Somesville, Maine
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Somesville Historic District
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| Location | Somes Harbor and its environs, Mount Desert, Maine |
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| Area | 400 acres (160 ha) |
| Architectural style | Greek Revival, Federal |
| NRHP Reference # | 75000092 |
| Added to NRHP | January 8, 1975 |
Somesville is the earliest village of the town of Mount Desert on Mount Desert Island in southeastern Maine. It is located on the north end of Somes Sound ("Acadia magic.com,"). The village was established by Abraham Somes who was the first settler on the island (Hartford). It attracted many people because of its mills and quarries (Shettleworth, & Vandenbergh, 2001). The entire village is part of the Somesville Historic District.
The history of Somesville dates back to Native Americans. The first Native Americans to visit the island were not permanent residents but they visited the island as far back as 4000 B.C. ("Mount desert island,"). After the Native Americans, the first families that settled on the island were Abraham and Hannah Somes as well as James and Rachel Richardson in the year of 1761 (Shettleworth, & Vandenbergh, 2001). Somes was requested by the Massachusetts governor, Francis Bernard, to settle there and establish mills (Shettleworth, & Vandenbergh, 2001). They named their village Somesville and the inlet it was on, Somes Sound, after Abraham and his family (Hartford). Somesville's history still attracts many new inhabitants today.
Another important aspect of Somesville is its industry. After enough settlers traveled to the island the industry became prosperous. One could find a job in logging, fishing, shipbuilding, coastal trading, or quarry working (Shettleworth, & Vandenbergh, 2001). The island contained many job opportunities with several logging mills, a shoe factory, and a woolen mill (Shettleworth, & Vandenbergh, 2001). These industries made the Somes family the wealthiest on the island by 1840 along with the Whiting family, who also owned many warehouses and businesses (Shettleworth, & Vandenbergh, 2001). The lumber, grist, and wool mills of Somesville were supported by multiple dams (Painter, 2006). The granite quarries were also a very large part of the industry. In 1886 the annual shipment of cut stone was estimated to be over 3,500 tons (Varney, 1886). The booming industry quickly attracted settlers and by 1950 the population tripled (Shettleworth, & Vandenbergh, 2001).
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