In 1881, the Oasis Club of gentlemen founded the Mount Desert Reading Room near what is now known as Arcadia National Park. It was not a library. Instead, this prestigious, private establishment attracted the American gentry like Rockefeller, Ford, Vanderbilt and Carnegie for a stiff drink and an excellent cigar. Today, this handsome, cedar-shingled building is a fine-food restaurant and part of the Bar Harbor Inn & Spa Hotel overlooking Frenchman Bay.
