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Bar Harbor is one of America’s favorite vacation spots. It also has a rich history, between its magnificent coastline and the colorful people who have chosen Mount Desert Island for their summer homes.
However, many of Acadia’s residents close ranks rather than expose their many “visitors from the past” to the public. They would like their ghosts left alone, thank you very much.
These are just a few readers’ stories and published legends that I can share right now. I hope to expand this list in the future.
As time permits, I’ll also investigate these stories myself. In the meantime, they’re great starting points for other ghost hunters.
- Bar Harbor
According to reader Jarrod, CleftStone Inn is haunted by two women who perished in a fire there, in 1947. These exhibit poltergeist-like manifestations: slamming doors, vases being thrown across the room, and so on. In addition, the air feels heavy there, like you’re in a slow-motion time warp. I’ve heard this kind of description before, and experienced it ourselves. Usually, this suggests ghosts more than poltergeists.
- Jarrod also reports that, next door to the CleftStone Inn, the Blue Nose Inn is reportedly “cursed.” It’s burned to the ground three times so far.
- It sounds like a classic urban legend, but I’ve been informed that there’s a haunted corner in the Bar Harbor Funeral Home. It has a white orb of light, and you can almost see it in your mind as well, if you step into that corner. The maids avoid dusting near it.
(This info was kindly provided by site reader, Jarrod. If you can add to his stories, or tell me about more haunted sites around Bar Harbor, leave a comment.)
- Soames Sound
The site around Jesuit Springs is supposedly haunted by the eight Jesuit missionaries who were killed there in 1613, by English artillery. Their white shapes are seen at night, boats disappear (last reported: 16′ skiff of the Colby family, 1975), and — in a ghostly boat, nearby — a man in brown robes carries a cross.
(Source: Schulte, Ghosts..Coast of Maine, p. 107.)