Where Our History Is Housed
See where our region’s history is housed! These iconic structures—that represent our member groups—range from a converted one-room schoolhouse to a former country store, a summer cottage turned academic hall to a one-time jail, a repurposed fire station to an iconic village clock, and more.
Bar Harbor Historical Society
The Bar Harbor Historical Society is a cultural center and “must see” destination on Mount Desert Island. The Society welcomes residents and visitors alike to discover the past in order to help understand the present, and to take pride in community connections.
Bar Harbor Historical is a dynamic center for research, dialogue, and learning where stories are told through multiple media. The Scoeity offers a living museum, filled with events and programs. It is a place of smiles, wonder, and imagination.
In addition to items on display in the Society's museum an impressive array of historical material is held in collections behind the scenes in the historic summer residence. The Bar Harbor Historical Society Online Archive offers a window into items on display and in storage.
MORE ABOUT BAR HARBOR HISTORICAL SOCIETY
La Rochelle House and Museum
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Designed by Bar Harbor architect Milton W. Stratton and finished in 1917, the former convent offered ample space for exhibitions (pictured), collections storage, and work areas. (Image courtesy of Willie Granston on behalf of Bar Harbor Historical Society.)
Founding of Bar Harbor Historical Society
"The exhibition at the Jesup Memorial Library honoring the memory of the late George B. Dorr is creating great interest among all the residents of Bar Harbor and vicinity,” an August, 1945 article in The Bar Harbor Times reported. The exhibit included early newspapers, photographs, maps, and other objects that chronicled local history. In response to the exhibit’s overwhelming success and to preserve the variety of objects loaned for display, Bar Harbor Historical Society (BHHS) was founded the following year. Originally housed in the basement of the Jesup Memorial Library, the historical society eventually outgrew this space and in 1997 the Society purchased the former St. Edward's Convent on Ledgelawn Avenue to serve as its headquarters and exhibition space.
To read an article about the 1945 exhibit click here .
tHIS IS THE CAPTION
Second BHS Slide
Description
Bar Harbor Village Improvement Association
The Bar Harbor Town Clock hasn’t always been at its present location, although to see it today one might think the clock, the nearby fountain, and the bandstand have always been the crowning jewels for Bar Harbor’s Village Green.The Village Improvement Association presented the clock to the Town of Eden in time for the town’s centennial celebration in July 1896, after years of contentious debate . Mr. Fred C. Lynam, on behalf of the Association, presented a resolution before the Town Meeting, in March 1896, for the acceptance of a town clock to be placed on Main Street in the village of Bar Harbor. The clock was first placed on the sidewalk in front of Mr. Albert Bee’s store at 116 Main Street. The Bar Harbor Light & Power Co. supplied the clock with illumination of its dial free of charge during the summer.
The Bar Harbor Village Improvement Association (VIA) was established in 1881 “to carry out such work of amelioration and adornment, as might from time to time be suggested to science and good taste, in order to bring the village itself into a greater conformity with its beautiful environment.” Its founders and members were instrumental in designing Bar Harbor’s downtown, parks and gardens, as well as Kebo Valley Golf Course and the boundaries and some trails of Acadia National Park.
