Somesville Museum & Gardens

The Somesville Museums are closed for the 2023 Summer Season. The grounds and bridge are accessible year-round

We will reopen in June 2024.

The Somesville Museum sits at the heart of the island’s history. Constructed in 1981, the building overlooks an ancient mill pond and tranquil Somes Harbor with Sargent and Norumbega Mountains in the distance.

Beside the Museum, plants of the 19th and early 20th centuries bloom in a lovely Heirloom Garden from late May through October. The garden has become a focus for education about the flowering plants and herbs which have flourished on Mount Desert Island. A directory of the plants and herbs and their uses is available inside the Museum.

Exhibits featuring Mount Desert Island history are located in both the main building and historic Selectmen building.

Admission: $5 suggested donation

The Selectmen’s Building is often described as the most photographed site on Mount Desert Island. It was constructed during the 1780s by John Somes, son of Abraham Somes, who settled in the village in 1761.

Used at various times throughout its history as a cobbler’s shop, post office, and a museum, the building also served as the Town Office for Mount Desert during the 19th century and until 1911. Selectmen are elected by the voters in a town to conduct official business between annual Town Meetings.

Crossing the mill stream between the Somesville Selectmen’s Building and the Museum is the Thaddeus Shepley Somes Memorial Bridge built in 1981 to honor a descendant of Abraham Somes.

Admission included with Museum & Gardens donation