[Otter Creek, Mt. Desert Island, Me. 510]

[Otter Creek, Mt. Desert Island, Me. 510]

"[Otter Creek Bridge, Mt. Desert Island, Me. 510]" Otter Creek, Mountain, Dirt Road, Wooden Bridge, Waterfront, Trees In this photo the road from Bar Harbor to Seal Harbor swings right to cross the mouth of Otter Creek. The wheel tracks and hoof marks suggest that the photo was taken between 1905 and 1915, while automobiles were banned from Mount Desert Island because of opposition by some summer residents. The trestle bridge is probably the one built in 1913 by Hancock County. Early bridges here including the 1913 structure, were destroyed in storms. The next bridge had a swing section on a stone-filled crib pier at its center. This created a passage for fishing boats and other vessels entering and leaving Otter Cove, where there were quarrying and stone-processing operations. John D. Rockefeller, Jr. built the present triple-arched stone bridge and causeway and also financed the reconstruction and extension of the old Ocean Drive to Blackwoods and construction of the Otter Cliffs section of the Park Loop Road. The new Otter Creek Cove crossing necessitated the relocation to the Schoodic Peninsula of the Otter Cliff Naval Radio Station, built by Mount Desert summer resident Alessandro Fabbri in 1917 and commanded by him until 1919.