Mt. Desert Island was also being recognized as a prime location for businesses. The Bar Harbor Hospital was built in 1897, MDI Biological Laboratory began as the Tufts Summer School of Biology in 1898, and the Jackson Laboratory was started in 1929. All are businesses that are still thriving today.
The Depression went, for the most part, had very little affect on the local population. Small family run businesses and other self-employed families were able to weather the troubled times with mininal, if any, losses.
Many of the summer residents did not fare as well and lost their fortunes and were no longer able to maintain the lifestyle that had become so well known on MDI. Fewer people were able to maintain the lavish lifestyles.