It's not a lighthouse! (And it has nothing to do with astronomy.) The Portland Observatory (1807) is the only extant maritime signal station in the United States, and thus a unique architectural icon of maritime shipping and the "Golden Age of Sail." The Portland Observatory was added to the National Register of Historic Places in 1972, and has been recommended for National Historic Landmark status.

Sea captain-turned-entrepreneur, Lemuel Moody (1768-1846), ordered construction of this octagonal, 86 feet-high tower to serve as a communication station for Portland's bustling harbor. With his powerful telescope, Moody identified incoming vessels and then signaled merchants with coded signal flags. "Signalizing" allowed merchants ample time to reserve a berth on the wharves, and to hire a crew of stevedores before a vessel docked.

The Observatory was built at the eastern end of the Portland peninsula on Munjoy Hill, which was a cow pasture at the time. Moody built his home and other buildings near the tower. The complex was replete with banquet and dance halls as well as a bowling alley. From the time it opened in 1807, it was a tourist attraction.

The tower ceased its "signalizing" operations in 1923, and has been owned by the City of Portland since 1937. In 1936 the Portland Observatory was included in the Historic American Buildings Survey (HABS), and in 1939 the tower was a Works Progress Administration (WPA) project during the New Deal programs of the Great Depression.

In 1994 it was discovered that years of seeping moisture and an infestation of powder post beetles threatened the structure. Many architectural and historical preservation authorities came together to devise a plan for saving this historic building.

In 1997 Greater Portland Landmarks (GPL) chartered the Portland Observatory Restoration Trust (PORT) in order to raise funds for the ailing structure's ambitious restoration. More than six hundred donors contributed to PORT, including the City of Portland, corporations, charitable foundations, families, and individuals, as well as students from eleven local elementary schools who gave more than $5,000 through KidsPORT. PORT raised $1.28 million for the 1998-2000 restoration, which returned the building to its former glory.

Bar Harbor has long been a place of inspiration, relaxation, and outdoor activities. In the mid-1800’s artists of the Hudson Valley School, most notably Thomas Cole and Frederic Church, travelled to Mount Desert Island and to Bar Harbor in particular to paint seascapes and landscapes. The paintings then taken back to the cities of America were well received and the patrons of the art wanted to see those places depicted in the paintings for themselves. At first the "rusticators" as the first visitors were called, boarded with the locals. But as they wanted more and more amenities, it was clear that they needed different lodging choices.

During the 1850’s, the number of visitors began to increase. The numbers had increased so much that it was about this time that Church wondered why "some shrewd Bostonian" had not yet recognized the resort potential of Bar Harbor. So it was left to the initiative of the Bar Harborites to respond to the needs of its visitors. It was, in fact, the other side of the island at Southwest Harbor who first had the steamboat wharves and the hotels. But it was to Bar Harbor that the travellers wished to journey. It was Bar Harbor businessman Tobias Roberts who built the first hotel, Agamont House, in 1855 and the first wharf. It was Mr. Robert’s foresight which was the key to Bar Harbor’s future resort development. While the white wooden structure may not have really deserved the name "hotel", it was intended to be a hotel and that is what is important. The first step had been taken. The hotel was crude, but to the early travellers it did not matter. Part of Bar Harbor’s charm at that time was its rusticity.

In the beginning, it was mostly artists, scholars, scientists, and writers who journeyed to Bar Harbor for inspiration and tranquility. With only a slight interruption by the Civil War, more and more visitors came to the rugged coastal community. Now and then even theater troupes stopped by and concerts were becoming more frequent. More and more local citizens ventured into the tourism business and more hotels were built. It wasn’t until after the war that building really took off. In 1875 David Rodick, amidst some ridicule, expanded their small lodging facility by building the enormous Rodick House, Bar Harbor’s largest hotel at that time. The hotel could accommodate 275 guests. By 1870 there were sixteen hotels in Bar Harbor. At one point though, reservations for rooms had to be done two years in advance. So in 1881 Rodick decided to expand again. This time he built 400 rooms, with not one private bathroom, a huge dining room, and a 500 foot long, 25 foot wide porch running along the front and one side of the building. The dining room could serve 1000 guests, though reportedly not well. The main attraction to the hotel seemed to be the lobby, known as the Fish Pond and the porch where young ladies dallied "fishing" for husbands. The hotel era dominated the resort for about two decades. Ultimately, the "cottages" built by America’s rich and famous took over the landscape.

All of the old hotels are gone either torn down or burned down by the great fire of 1947. Many of the "cottages" burned also, but some remain. Today many of the cottages are still private homes with many more converted to welcoming inns, guest homes, and bed & breakfasts.