1924 Ford Model T

Now here’s the surprise I promised you would see. This is a genuine Model-T Ford, the same type of car you would have found driving up the newly built Route 1 on your way up to the Desert in the 1920s and 30s. As this place started to get more popular, you would have seen cars lining Desert Road all the way up to the entrance. Certainly the Polakewiches were responsible for the surge in popularity during the time that they ran the Desert, but, to remind you, the man we have to thank for conceiving of this place as a tourist attraction in the first place is Henry Goldrup.

A master of the forest, Henry was also a student of human behavior. He took a gamble that he could entice people to come to the Desert if the conditions were ripe, and he turned out to be right! As we mentioned earlier, he first conceived this place as a unique location for selling hotdogs. He also sold homemade ice-cream and popcorn, and he came up with the ingenious and sometimes infuriating idea of wiring a metal placard that read “Desert of Maine” to the visitors’ cars that waited for them in the parking lot. Because he was such an inveterate naturalist (and quite the talker), he captivated visitors with tours that could go on for hours. Don’t worry, we promise not to do the same. In fact, we’ve got just 2 more stops and then we’ll head back to the barn.

Feel free to take a picture in the car, just be careful. She’s nearly a hundred years old!