Sieur de Monts Spring impressed George B. Dorr, the founding father of Acadia National Park and its first superintendent, with its tranquil beauty. The spring hosted social gatherings in the early 1900s, artists sketched the surrounding vistas, and hikers followed Native American paths along wet meadows while creating trails to granite peaks. Dorr purchased the spring in 1909, ensuring its permanent protection, and after the park was established in 1916 he made the Sieur de Monts Spring area the heart of the park, a role it still holds. The area preserves Dorr's legacy in features such as "The Sweet Waters of Acadia" carved into a rock, the spring house, and trails leading into the nearby mountains, and it has become a memorial to his inspiration and dedication in the creation of Acadia National Park. The trails there also reflect a longer history: the Wabanaki once carried canoes along paths linking ponds and streams with the ocean, European settlers later made trails connecting growing towns, and as recreational hiking grew popular in the late 19th and early 20th centuries, village improvement societies planned and built 250 miles of hiking trails, many of which remain in use today.