From collection Place
"The Great Harbor is the term used to describe the body of water enclosed by Mount Desert Island on the north and the Cranberry Isles to the south. Writing in The Story of Mount Desert Island (1960), Samuel Eliot Morison discussed the origins of the term. Morison suggested the term originated with Antoine Laumet (later Antoine de la Mothe, Sieur de Cadillac), who obtained a land grant that included Mount Desert Island in 1688. Cadillac spent only a short amount of time on the coast of Maine, and is better known for his role in the founding of Detroit; but he described the body of water that has since become known as The Great Harbor" ("What is The Great Harbor?" at Great Harbor Maritime Museum [ https://greatharbormm.org/what-is-the-great-harbor/ : accessed 26 October 2025]).
