1905 Rand Avery Map of Mount Desert Island and Eastern Steamship Company Routes

This is a 1905 Rand Avery map of Mount Desert Island and coastal Maine illustrating the routes of the Eastern Steamship Company. Red overprinting highlights the routes of the Eastern Steamship Company's steamers to Mount Desert Island, along with its stops at Camden, Rockland, Belfast, and Blue Hill, among others. Roads between towns and post offices are identified. Many coastal islands are illustrated and labeled as well. An inset in the lower right depicts the Eastern Steamship Company's route between Boston and Bangor and Blue Hill and Mount Desert Island, emphasizing fast transit to Mount Desert Island, then a haven for wealthy New England elite.

The Eastern Steamship Company - and an American Scoundrel

The Eastern Steamship Company (1901 – 1911) operated along the eastern seaboard of the United States and Canada. Wall Street financier and speculator Charles W. Morse (1856 - 1933) organized the Eastern Steamship Company in 1901 by consolidating the Boston and Bangor Steamship Company, the Portland Steam Packet Company, and the International Steamship Company. Morse expanded the steamship network by acquiring the two overnight Hudson river steamboat lines, People's Line and the Citizens' Line. Then, in 1906 and 1907, Morse bought several more steamship companies, including the Metropolitan Steamship Company, the New York and Cuba Mail Steamship Company, and the New York and Porto Rico Steamship Company. The Morse steamship empire, after impressive growth, failed during the Panic of 1907 and caused Morse's banking interests to collapse. Morse was indicted by the United States District Attorney and convicted of violating federal banking laws. He was given a fifteen-year jail sentence but remained free on appeal. The steamship company was reincorporated in Maine in 1909 with Morse as president and then became the Eastern Steamship Corporation in 1911. That corporation fell into receivership in 1914 but emerged as Eastern Steamship Lines in 1917.

To return to Morse, he finally reported to the Atlanta penitentiary in January 1910 and was imprisoned alongside Charles Ponzi (who would later create the infamous Ponzi scheme). Morse fell ill in 1912 and was diagnosed with Bright's Disease, along with other maladies, and it was determined that he would die if he remained in prison. This earned him a pardon from President William Howard Taft. Once out of prison, Morse left for Wiesbaden, Germany, to seek treatment. Not long after he left the Justice Department learned that Morse had faked his illness by drinking a combination of soapsuds and chemicals. His association with Eastern (but not shipping) ends here.

Acadia National Park

Mount Desert Island, so named because of its many bald rocky mountaintops, has been a tourist destination since the mid-19th century, when it was discovered by outsiders, artists, journalists, Hudson River School artists, and other patrons, known collectively as the 'Rusticators.' Undaunted by crude accommodations and simple food, they sought out local fishermen and farmers for accommodation and guidance. Summer after summer, the rusticators returned to renew friendships with local islanders and, most of all, to savor the fresh salt air, scenery, and relaxed pace. Soon the villagers' cottages and fishermen's huts filled to overflowing, and by 1887, more than 30 hotels competed for vacationers' dollars. Tourism was becoming the island's primary industry. Drawing the attention of the wealthy and influential, the island was designated as Sieur de Monts National Monument by President Woodrow Wilson in July 1916. In February 1919, the area's status was officially changed from a National Monument to a National Park, making it the first National Park east of the Mississippi River. With the change to a National Park came a name change, to Lafayette National Park. It was not until January 1929 that the park was given its current name, Acadia National Park. Acadia is unlike most other National Parks as its creation was encouraged by numerous private individuals. One, John. D. Rockefeller, purchased a summer home in Bass Harbor in 1910. Rockefeller began buying up land on the island with the goal of creating a system of carriage roads to make 'one of the greatest views in the world' accessible to all visitors.

Publication History and Census

This map was created by Rand Avery and published by the Eastern Steamship Company c. 1905. Admittedly, since this map is undated, it could date from any time during the existence of the Eastern Steamship Company, which was from 1901 until 1911. We note two cataloged: Harvard University and Yale University, however there is a discrepancy between the dates of publication.