Some informative websites about Bar Harbor:
http://www.barharbormaine.gov/ http://wikitravel.org/en/Bar_Harbor http://www.en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Bar_Harbor,_Maine
http://www.epodunk.com/cgi-bin/genInfo.php?locIndex=2021
A general description of the town:
Bar Harbor is a town on Mount Desert Island in Hancock County, Maine. As of the 2010 census, its population is 5,235. Bar Harbor is a popul
ar tourist destination in the Down East region of Maine, and home to the College of the Atlantic, Jackson Laboratory and Mount Desert Island Biological Laboratory (Salisbury Cove village). Prior to a catastrophic 1947 fire the town was a famous summer colony for the super-affluent elite. Bar Harbor is home to the largest parts of Acadia National Park, including Cadillac Mountain, the highest point within 25 miles (40 km) of the coastline of the Eastern United States. The town of Bar Harbor was founded on the northeast shore of Mount Desert Island, which the Wabanaki Indians knew as Pemetic, meaning "range of mountains" or "mountains seen at a distance." The Wabanaki seasonally fished, hunted and gathered berries, clams, and other shellfish in the area. They spoke of Bar Harbor as Man-es-ayd'ik ("clam-gathering place") or Ah-bays'auk ("clambake place"), leaving great piles of shells as evidence of this abundance. In early September 1604, French explorer Samuel de Champlain ran aground on a rock ledge believed to be just off Otter Cliffs, and when he came ashore to repair his boat he met local natives. Champlain named the island Isles des Monts Deserts, meaning "island of barren mountains"—now called Mount Desert Island, the largest in Maine.
