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Becoming Aware
While I was growing up, coming to
Mount Desert Island was always
a highlight of the year. Long afternoons
spent exploring the beaches and
woods, hours passed sailing or in a rowboat,
and the annual hike to the Jordan Pond House
were all eagerly-anticipated activities. As the
summers at home in Massachusetts became
hot and muggy, I longed for the cool breeze
coming off the ocean and the calming tranquility
of the island.
Vassar Pierce and his grandfather, Daniel Pierce, celebrate together at a recent event honoring and
recognizing Charles W. Eliot, their ancestor and one of the founders of Acadia National Park. |
As I see significant change to the areas
around me, Mount Desert Island remains
seemingly unchanged due to Acadia National
Park. Although I've always been conscious of
the park, it wasn't until recently that I truly
valued the influence that Acadia has on the
island and its residents and visitors. As I begin
to understand the impact of Acadia, I am
also able to appreciate my ancestors' role in
creating Acadia National Park.
Charles William Eliot, my great-great-great-
grandfather, is known to most as the
longest serving president of Harvard
University. He is the namesake of Eliot
House at Harvard and referred to by many
as President Eliot. But unknown to many
Harvard historians, Charles W. Eliot was
also the founder of the Hancock County
Trustees of Public Reservations. This group
was able to implement a vision that Charles
W. Eliot's son had‹a vision of acquiring
land to conserve it for public use.
President Eliot chose the right people
(including George B. Dorr) to chair the
Hancock County Trustees, for without
dynamic original officers, nothing would
have come of his son's vision. Although my
great-great-great-grandfather was quick to
credit his son for being the visionary
behind what later became Acadia National
Park, it was he who guided into fruition the
vision of a park preserved for public use.
I personally owe much to Charles
William Eliot. His appreciation of the
Maine coastline was instilled in the generations
of Eliots who came after him, and is
the reason why I have been blessed with
the opportunity to know Mount Desert
Island and Acadia National Park as a home
away from home. By regularly coming back
to Acadia I have, over time, developed an
intimate relationship with the park.
As is the tradition of many visitors, I
climb Sargent Mountain as my first hike on
the island. I have favorite trails for clear
days, and favorite trails for rainy days.
Acadia helped foster my love of the outdoors
and nature. And when my favorite
woods at home in Massachusetts became
private property and developed, my
favorite places in Acadia remained just as
wild as they had been the year before. And
so, I try to give back as much as I can to
Acadia. I have worked in the park, volunteered
in the park, and donated to the park.
I give back in every way I can because
Acadia has given so much to me. I like to
think that Charles William Eliot would be
proud.
President Eliot wrote an article in 1904
called "The Right Development of Mount
Desert Island." In it he discusses a number
of ideas, such as the importance for maintaining
pretty roadsides and how to pre-serve
the island and coastline. There is one
sentence in particular, though, that sticks
with me: "Whether Mount Desert is, or is
not, to be developed as a prosperous pleasure
and health resort for years to come
depends on the amount of foresight, good
judgment, and good feeling which the voters
in the three towns can bring to bear on
the problem. They can either secure or
endanger the future of the island."
Lucky for all those who love the island,
the Hancock County Trustees of Public
Reservations was able to secure, not
endanger, the future of Acadia National
Park and Mount Desert Island.
Vassar Pierce is the great-great-great-grandson
of Charles William Eliot. He is a
graduate of Bucknell University and is a
Friends of Acadia Ridge Runner and former
No Child Left Inside Intern.
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