Cadillac Mountain's summit has attracted people for thousands of years with its expansive views of the ocean and islands. Scientists have also come there to record topographical and environmental data. Before the national park was established, hotels were built on the rocks to provide food and lodging for growing crowds, though fires and severe storms damaged the buildings. Over time, access and development at the summit included a U.S. Coast Survey triangulation station in 1853, roads built by local landowner Daniel Brewer and later by the Green Mountain Carriage Road Company, hotels such as the Green Mountain House, Summit House, and Summit Hotel, the Green Mountain Railway from Eagle Lake to the mountain's middle peak, a seasonal U.S. Signal Service weather station, acquisition of summit land through George B. Dorr and the Hancock County Trustees of Public Reservations in 1908, and construction of a motor road by the National Park Service between 1929 and 1932. Today, increasing numbers of motor vehicles create new challenges for protecting the summit's natural features, but it remains a place for relaxation, reflection, and enjoying Mount Desert Island's views.