Sound Schoolhouse
Open year-round. Our hours vary, so please call to confirm we will be open before you visit. Visits by large groups, access to our archives, or work with our collections department require an appointment.
The Sound Schoolhouse was opened in 1892 for the children of the quarrying and farming village of Somes Sound. The building was used as a school for 34 years, closing in 1926. Until it was restored by the Mount Desert Island Historical Society in 1999, it had served as a community center and thus a place for dances, suppers, and tag sales. When the historical society restored the building, a curatorial wing was added. The Ralph W. Stanley Library and the society’s collection of historic objects, preserved in a temperature and humidity-controlled room, are located in this wing.
A visit to the Sound Schoolhouse offers people of all ages an opportunity to step back in time and think about how education in a one-room school would differ from today’s schooling.
The Sound Schoolhouse houses our staff offices and serves as a center for scholarship and educational programs. It is the home of our archives, which are kept in a fire-protected, climate-controlled vault.
DIRECTIONS
373 Sound Drive
Mount Desert, ME 04660
From Ellsworth: Follow Route 3 to Mount Desert Island. After crossing the bridge and Thompson Island, bear right at the traffic light, then follow Routes 102/198 for four miles. At the Somesville traffic light, turn left on Route 198 and proceed 2.1 miles. The yellow Sound School House will be on the left.
From Bar Harbor: Take Route 233 to Route 198. Turn left and proceed .7 miles. The yellow Sound School House will be on the left.