ABANDONED TRAILS OF ACADIA NATIONAL PARK: THE MOUNT DESERT NURSERIES

When you think of George B. Dorr, places like Old Farm, compass Harbor, the Dorr Quarry and Storm Beach cottage come to mind, not to mention dorr's once very popular bike path and the work he did constructing trails and adding lands to the National Park, but one does not readily think of Mr. Dorr and nurseries, but he owned a very thriving business here named the Mount Desert nurseries. In the summer months his nursery business employed as many as 125 workers with trees, shrubs and plants being shipped across the United states. And though not an abandoned trail, it is nether the less, a business whose remains have been abandoned to time, as it were. But even with the passage of time, traces and remnants of the Mount Desert Nurseries can still be found today, if you know where to look - in fact, some are hiding in plain sight.
What I once thought might of been a foundation of a small house in the woods not far from the remains of Old Farm, I now believe might of been the flooding tank referred to in the article from an old newspaper below, located between the Old Farm foundation and the Old Farm road. There is a tiny two car parking area along the old Farm Road, and a hiking trail crosses the road there, the Schooner Head Trail, which crosses the road and passes by a small pond, on old maps called Dorr Pond, and for good reason. that pond was once owned by George b. Dorr, part of his estate, and part of the area around the Mount Desert Nurseries, which included land from Compass Harbor all the way over to the Schooner Head road.

SCHOONER HEAD TRAIL CROSSES OLD FARM ROAD

In one old newspaper article, Dorr Pond is mentioned as being a popular ice skating area in winter time. Today the area is a nice location for spotting Wild turkeys, woodpeckers and wild ducks. The Schooner Head Trail does not get a lot of foot traffic and dates back to the days when it was named the Red Path, leading from Compass Harbor and along the Schooner Head road to Schooner Head Overlook and the area of Anemone Cave, today abandoned by the Park Service.
Rudolph Brunnow, the man behind the building of the Precipice Trail, the Beehive, and other popular trails in Acadia National Park, had plans to extend the Red Path from Schooner Head Overlook and have it join up with the Ocean Drive path by Sand Beach, but that plan was never carried out and no one seems to know why it wasn't.

MOUNT DESERT NURSERIES - GEORGE B. DORR

So back to the Schooner Head Path, where it crosses the Old Farm road, one section takes you to the Compass Harbor Loop path around Old Farm remains, the other section on the other side of Old Farm Road takes you in the direction of the Schooner Head road. Now as you start out on this trail, not long after you have passed by Dorr Pond on the right, you will begin to see signs of old pipes, and sections of pipes with faucets where hoses could be connected, these old pipes, easy to spot when your looking for them along the side of the trail, date back to the days of the Mount Desert Nurseries and were part of the extensive watering system in place back than.
The old newspaper article below I came across this evening as I was doing research and thought I would share it with you, as I find it a fascinating piece of history.

