Morris of Portland, George H. Walker of Boston being the lithographer. It is believed that few of these remain, and it is therefore fortunate that the originals were accessible, and that copies could be obtained, as they give what is probably a correct representation of Bar Harbor and its surroundings in former days.

Usage Rights

As a publicly supported institution, the Maine Historic Preservation Commission generally does not own rights to material in its collections. Therefore, it does not charge permission fees for the use of such material and cannot give or deny permission to publish or otherwise distribute material in its collections. The copyright and related rights status of the items in this collection have not been evaluated. While many of these images may be in the public domain, it is up to you to determine and satisfy copyright or other use restrictions when publishing or otherwise distributing materials found in this collection. You are free to use an item in any way that is permitted by the copyright and related rights legislation that applies to your use.

Recommended Citation

Courtesy of the Maine Historic Preservation Commission.