Acadia National Park

The area first was inhabited by the Wabanaki people.

In the fall of 1604, Samuel de Champlain observed a high-notched island composed of seven or eight mountains rising to bare-rock summits from slopes of birch, fir, and pine. Over four centuries later, the area remains essentially the same.

The landscape architect Charles Eliot is credited with the idea for the park. George B. Dorr, called the "father of Acadia," along with Charles's father Charles W., the president of Harvard, supported the idea both through donations of land and through advocacy at the state and federal levels. It first attained federal status when President Woodrow Wilson, established it as Sieur de Monts National Monument on July 8, 1916, administered by the National Park Service. On February 26, 1919, it became a national park, with the name Lafayette National Park in honor of the Marquis de Lafayette, an influential French supporter of the American Revolution. The park's name was changed to Acadia National Park on January 19, 1929.

From 1915 to 1933, the wealthy philanthropist John D. Rockefeller, Jr. financed, designed, and directed the construction of a network of carriage trails throughout the park. He sponsored the landscape architect Beatrix Farrand, with the nearby family summer home Reef Point Estate, to design the planting plans for the subtle carriage roads at the Park (c.1930). The network encompassed over 50 miles (80 km) of gravel carriage trails, 17 granite bridges, and two gate lodges, almost all of which are still maintained and in use today. Cut granite stones placed along the edges of the carriage roads act as guard rails of sort and are locally known as "coping stones" to help visitors cope with the steep edges. They are also fondly called "Rockefeller's teeth".

Beginning on October 17, 1947, 10,000 acres (40 km) of Acadia National Park were burned in a fire that began along the Crooked Road several miles west of Hulls Cove. The forest fire was one of a series of fires that consumed much of Maine's forest as a result of a dry year. The fire burned until November 14, and was fought by the Coast Guard, Army, Navy, local residents, and National Park Service employees from around the country. Restoration of the park was supported, substantially, by the Rockefeller family, particularly John D. Rockefeller, Jr. Regrowth was mostly allowed to occur naturally and the fire has been suggested  to have actually enhanced the beauty of the park, adding diversity to tree populations and depth to its scenery.

n 1986, a group of Acadia-area residents and park volunteers formed the membership-based nonprofit organization Friends of Acadia for the purpose of organizing volunteer effort and private philanthropy for the benefit of Acadia National Park. The group's first major achievement was a $3.4 million endowment to maintain the park’s 44-mile carriage road system in perpetuity, which leveraged federal funds to fully restore the road system. Subsequent projects and partnerships included Acadia Trails Forever, making Acadia the first national park with an endowed trail system; the Island Explorer, a free, propane-powered bus system serving the park and local communities; and youth initiatives such as the Acadia Youth Technology Team, which engages local teens to help their peers connect with the park and develop the next generation of park stewards.