Description: This photograph was taken on Newport Avenue in Bar Harbor, slightly south of the present-day Agamont Park. Porcupine Island is in the background.
According to Robert Leland, father of Patti Leland of Trenton, in 1849 this house was moved to its present location at 945 Bar Harbor Road, Map 19 – Lot 6 from about a quarter of a mile closer to Mount Desert Island (probably near 1007 Bar Harbor Road, Map 15 – Lot 16). The house was probably moved by Daniel Leland Jr. (1929-). The 1840 census has both Daniel Leland, born in 1874, and Daniel Leland Jr., born in 1829, living in the houses. Reportedly the house was built c. 1802 although this information has yet to be verified. When Willis Ballard photographed the house in 1962 it was owned by Maurice Clements. The house is now [2014] painted red and the original outbuildings are gone, perhaps due to fire, according to Patti Leland. The Bar Harbor Road has been widened so the house now lies closer to the road, although it is more difficult to see as trees have grown up around it.
Description: According to Robert Leland, father of Patti Leland of Trenton, in 1849 this house was moved to its present location at 945 Bar Harbor Road, Map 19 – Lot 6 from about a quarter of a mile closer to Mount Desert Island (probably near 1007 Bar Harbor Road, Map 15 – Lot 16). The house was probably moved by Daniel Leland Jr. (1929-). The 1840 census has both Daniel Leland, born in 1874, and Daniel Leland Jr., born in 1829, living in the houses. Reportedly the house was built c. 1802 although this information has yet to be verified. When Willis Ballard photographed the house in 1962 it was owned by Maurice Clements. The house is now [2014] painted red and the original outbuildings are gone, perhaps due to fire, according to Patti Leland. The Bar Harbor Road has been widened so the house now lies closer to the road, although it is more difficult to see as trees have grown up around it. [show more]
Historic American Engineering Record, National Park Service
Bar Harbor
The largest bridge that you've probably never seen on Mount Desert Island is the Duck Brook Motor Road Bridge. Ironically, anyone who drives the Park Loop Road, starting from the Hulls Cove Visitor Center, travels over the bridge (located here), but few people see the bridge itself. That's too bad since it is by far the longest and tallest bridge in the park. In fact, it's the largest continuous concrete arch deck bridge in the eastern United States. At 402' long (not counting the 65' approaches on each side) and having a center arch span of 95', it dwarfs every carriage road bridge in the park, the longest being Amphitheater at 245' and the tallest being Duck Brook at 43' (yes, there are two Duck Brook bridges, one for people and bikes, and this one for cars). An architectural drawing of the bridge indicates a height of 100' from the top of the 30" high parapet guardwall to the water below. So how does the largest road-related structure in Acadia National Park go unnoticed? There are three reasons. First, from above you might not realize you are driving over a bridge because the roadway and shoulders look much like other portions of the loop road. If you happen to park at the turnout located southeast of the bridge, then walk atop the bridge and look over the side, you only get a glimpse of the three stone arches. To really see them, you have to hike down to the brook, but there is no trail and the terrain is dangerously steep. Second, the only view from below is along the narrow and busy stretch of Route 3 between Sonogee and the Holiday Inn. At 40 mph, you wouldn't see the bridge even if you knew the exact instant when and where to look. Finally, from below, the bridge is almost entirely obscured in summer by deciduous trees growing in the deep ravine that the bridge spans. To see this magnificent structure which was constructed from 1950 to 1953 using granite from Hall Quarry in Somesville, you have to seek it out at the right time of year. The Duck Brook Motor Road Bridge is truly a hidden architectural and historical gem. John D. Rockefeller purchased the land for the Paradise Hill Road where the bridge is located, donated the land to to the park, and was involved in planning the road as early as 1934, but World War II and subsequent funding shortages delayed the start of construction. As many as 75 men were on the job at one time with total labor estimated at 92,000 hours. Total cost of the structure was $366,000 making it the most expensive road-related structure in the park at the time of its completion. George Soules - November 2015
Historic American Engineering Record, National Park Service
Place:
Bar Harbor
State:
ME
Source:
Library of Congress www.loc.gov/pictures/item/me0254
Description: The largest bridge that you've probably never seen on Mount Desert Island is the Duck Brook Motor Road Bridge. Ironically, anyone who drives the Park Loop Road, starting from the Hulls Cove Visitor Center, travels over the bridge (located here), but few people see the bridge itself. That's too bad since it is by far the longest and tallest bridge in the park. In fact, it's the largest continuous concrete arch deck bridge in the eastern United States. At 402' long (not counting the 65' approaches on each side) and having a center arch span of 95', it dwarfs every carriage road bridge in the park, the longest being Amphitheater at 245' and the tallest being Duck Brook at 43' (yes, there are two Duck Brook bridges, one for people and bikes, and this one for cars). An architectural drawing of the bridge indicates a height of 100' from the top of the 30" high parapet guardwall to the water below. So how does the largest road-related structure in Acadia National Park go unnoticed? There