Frenchman Bay

For centuries, vessels of many kinds have traveled Frenchman Bay. Five thousand years ago, indigenous people may have paddled dugout canoes into the bay to reach fishing grounds or hunt sea mammals and swordfish, and later Wabanaki Indians used birch bark canoes. In 1604, explorer Samuel Champlain charted the bay and named this island "Mount Desert" for its bare-topped mountains. From 1613 to 1760, the French and English fought for possession of North America, and French frigates hid behind the Porcupine Islands to prey on English warships passing beyond Schoodic Point. As coastal settlement grew, hundreds of schooners, sloops, and fishing smacks sailed the bay. In the late 1800s, Bar Harbor's rise as a summer resort brought pleasure craft and steamboats. Today, restored schooners, lobster fishing boats, and whale watchers still cross the bay, while its rugged coastline and islands remain essentially unchanged.

Bar Harbor, Maine · United States