Mount Desert Island
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 Mount Desert Island
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| Geography | |
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| Location | Atlantic Ocean |
| Coordinates | 44°20′34″N 68°18′26″W / 44.342827°N 68.307138°WCoordinates: 44°20′34″N 68°18′26″W / 44.342827°N 68.307138°W |
| Area | 108 sq mi (280 km2) |
| Highest elevation | 1,528 ft (465.7 m) |
| Highest point | Cadillac Mountain |
| Administration | |
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United States
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| State | Maine |
| County | Hancock County |
| Largest settlement | Bar Harbor (pop. 4,820 people ) |
| Demographics | |
| Population | 10,615 (2000) |
| Pop. density | 96.8 /sq mi (37.37 /km2) |
| Ethnic groups | mainly Caucasian |
Mount Desert Island (often abbreviated MDI), in Hancock County, Maine, is the largest island off the coast of Maine. With an area of 108 square miles (280 km2) it is the 6th largest island in the contiguous United States. It is the second-largest island on the Eastern seaboard, behind Long Island and ahead of Martha's Vineyard. According to the 2010 census, the island has a year-round population of 10,615, although it is estimated that two and a half million tourists a year visit Acadia National Park on the island. The island is home to numerous well-known summer colonies such as Northeast Harbor and Bar Harbor. Current notable summer residents include George Mitchell,Tim Robbins, David Rockefeller, Susan Sarandon, and Martha Stewart.
Some natives stress the second syllable (de-ZERT), in the French fashion, although many others pronounce it in a fashion similar to the English name of a landscape devoid of vegetation (DEH-zert). French explorer Samuel de Champlain's observation that the summits of the island's mountains were free of vegetation as seen from the sea led him to call the island "île des Monts Déserts", or island of the Bare Mountains.
According to Acadia National Park movies shown to the public in the park's visitor center, the name means "Isle of the lonely mountains" because when you are out to sea, and approaching land, the mountain tops appear alone before any other land.
There are four towns on Mount Desert Island:
Deep shell heaps indicate American Indian encampments dating back 6,000 years in Acadia National Park, but prehistoric data is scanty. The first written descriptions of Maine coast Indians, recorded 100 years after European trade contacts began, describe American Indians who lived off the land by hunting, fishing, collecting shellfish, and gathering plants and berries. The Wabanaki Indians knew Mount Desert Island as Pemetic, "the sloping land". They built bark-covered conical shelters, and traveled in exquisitely designed birch bark canoes. Historical notes record that the Wabanaki wintered in interior forests and spent their summers near the coast. Archeological evidence suggests the opposite pattern; in order to avoid harsh inland winters and to take advantage of salmon runs upstream, American Indians wintered on the coast and summered inland.
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Wikipedia