Acadia National Park was given its present name in 1929.
The protected area began in 1916 as Sieur de Monts National Monument, created on Maine’s Mount Desert Island. In 1919, it became Lafayette National Park, honoring the French aristocrat and American Revolutionary War supporter Gilbert du Motier, Marquis de Lafayette.
The name changed again in 1929 to Acadia National Park. The new name referred to the historic French colonial region of Acadia, which included parts of present-day Maine and the Canadian Maritimes.
These earlier names are an important part of Acadia’s history and can make date-based questions confusing. The park’s natural identity stayed connected to coastal Maine even as its federal designation and name changed.