EARLY HISTORY OF MOUNT DESERT ISLAND MAINE: BUILDINGS THAT MADE UP SIEUR DE MONT SPRINGS

THE BUILDINGS THAT MADE UP SIEUR DE MONT SPRINGS

Old newspaper articles tell of the area around Sieur de Mont Springs, they tell of the Spring House, that dome topped structure build over the spring itself, they tell of the water pool with the stone steps leading down to it, and they tell of a second building, which housed the spring water bottling operations on the first floor of the building, where an electric pump which drew water through a pipe from the spring to the basement, where the water was than bottled. The 1915 article states that - "The lower floor of the building is occupied by the bottling and other working rooms. Here an electric pump will draw some eight to ten gallons a minute from the spring, the water being singularly pure and cold - the temperature remaining at about 44 degrees the whole year round. All pipes are cement lined so that no metal comes in contact with the water." There were also some offices located on the first floor as well. The article also states that - "Under the gallery will be a large map of Mount Desert Island in color on cement." The restrooms were located on the second floor
In one old article I found that a valuable piece of art work hung on one of the walls upstairs of this second building, created by a local artist. In my blog, STORIES FROM THE PAST I talk about this interesting piece of artwork which the artist presented to George B. Dorr, the story running in the Bar Harbor Times May 18, 1918. Leon W. Tablut was the artist and his work was a rare map on a canvas 9 1/2 feet high and 22 feet long. The map was made by the direction of Dr. Robert Abbe and will be presented to George B. Dorr to be hung in the rest room at Sieur de Monts spring, the article went on to state, and I will place a link below to the complete article if you want to check it out.

SIEUR DE MONT SPRINGS SMALL ONE ROOM RECEPTION BUILDING

A third building was also mentioned in at least two newspaper articles, the third building being
A third building is also mentioned in the article, a small one room structure that was built by Mr. Prescott, the man who owned the spring house and surrounding land before they became part of the Public Reservations.
"All the lands owned by the Spring company, including the whole meadow through which the brook from the spring flows, with the woods upon it, are to be placed under the control of the Sieur de Monts Arboretum and Wild Gardens Corporation to assure the permanent preservation of its natural charm and freedom to the public. "

SIEUR DE MONT SPRING HOUSE AND BOTTLING BUILDING
ACADIA NATIONAL PARK

Mr Prescott owned the land and buildings that would go on to become Sieur de Mont Springs, and his land holdings extended well beyond that area, to a second spring with some fame attached to it, the Red Rock Spring, which also would go on to become a place where Pure Spring water was bottled, as well as ginger ale. I will have more on that in a blog I will be putting up titled IN SEARCH OF RED ROCK SPRING.
A third building was mentioned in that newspaper article, a small one room structure, which measured It is described as being a 16 foot square building - "It is to be fitted up with a table holding the spring book and various reading matter relating to the spring and to the island, and photographs of the island's scenery exhibited upon the walls."
The article also states that - "The water of the spring will be made free perpetually to all who come to it. The incorporators of the spring company are George B. Dorr, president; A. Stroud Rodick, treasurer; A.H. Lynam, clerk; E.G. Fabbri and Dr. Robert Abbe."
The article finishes with the following - "The spring cover house is to be octagonal in shape, 14 feet across, of cement with red tiled Florentine dome and is being built by Fred Savage, the architect, after a classical design made by Egisto Fabbie; older brother of Erresto and Alergauidro Fabbri, and artist and architect whose house is in Florence, Italy."

THE WATER POOL - SIEUR DE MONT SPRING
ACADIA NATIONAL PARK

What many do not know is that the area of Sieur de Mont Spring contains a bit of a mystery in the form of a large engraved rock which, according to newspaper articles, was to be placed by the water pool located between the dome covered Spring House and the Bottling House, as Mr. Dorr had ordered two large stones be engraved, one simply read, THE SWEET WATERS OF ACADIA, that rock is there today, but a second rock was also engraved, with the engraved THE SWEET WATERS OF ACADIA written in French ( Eaux Douces de l'Acadie,) and below re-written in English. "Close beside the pool will be set a tablet bearing an old French description of the regions drinking waters - Eaux Douces de l'Acadie, with its English translation below, Sweet waters Of Acadia - while stepping stones will lead out into the water of the pool that anyone passing by may drink of the waters as they boil freshly up."
At least two newspaper articles make mention that this second engraved rock was to be placed near the pool of water with stone steps leading down to the pool, which suggests at the time the articles were written the engraved stone had still not been placed there. One day the missing engraved stone suddenly turned up, not near the Spring House or by the pool of water, by a good distance away in a wetland area, which begs the question, how did such a large heavy stone end up in a wetland area? Surely the National Park Service would be leaping for joy at the discovery of the stone, after all, it did hold significant historic value since it was George B. Dorr himself who had the stone engraved, but when contacted about the find, it is said the Park Service wasn't interested in the stone, which in itself was odd.

THE MISSING STONE INDENTATION

Over the years word got out and others also visited the location of the missing stone and as of four years ago the stone was still in the woods surrounded by wetlands. The GPS for the missing stones location is N44° 21.844' W068° 12.251' and a number of people have used those numbers to arrive at the exact location of the stone, however we also used those numbers this past week, and it took us to an indentation in the ground with no stone. The sunken area does resemble that same shape of the stone, so either the National Park Service decided it was interested in the stone and removed it, or some one else removed it, the mystery of the missing stone continues.
But how and why the stone got to the woods might be answered if the identity of the remains of an old building several yards away could be answered, what was structure that the missing stone was placed near? Was it a second bottling building, or perhaps a storage building for the bottled water, or maybe it was a storage building of some type, I poked around the ruble and found a pipe coming up out of the ground, a pipe about the size that drinking water would pass through. At least one or more old dirt roads once passed close by to that area, with one which led over to the spring area, but I have not been able to find any information on the remains of that old building which was located yards away from the missing engraved stone, but I do suspect the stone and the building it was near are some how connected.