Previously known as Dry, and then Flying Squadron, this 1270-foot peak just to the east of Cadillac Mountain today is named for George B. Dorr (1853—1944), “the Father of Acadia.” The driving force behind the creation of Acadia National Park (originally a national monument), Dorr served as its founding superintendent from 1916 until his death.
Dorr’s many friends in high places made the difficult political maneuvering involved in the creation of a national park a bit easier. The superintendent’s prestige is shown by that the fact that in 1917, when Secretary of the Interior Franklin Lane came to make his initial inspection of the new national monument, he and his wife stayed during their visit at Dorr’s home Old Farm.
The structures of Old Farm no longer stand, but the property, on the southern edge of Compass Harbor, today is part of Acadia.
Dorr also was instrumental in adding the Sieur de Monts Spring area, which sits at the northeastern base of Dorr Mountain, to the national park. A number of hiking trails and walking paths start at the spring, including the 1.5-mile summit trail up the eastern face of Dorr Mountain, which crosses an extensive series of steps cut into the granite.