DORR POND - OLD FARM ROAD - MOUNT DESERT NURSERIES

MOUNT DESERT NURSERIES
BAR HARBOR RECORD
May 8, 1901

ACRES OF PLANTS
Of the various Bar Harbor industries which are worthy of extended mention that carried on by the Mt. Desert nurseries is by no means the least. These are situated at the lower end of Main Street about one half a mile from the business section of the village.
George B. Dorr of Boston, has for many years been an annual visitor here and has always taken a deep interest in the resort earnestly advocating all steps that would make to the advantage of the place and its residents. A gentleman of refined tastes, culture and wealth, he has always been a liberal supporter of all worthy projects and it was owing largely to this progressive spirit and desire to aid the town that the Mount Desert Nurseries came into being. Mr Dorr has for years been a lover of nature and horticulture has been an especial passion with him, so that for a score of years the grounds at Old Farm the beautiful and spacious Bar Harbor home of Mrs Charles H. Dorr, has been one of the most attractive of the show places in the village.
In 1896 Mr Dorr commenced horticulture on a large scale and now the nurseries cover nearly 30 acres which are cultivated with the utmost care and success. It is a charming drive through the nurseries as winding roads are laid out on every hand passing by bed after bed of flowers and beautiful shrubbery and trees. In the season the thousands of flowering plants with their masses of color, shaded by their green foliage make a scene of living beauty difficult to surpass.
It is very difficult for one who has not visited the nurseries to comprehend the immense scale of which the business is conducted. Plants are shipped all over the country, recent orders including shipments to Washington, California and Oregon. These shipments are for the most part plants that are native to this section, although many specialties are engaged in. No small business of the business is the shipment of trees, ash, birch, and maple. Over 60 large cases of these have been shipped this spring "A specialty is made of all hardy plants and shrubs and in addition a large quantity of bedding plants are sold."
At the present time there are over 20,000 geraniums of all stages of growth and seemingly of all possible hues and varieties at the nurseries, 5,000 heliotropes and a proportionate amount of all the principle bedding plants suitable to this climate.
The Mount Desert nurseries are as large as any in Eastern New England, and among the most northerly in the United States. When one considers the climate in this section of Maine and the long, cold winters, it seems remarkable that an enterprise of this sort can be so successfully carried on. The weather in the winter is of course very severe for the plants and owing to the short season there are some kinds of trees, shrubs and plants that do not get ripened sufficiently to stand the winter. This curtails operations in some lines, as for instance hybrid roses, which are not grown at the Mt. Desert Nurseries but are largely imported.
The climate, however, is not without its advantage in the floral line. Stock that will grow all right at Bar Harbor will stand almost any climate. Than the Mount Desert Nurseries offer a great advantage as they can furnish plants that have been grown and tested in this climate and thus the purchases are not investing in a lottery.
The nurseries are certainly a great help to Bar Harbor in many ways and in the course of the year occasion the expenditure of a large amount of money in this section and also furnish a livelihood for many families. During the busy season anywhere from 60 to 125 hands are employed at the nurseries and even during the winter steady work is afforded to nine men. The employees even on an average sum $45 a month so it will be seen that the pay roll of the institution is no small item during the summer months.
Among the most pleasing sights furnished visitors at Bar Harbor during the season are the window decorations at the store of the Mt. Desert nurseries in the village. Here may always be seen a very choice and attractive array of plants and flowers while the store itself presents the appearance of a veritable floral bower.
In one of the windows of the store there has for seasons been a display of pond lilies, including not only the usual white and yellow, but also the purple and pink Zanzibar varieties. The latter are not planted or colored by hand as many spectators believe, but are raised annually from seed.
Lilies of all kinds are a great specialty, and 13 varieties have at one time been on exhibition at the store, a record that it would be difficult to equal anywhere.
There are many hotbeds about the nurseries, while the green houses are large and spacious. The largest is 125 by 26 feet while there is another 72 by 11 and a third 107 by 13.
The latter is called the tank house and is so arranged that is can be flooded with water in the summer for the growth of pond lilies. In the winter it is drained and arranged for a hot house. At the present time it is entirely filled with geraniums. The greenhouses are kept at an even temperature, a hot water heating system being in use in cold weather.
The other buildings consist of a well arranged office and a cold storage building. The former is 24 by 34 feet and the latter is 64 by 40.
In the cold storage building are placed the choice tub trees and the hydrangeas and many varieties of bulbs. The temperature is kept at from 31 to 36 degrees.
In the upper story of the cold storage building are kept the tools and supplies, and here are situated a row of lockers for the employee's. Everything is done on a system and a good one at the Mount Desert Nurseries and the utmost care is taken in the details. For instance every tool that is taken out by the day men is recorded and waste and loss in this direction is thus checked.
Mr. William Miller, the superintendent, is a man of wide experience and large knowledge of horticulture, obtained both by practice and study. He was born in Scotland where his father is still engaged in the nursery business. He came to this country 15 years ago and was employed at the estate of Robert Treat Paine at Waltham, Mass. He came to Bar Harbor as a private Gardiner for Mr Dorr in 1888, and to him is due a great deal of the credit for the immense business that has been developed.
But not all the horticulture at the Dorr place is done in the nurseries. The estate comprises some 300 acres and 50 to 75 acres are kept in fine condition for the private grounds.
The nurseries have a branch at Northeast Harbor which is in charge of George J. Miller. At Northeast Harbor there are about three acres of nursery land and an excellent business is enjoyed by the branch.