Mount Desert Island

Mount Desert Island, island, southeastern Maine, bordered by the Atlantic Ocean and several of its arms (including Frenchman Bay and Blue Hill Bay). The largest island off the coast of Maine, it has an area of 285 sq km (110 sq mi). It is almost equally divided by Somes Sound and reaches a high point of 466 m (1,530 ft) atop Cadillac Mountain, the loftiest point on the U.S. Atlantic coast. The island is known as a fine summer resort and includes most of Acadia National Park. Among the main settlements are Bar Harbor, Northeast Harbor, Seal Harbor, and Southwest Harbor. The island was named Monts Deserts (“wilderness mountains”) by the French explorer Samuel de Champlain, who landed here in 1604, and became the site of a French colony in 1613. France relinquished its claim in 1713, and a British settlement was established in 1762.