On September 24th, the MDI Historical Society and Jesup Library hosted Durlin Lunt for "Otter Creek’s Lost Waterfront." Based on his 2026 Chebacco article, Durlin explored how land acquisitions by John D. Rockefeller Jr. and the expansion of Acadia National Park systematically isolated the village from its ancestral shores and advocates for a modern restoration of the village’s working maritime identity to remedy nearly a century of disenfranchisement. 

As a lifelong resident and former Town Manager of Mount Desert, Lunt examined the power dynamics between this small community and federal agencies, illustrating how unrecorded agreements transformed a thriving maritime hub into an "island within an island." The program highlights efforts to reclaim the village’s ancestral shores and recent legislative efforts, such as the 2024 Waterfront Resolution, to reconcile generations of community isolation. 

This program was hosted by the MDI Historical Society and the Jesup Memorial Library.