History
The Park was a gift to the people of Maine from Gov. Percival P. Baxter, who used his personal wealth over a 32-year period to purchase and donate the original 201,018 acres (813 km2) of the park. Since Gov. Baxter's death in 1969 the park has been increased to a total of 209,501 acres (848 km2), including the 2006 addition of a parcel of 4,678 acres (19 km2) and spectacular Katahdin Lake . Park Headquarters is located over twenty miles (32 km) from the actual park in the small town of Millinocket. There are no stores or gas stations inside the park. Access and use are strictly regulated in accordance with Gov. Baxter's expressed desire to keep the Park "forever wild." Amidst this premise, he has made the following quote: Man is born to die, his work short lived; buildings crumble, monuments decay, wealth vanishes, but Katahdin, in all it's glory, shall forever remain the mountain of the people of Maine. Throughout the ages it will stand as an inspiration to the men and women of the state."
Read more about this topic: Baxter State Park
Famous quotes containing the word history:
“We don’t know when our name came into being or how some distant ancestor acquired it. We don’t understand our name at all, we don’t know its history and yet we bear it with exalted fidelity, we merge with it, we like it, we are ridiculously proud of it as if we had thought it up ourselves in a moment of brilliant inspiration.”
—Milan Kundera (b. 1929)
“Humankind has understood history as a series of battles because, to this day, it regards conflict as the central facet of life.”
—Anton Pavlovich Chekhov (1860–1904)
“Regarding History as the slaughter-bench at which the happiness of peoples, the wisdom of States, and the virtue of individuals have been victimized—the question involuntarily arises—to what principle, to what final aim these enormous sacrifices have been offered.”
—Georg Wilhelm Friedrich Hegel (1770–1831)