La Rochelle Mansion & Museum
La Rochelle is a Georgian Revival mansion built in 1903 by architects Andrews , Jaques and Rantoul of Boston . The estate was built for George Sullivan Bowdoin , great grandson of Alexander Hamilton . The forty-one room , 13,000 square foot lavish chateaux has twelve bedrooms and nine full bathrooms . Beatrix Farrand , one of America ' s most celebrated landscape architects , designed and planted the original gardens , which can still be viewed to this day . The mansion is now home of the Bar Harbor Historical Society . House museum exhibits include Wabanaki waterfront history and history of life in Bar Harbor , from the grand hotels to ice harvesting . The home is listed on the National Register of Historic Places .
Historical Societies
Most historical societies offer some type of public programs for all ages , covering many topics relevant to the history and heritage of Downeast Maine . Historical societies offer exhibits and hold print , photographic , and audio / video archives available for public viewing . Most historical societies are located in historic buildings .
Roosevelt / Campobello International Park
An international park featuring President Franklin D . and Eleanor Roosevelt ’ s summer home , includes 2,800-acres with walking and biking trails , beaches , a visitor center . The site can easily handle bus tours . The Roosevelt home contains original furnishings and is viewable by guided tour only , no touching . An adjacent historic home includes a cafe , public gathering in the living room and on the porch , and an expansive mowed field abutting the ocean . Picnic tables and many walking paths are accessible .
Hillside Cemetery Tour
A large and well-maintained cemetery is a scenic location that contains the graves of many early settlers to the area . The cemetery itself has an interesting history of formation . The entire cemetery was moved once , and many graves within it have been moved several times . The history of the cemetery formation and early burial practices is welldocumented . The self-guided cemetery tour provides detailed information and stories about the people buried at the cemetery . These stories are a deep glimpse at the greater story of life in Downeast Maine during the 1700s and 1800s .
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