are three reasons. First, from above you might not realize you are driving over a bridge because the roadway and shoulders look much like other portions of the loop road. If you happen to park at the turnout located southeast of the bridge, then walk atop the bridge and look over the side, you only get a glimpse of the three stone arches. To really see them, you have to hike down to the brook, but there is no trail and the terrain is dangerously steep. Second, the only view from below is along the narrow and busy stretch of Route 3 between Sonogee and the Holiday Inn. At 40 mph, you wouldn't see the bridge even if you knew the exact instant when and where to look. Finally, from below, the bridge is almost entirely obscured in summer by deciduous trees growing in the deep ravine that the bridge spans. To see this magnificent structure which was constructed from 1950 to 1953 using granite from Hall Quarry in Somesville, you have to seek it out at the right time of year. The Duck Brook Motor Road Bridge is truly a hidden architectural and historical gem. John D. Rockefeller purchased the land for the Paradise Hill Road where the bridge is located, donated the land to to the park, and was involved in planning the road as early as 1934, but World War II and subsequent funding shortages delayed the start of construction. As many as 75 men were on the job at one time with total labor estimated at 92,000 hours. Total cost of the structure was $366,000 making it the most expensive road-related structure in the park at the time of its completion. George Soules - November 2015 [show more]
“…the…Hotel Porcupine, later the Florence (1887; burned, 1918), a Main Street, five-story rectangular block with Shingle-style features and a strong sense of verticality represented by its stacked window bays, bay roof caps, steep-pitched roof planes, and tall, corbelled brick chimneys…represented [with the larger Malvern Hotel] an impressive conclusion to Bar Harbor’s opulent Victorian hotel era.” - “Summer By The Seaside: The Architecture of New England Coastal Resort Hotels, 1820-1950” by Bryant F. Tolles, Jr., p. 165, 170, University Press of New England – 2008 - An excellent study including information about The Island House in Southwest Harbor and its place in the range of hotels on the island during this period along with a very complete history of many of the Bar Harbor hotels. "For the origins and summary of the Bar Harbor hotel scene and the social life that surrounded it, including the first visit of the fleet to Bar Harbor see – “Bar Harbor: The Hotel Era, 1868-1880” by Richard A. Savage, Chapter 17, p. 226 in “Maine – A History Through Selected Readings” edited by David C. Smith and Edward O. Schriver – 1985 The article originally appeared in the “Maine Historical Society Newsletter,” Vol. 10, No.4, May 1971, pp. 101-121 For the complete story of the Leightons and Maine postcards see: ""Greetings from Maine: A Postcard Album"" by R. Brewster Harding, published by Old Port Publishing Co., Portland, 1975 - ""Turn of the Century Views of America's Pine Tree State as recorded by Portland's Picture Postcard Pioneers, Chisholm Bros., the Hugh C. Leighton Co., the Geo. W. Morris Co. and others 1888-1915. This book appears to be the source for other published information on the subject."
Description: “…the…Hotel Porcupine, later the Florence (1887; burned, 1918), a Main Street, five-story rectangular block with Shingle-style features and a strong sense of verticality represented by its stacked window bays, bay roof caps, steep-pitched roof planes, and tall, corbelled brick chimneys…represented [with the larger Malvern Hotel] an impressive conclusion to Bar Harbor’s opulent Victorian hotel era.” - “Summer By The Seaside: The Architecture of New England Coastal Resort Hotels, 1820-1950” by Bryant F. Tolles, Jr., p. 165, 170, University Press of New England – 2008 - An excellent study including information about The Island House in Southwest Harbor and its place in the range of hotels on the island during this period along with a very complete history of many of the Bar Harbor hotels. "For the origins and summary of the Bar Harbor hotel scene and the social life that surrounded it, including the first visit of the fleet to Bar Harbor see – “Bar Harbor: The Hotel Era, 1868-1880” by Richard A. Savage, Chapter 17, p. 226 in “Maine – A History Through Selected Readings” edited by David C. Smith and Edward O. Schriver – 1985 The article originally appeared in the “Maine Historical Society Newsletter,” Vol. 10, No.4, May 1971, pp. 101-121 For the complete story of the Leightons and Maine postcards see: ""Greetings from Maine: A Postcard Album"" by R. Brewster Harding, published by Old Port Publishing Co., Portland, 1975 - ""Turn of the Century Views of America's Pine Tree State as recorded by Portland's Picture Postcard Pioneers, Chisholm Bros., the Hugh C. Leighton Co., the Geo. W. Morris Co. and others 1888-1915. This book appears to be the source for other published information on the subject." [show more]
"The Jesup Library was founded in 1875 by summer visitors who left their books for winter use, and clubbed together to get the services of a part-time librarian." - “The Story of Bar Harbor – An Informal History Recording One Hundred and Fifty Years In the Life of a Community,” by Richard Walden Hale, Jr., Ives Washburn, Inc., 1949, p. 209.
Description: "The Jesup Library was founded in 1875 by summer visitors who left their books for winter use, and clubbed together to get the services of a part-time librarian." - “The Story of Bar Harbor – An Informal History Recording One Hundred and Fifty Years In the Life of a Community,” by Richard Walden Hale, Jr., Ives Washburn, Inc., 1949, p. 209.