New England Fall 2023

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Travel With The Landscape

Forty-five miles of rustic carriage roads, the gift of philanthropist John D. Rockefeller Jr. and family, weave around the mountains and valleys of Acadia National Park. Rockefeller, a skilled horseman, wanted to travel on motor-free byways via horse and carriage into the heart of Mount Desert Island. His construction efforts from 1913 to 1940 resulted in roads with sweeping vistas and close-up views of the landscape.

The roads were built to preserve the line of hillsides and save trees, align with the contours of the lands, and take advantage of scenic views. Approximately 16 feet wide, the carriage roads are an example of broken-stone roads commonly used at the turn of the 20th century. Gate lodges act as impressive welcomes to the carriage road system, stone-faced bridges span streams, waterfalls, motor roads, and cliff sides. Granite coping stones used as guardrails line the roads, affectionately called "Rockefeller's teeth."

Today, carriage roads have multiple-user groups as they did in the past. Pedestrians, bicyclists, and horse-drawn carriages share in the beauty, access, and safety of these auto-free roads across the park. Certain roads are extremely popular, so exercise courtesy and caution, and avoid surprise encounters.

State-of-the-Art Roads

Acadia’s carriage roads are the best example of broken-stone roads—a type of road commonly used at the turn of the 20th century—in America today. They are true roads, approximately 16 feet wide, constructed with methods that required much hand labor.

The roads were engineered to contend with Maine’s wet weather. Stone culverts, wide ditches, three layers of rock, and a substantial six- to eight-inch crown ensured good drainage. Rather than flattening hillsides to accommodate the roads, breast walls and retaining walls were built to preserve the line of hillsides and save trees. Rockefeller, naturally gifted with the eye of a landscape architect, aligned the roads to follow the contours of the land and to take advantage of scenic views. He graded the roads so they were not too steep or too sharply curved for horse-drawn carriages.

Road crews quarried island granite for road material and bridge facing. Roadsides were landscaped with native vegetation such as blueberries and sweet fern. The use of native materials helped blend the roads into the natural landscape.

An Integrated System

Rockefeller participated in the construction process. He walked areas staked out for road alignment and observed work in progress. He knew the laborers by name and used experts to design the bridges and engineer the roads. Throughout it all, he paid rapt attention to the most minute details, from the placement of coping stones to the cost of a running foot of road.

Following are some elements that unify the carriage road system:

Coping Stones
Large blocks of granite lining the roads serve as guardrails. Cut roughly and spaced irregularly, the coping stones create a rustic appearance. These coping stones have been affectionately called “Rockefeller’s teeth.”

Signposts
Cedar signposts were installed at intersections to direct carriage drivers. The posts were stained with Cabots shingle stain #248. The lettering was painted first with one coat of flat yellow paint, then with another coat of enamel yellow. Today, numbers that match maps and guidebooks are attached to the signposts and help carriage road users find their way.

Roadside Grooming and Landscaping
Rockefeller employed a crew of foresters to remove debris from the roads and roadsides. Nationally known landscape architect Beatrix Farrand consulted on planting designs to frame vistas and bridges and to heal scars left behind by carriage road construction. The Fire of 1947 destroyed much of her work.

Gate Lodges
Two gate lodges, one at Jordan Pond and the other near Northeast Harbor, ornament the roads and serve as impressive welcomes to the system. A third gate lodge was planned at Eagle Lake, but was never built. During carriage road construction, engineer Paul Simpson and his family lived at the Jordan Pond Gate Lodge.

Bridges
Rockefeller financed 16 of 17 stone-faced bridges, each unique in design, to span streams, waterfalls, roads, and cliff sides. The bridges are steel-reinforced concrete, but the use of native stone for the facing gives them a natural appearance. Over time, the stone cutters grew very skilled and Rockefeller often requested them not to cut the facing too well lest the rustic look be lost.

The result of Rockefeller’s vision and attention to detail is an integrated system of carriage roads that blends harmoniously with the landscape.

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