The Story of the Automobile and Acadia

You may never have heard his name, but we owe a debt of gratitude to Simeon Mayo, a resident of Southwest Harbor on Mount Desert Island. He started it all, and we have him to thank for traffic jams, parking space battles, and a reservation system at Acadia National Park.

Between 1880 and 1930, Bar Harbor was mostly controlled by the super-wealthy and influential families - names like Astor, Vanderbilt, Carnegie, J.P. Morgan and Pulitzer. They migrated to Mount Desert Island as summer residents in order to continue a high-society lifestyle without the turmoil and bother of places like Boston, Philadelphia and New York City. They enjoyed the pristine and rustic environment while summering in their “cottages” - lavish, ornate and ostentatious mansions typical of Newport, Rhode Island that might be the equivalent of a modern Beverly Hills.

Just after 1900, the invention of a “horseless carriage” was gaining popularity and in 1905 these influential summer aristocrats of Mount Desert Island persuaded Maine legislators to prohibit motorized vehicles on the island, leaving their horse and carriage roads undisturbed by these noisy, smelly contraptions. They were called “anti-autoists”.

1904 Ford, on display at Seal Cove Automobile Museum, Seal Cove, Maine.

This statement from the Bar Harbor Village Improvement Association appeared in the Ellsworth American in October, 1905 and sheds light on their current view of the automobile:

The summer people of Bar Harbor and other Mt. Desert resorts do not object to the proper use of automobiles in proper places… Our contention, and especially the contention of the president of the Automobile club of America, is that this island is not a proper place for them…The summer people pay more than half the whole tax-levy of this town, and their expenditures here form fully half the entire income of the place. They ask that the present restriction be continued because they are convinced that “the introduction of automobiles would occasion serious direct loss to the commercial interests of Bar Harbor, and would retard its growth.”

Having the benefit of looking forward over 100 years, the Village Improvement Association was obviously wrong.

As it became apparent that automobiles were not going away, the conflict between auto enthusiasts and anti-autoists continued to grow.

We owe our present ease/frustration/irritation of transportation to Simeon Mayo, a Southwest Harbor resident who openly rebelled against the Mount Desert Island ban on automobiles in 1909 by driving his 1907 Maxwell over the Eagle Lake Road to the New Florence Hotel in Bar Harbor for dinner. He was arrested for his act of defiance and released on bail, and then re-arrested when he drove his car home to Southwest Harbor.

Simeon Mayo and his 1907 Maxwell in front of the New Florence Hotel, Bar Harbor, 1909. Photo courtesy Southwest Harbor Public Library Digital Archives.

Mr. Mayo appealed his conviction to the Maine Supreme Court, and by 1915 the legislation had been overturned. The “autoists” had won, and motor vehicles were freely permitted on Mount Desert Island.

John D. Rockefeller, Jr. opposed the introduction of the automobile to Mt. Desert Island, but under the counsel of a good friend, George Dorr (who is known as the father of Acadia), Rockefeller agreed that automobiles were inevitable. According to the American Historic Engineering Record:

The admission of automobiles to the island in 1915 spurred Rockefeller to action. He quickly conceived the idea of constructing a series of "horse roads" around his property, where children and friends could ride horseback or drive their carriages without being disturbed by cars.

Quite ironic for a family that made their money from Standard Oil.

Upon the establishment of Acadia National Park, the National Park Service had to balance the integration of the motor roads and the non-auto carriage road network. This blending was a well-thought process that kept the road system conforming to as much of the natural landscape as possible while maintaining separation of the two systems.

Drawing credit Historic American Engineering Record, Library of Congress

As the popularity of Acadia has grown, as in most National Parks, the NPS continues to adopt measures that balance accessibility with overcrowding. This includes plans to build the Acadia Gateway Center in Trenton, Maine, where visitors will park their personal vehicles and take the Island Explorer transportation system into the park.

Could it be that Rockefeller and the anti-autoists were right? Maybe there is a better way to help preserve the tranquility of Mount Desert Island and Acadia National Park. We’re all going to have to adapt if the park has any chance of accommodating its 4,000,000 plus annual visitors.

Acadia National Park Entrance, August 2020. Covid what?. Photo credit Bangor Daily News.

What if You Couldn’t Drive to Acadia?