BAR HARBOR'S GRANT PARK by Gladys O'Neil It was love at first sight when Mrs. Harold Grant saw the sparkling blue water of Frenchman Bay, and the Gouldsboro hills in the distance. The Grants from Tarrytown, New York had arrived in Bar Harbor in the summer of 1869 during a prolonged period of very foggy weather. Tiring of of the cloudy days and the crude hotel accomodations, they had packed and were ready to leave on the next steamboat when suddenly the fog lifted and they had their first view of the harbor and the hills on the mainland. As she unpacked, Mrs. Grant asked her husband to build a home for them on the shore where she she `could see the water. 190110 Mr. Grant immediately bought an acre and a half of land on the shore at the foot of Albert Meadow from Stephen Higgins. Construction of their cottage was soon underway. Just the year before Aplpheus Hardy had built his summer cottage just north of their property. The Grant family spent every summer at their cottage until the late 1890's. As Bar Harbor became well known as a resort the building in the town increased and buckboards filled the streets, the charm of the earlier years seemed to vanish for them. Jack Mr. Grant had met Jock Darling, a woodsman from northern Hancock county, who came to Bar Harbor in the summer with his canoe to paddle people around the bay. He told of the wonder- ful fishing and the beauty of Lake] Nicatous where he had a camp. Mr. Grant visited Jock's inland lake and liked it so much that eventually the whole family went to live at the lake. In 1894, Mr. Grant and some friends built a clubhouse on Jock's property on the shore there. The Grants rented their cottage during the summers until 1912 when the voters of the town approved its purchase at the March town meeting. Those who sponsored the article in the warrent believed there was a need for a park on the shore and for a public pier. The cottage was to be rented until funds were available for these projects. Shortly after the meeting a group of residents brought an in- junction against the town to reverse the purchase of the property. They stated that it was not a suitable place to build a pier and not only was it an extravagant move, but was also illegal. This action proved to be only a temporary delay and the town was able to rent the cottage that summer. Years passed and nothing was done to develop a park until 1930 after the Village Improvement Association strongly objected to unkempt appearance of the house and grounds. They suggested that the property should be fenced in the cottage which was badly in need of repair be torn down. Shrubs and trees should be planted and benches provided for the use of the public. All these things were done after the house was sold for $150.00. The Grant property finally had become Grant Park. In 1945, the town wished to acquire the former Newport Hotel site to be used as a parking area because of its proximity tp the newly developed Municipal Sand Beach between the wharf and the Mt. Desert Reading Room. As the hotel property was owned by the Bar Harbor Land Company a swap was made: the town gave the Grant property to the land company in exchange for that of the old hotel property. After the forest fire of 1947 had destroyed the three hotels in the town, the Bar Harbor Hotel Corporation was organized to build a new hotel as soon as pssible. The Mt. Desert Reading Room was purchased from the Bar Harbor Land Company to serve as a nucleus for the new building. The Hardy and Grant properties on the south shore to the south were inluded in this real estate transaction. The building was remodeled into an attractive,modern hotel without using the Grant land. In 1950, the town was able to buy the property back from the Bar Harbor Hotel. Grant Park was returned to the group of parks and recreational areas owned by the town.