Discovery

• The American Indians collectively known as the Wabanaki (Dawn Land People) inhabited the island they called "Pemetic" or "Range of Mountains" when Champlain arrived in 1604. Champlain named it "Isles de Mont Desert" or "Island of Barren Mountains" in reference to its rugged appearance. It was a center of the fur trade by 1615.
  
  

Settlement

• The town of Bar Harbor was settled in 1763 by two men, Israel Higgins and John Thomas, and incorporated in 1796 as Eden, named for English statesman Sir Richard Eden. It kept that name until 1918. Area industries included agriculture, lumber and ship building.
  
  

Artists

• In the mid 19th-century, the area's rugged landscape became a popular subject for artists including Frederic E. Church, Fitz Hugh Lane, Thomas Cole and other members of the Hudson River School. Their work drew hundreds of visitors, and the first hotel in Eden was built in 1855.
  
  

Tourism

• In the late 1860s wealthy tourists called "rusticators" began building summer homes in the town. Some of the notable Bar Harbor "cottage" owners included Joseph Pulitzer, William Proctor and Frederick and George Vanderbilt. In 1916, the efforts of George B. Dorr, John D.Rockefeller, Jr. and Charles W. Elliot brought what would become Acadia National Park to the area.
  
  

Fire

• The Great Fire of 1947 devastated much of the area. One hundred seventy of the town's 4,300 year-round residents lost their homes and sixty-seven palatial summer houses were destroyed. More than 10,000 acres of Acadia National Park's 47,000 acres burned.
  
  

Today

• As of August 2010, the main industries in the Bar Harbor area are fishing, yacht building, tourism and scientific research. The harbor fills with cruise ships from May to October. It is the terminus for two of Adventure Cycling Association's routes and hosts several long-distance bicycle races each year. It is also the home of the College of the Atlantic, Jackson Laboratory and Mount Desert Biological Laboratory.