ACADIA NATIONAL PARK

national park on the Atlantic coast of Maine, U.S., astride Frenchman Bay. It has an area of 65 square miles (168 square km) and was originally established as Sieur de Monts National Monument (1916), named for Pierre du Guast, sieur (lord) de Monts. It became the first national park in the eastern United States, as Lafayette National Park in 1919, and was renamed Acadia in 1929 to preserve the historic name given to the region by the De Monts Commission (which included Samuel de Champlain) in 1604. Acadia National Park mainly comprises a rugged forested area on Mount Desert Island, dominated by Cadillac Mountain (1,530 feet [466 metres]) and including Anemone Cave and Sieur de Monts Spring (site of the Nature Center and the Abbe Museum, which displays Indian artifacts). Other segments include half of Isle au Haut, with its spectacular cliffs, and the Schoodic Peninsula on the mainland. Situated at the crossroads of the northern and temperate zones, Acadia's cold, shallow gulf environment has an abundance of marine life.