Mount Desert Island (MDI) has a history that spans back over 6,000 years. Shell heaps found on the island tell of encampments by Native Americans – the Abnaki. There is no written information from this time period but archeological evidence shows that the Abnaki spent time on MDI hunting, fishing, catching shellfish and gathering plants and berries. The Abnaki called the island Pemetic.
Much more can be learned about the Native Americans on Mt. Desert Island and throughout New England at the Abbe Museum in Bar Harbor.
In 1604 Samuel de Champlain wrote in his journal on September 5, “The same day we passed also near to an island about four or five leagues long, in the neighborhood of which we just escaped being lost on a little rock on a level with the water, which made an opening in our barque near the keel. From this island to the main land on the north, the distance is less than a hundred paces. It is very high, and notched in places, so that there is the appearance to one at sea, as of seven or eight mountains extending along near each other. The summit of the most of them is destitute of trees, as there are only rocks on them. The woods consist of pines, firs, and birches only. I named it Isle des Monts Déserts. The latitude is 44° 30'.” (This quote came from MEMOIR OF SAMUEL DE CHAMPLAIN Volume II 1604-1610 – chapter 5).
A bronze plaque sits on a ledge just outside of Seal Harbor as a memorial to Champlain’s visit by and naming of Mount Desert Island.
