> Even my Mainer friends say "we don't know why Acadia is a park - there are so many other places in Maine that are at least as pretty."

I believe that private ownership of land is the biggest answer.

Acadia is a bit of an odd setup with a patchwork of private and public land (along with some of the recent additions from the Rockefellers). But, while many areas on the Maine coast are very nice I'd still argue that Acadia in unique. Obviously different from the big lakes and Baxter.