Carroll Homestead: Cultural Landscapes Inventory, Acadia National Park
Killion J and Cahill M. 2026. Carroll Homestead: Cultural Landscapes Inventory, Acadia National Park. Cultural Landscapes Inventory Report. 976353. National Park Service. NPS Northeast Regional Office, Boston, Massachusetts / CRIS-CL Database
The Carroll Homestead is a historic property in Acadia National Park, located in Hancock County, Maine. Acadia was the first national park established east of the Mississippi River and today encompasses over 50,000 acres across Mount Desert Island, the Schoodic Peninsula, and other smaller islands. Located on the west side of the island just north of the town of Southwest Harbor, the 76.5-acre cultural landscape represents early settlement before the island became a tourist destination and Acadia National Park came into being. The historic Carroll House and the property on which it lies were purchased by the park in 1982. The property is anchored by the John Carroll House, known as “The Mountain House” to Carroll descendants, a single-story Cape Cod house-and-a-half built in the period 1825-1828, and lengthened to a Cape Cod “double house” in about 1844. The home and the nearby stone well, wood privy, and foundation remnants of a barn comprise the core of the farm set within a former meadow now maintained as a lawn. Historic apple trees and a few tall oak and spruce trees dot the lawn, while lilacs grow alongside the house. This core area is situated in a still-rural setting surrounded by a forests, within which is evidence of the much more extensive fields that the Carrolls once maintained, some marked by remnant fence lines and piles of stone. A quarry, also worked by the Carroll family, lies just 100 feet from the home’s back door. Traces of the original entrance lane connect the farm to State Route 102. Visitor facilities are limited to an access road and parking areas, and a connecting trail that tracks through the woods to the core area. South of the house is a large white tent and picnic tables that host programming for visitors and school groups. Northwest of the house is a demonstration garden that highlights nineteenth century subsistence farming practices.
- Type
- Published Report
- Authors
- Killion, Jeffrey; Cahill, Megan
- Date of Issue
- 2026
- Publisher
- National Park Service
- Units
- ACAD
- Keywords
- Carroll Homestead; Carroll Farm; Carroll Farmstead; Mountain House; Historic Vernacular Landscape; European Exploration and Settlement; Farming Communities; Farming the Northeast; Metals and Minerals; Small-Scale Commercial Agriculture (Crops, Orchards); Agriculture; Architecture; Entertainment/Recreation; Exploration /Settlement; Single Family House; Exhibit.