Schoodic Point, Acadia National Park, Hancock County, ME

Schoodic Point is at the southern tip of the Schoodic Peninsula, the only part of Acadia National Park found on the mainland. It is located along the park auto road where there is a parking area and scenic overlook, which is a destination for most park visitors to the park's Schoodic unit. The vistas considered character-defining are to the west to Mount Desert Island, and south to the granite shoreline and open sea. The placement of the parking area allows visitors unobstructed views of the pounding surf without visual distraction. Lacking the protection of barrier islands, the exposed headland receives the full force of wave action on its shore, a vista that is particularly dramatic in the aftermath of a storm. At the shoreline, giant granite slabs with black basalt dikes are accessible to pedestrians, but a walk out on the rocks can be treacherous for the unwary.Buildings associated with the site consist of a restroom and pumphouse. The NPS completed the entrance road and parking area in 1935, in concert with the nearby naval installation. The restroom and pumphouse, constructed five years later, are unobtrusively nestled in woodland settings north and east of the parking loop. The John Godfrey Moore memorial plaque, although probably cast earlier, was erected in late 1936 or early 1937. Paid for by the Hancock Trustees, the granite boulder-embedded bronze marker is dedicated to John Godfrey Moore, who purchased much of the peninsula and built a road in 1897. (edited version of NRHP nomination text, #7000614)