Sieur de Monts is where Acadia National Park began. George Dorr bought the spring here in 1909 to stop it from becoming a bottling plant, and the land he gathered around it became Sieur de Monts National Monument in 1916, named for the French nobleman who sent Samuel de Champlain along this coast in 1604. A short side road leads to the Wild Gardens of Acadia, where more than 400 plants are labeled and grouped by habitat, along with the Nature Center, the spring house and a rock Dorr carved with the words Sweet Waters of Acadia. The original Abbe Museum building, opened in 1928, stands nearby but is closed for maintenance. Restrooms are here, and the stop takes about twenty minutes with a short walk.
Park where you can along this circle. This is where the park got its first name. The name comes from Pierre Dugua, Sieur de Monts, the French nobleman who sent Champlain along this coast in sixteen oh four. George Dorr gave that name to the spring here. Walk over to the spring house, and near it look for a rock with an inscription Dorr carved himself. Sweet Waters of Acadia, it says. The Wild Gardens of Acadia are right beside you, with the plants labeled and grouped by habitat. The Nature Center is here too. The small building is the original Abbe Museum, opened in nineteen twenty-eight, and it's closed for now. Even the Park Loop Road was a fight here. In nineteen twenty-eight Dorr and Rockefeller argued over which side of the spring it should pass, and it became the most controversial stretch of road in Acadia.
Photo: NPS photo by Kat Connelly, public domain · Public domain