Abbe Museum

Robert Abbe spent his summers pulling Wabanaki artifacts from shell heaps near Bar Harbor, and when he realized those objects needed a permanent home, he worked to build one — even through a long illness likely caused by his years handling radium. The museum opened in 1928, the same year he died. Today the Abbe holds two locations: the original site inside Acadia National Park and a larger downtown Bar Harbor space. Its collection of Maine Native American basketry is the largest and best-documented held by any museum.