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Automobiles were banned from most of Mt Desert Island by 1903. Wealthy
leaders of industry and finance, like the Pulitzers, Vanderbilts,
and Rockefellers, built mansions for summer use on the island. They
enjoyed a refuge from the din of increasing auto traffic in the big
cities. The irony is that they were directly responsible for the noise
of modern industry; especially the chugging clatter of the automobile,
which was fueled by Rockefeller's Standard Oil Company. Resistance
to the ban by local residents finally opened the island to autos by
1915. John D. Rockefeller Jr.- son of the Standard Oil founder- funded
and directed construction of the carriage roads, bridges, lodges,
and gates to salvage a bit of his peaceful refuge. Construction commenced
in 1913 and continued until 1933. Most of the infrastructure was included
within the park. |
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