Sieur de Monts Springhouse, Route 3 & Park Road, Mount Desert Island, Bar Harbor, Hancock County, ME

Significance: On November 8, 1603, King Henry IV of France granted a patent to Pierre de Gua, Sieur de Monts, giving him full authority over La Cadie (L'Acadie or Acadia French for the Indian name "The Place") which was all of North America between the 40th & 46th parallels. De Monts sailed on March 7, 1604, with Samuel de Champlain as geographer and by late June had established a settlement on what is now Saint Croix Island National Monument. In September 1604 Champlain, while exploring L'Acadie, discovered and named L'Isle des Monts-Desert (Island of Bare Mountains), now Mount Desert Island. Sieur de Monts Springhouse was built by George B. Dorr in 1909 on land acquired for $5,000.00. Dorr cleaned the spring, built the Florentine springhouse and named it Sieur de Monts Spring. As executive secretary of the Hancock County Trustees of Public Reservations, Dorr was most influential in establishing De Monts National Monument in 1916, predecessor of Acadia National Park.
Survey number: HABS ME-173
Building/structure dates: 1909 Initial Construction