The first building for St. Saviour's was finished in 1879, the parish having been established several years earlier. The first organ was Hook & Hastings opus 1030, installed in 1881, listed as a "1-10" and having one manual and about five or six ranks. By 1886 Bar Harbor was rapidly growing as a popular summering place of the wealthy. Church attendance during the summer months necessitated a larger building. In that year the nave of the present building and an opposing apse were erected, straddling the first building, so that the first one formed the transepts and crossing of the new one. In 1890 Mr. F. W. Lawrence, Choirmaster, was authorized to contract for a new organ "as he thinks is proper, and not costing more than $2,300." We suspect he already had a stoplist and price tag in hand. A special collection was to be taken on August 31 at all services to raise money for the organ. The contract went to George S. Hutchings who installed his opus 231 in 1891, listed as having 15 registers. It was a two manual of nine or ten ranks. In 1900 the present large chancel was erected in place of the apse. In 1902 a water motor was put in at a cost of $125. The original H & H was given over to other functions in the parish and apparently located in the choir room for a while. Thence it went to the Church of Our Father, Hulls Cove, where it served for many years. We have been unable to find out what happened to it after that. During the 1930's the Hutchings became increasingly in need of work. What might have been a simple restoration project became a sacrifice upon the altar of progress – electro-pneumatic action. (After all, a new age had been born!) The Hall Company of New Haven did the work, providing new EP chests but retaining some Hutchings ranks. The result was a three manual of 15 ranks. Subsequently there was a new console (Durst), a new blower, and a series of repairs, replacements, trade-off of ranks, etc., through the 1960's. By the early 70's the remains of the Hutchings-Hall etc. was beyond reasonable salvage. Complete mechanical overhaul would have been expensive, and quite pointless in view of the dismal tonal picture. In the long run a fresh start made more sense. In thinking about a new organ, some important points were established. Since St. Saviour's had been through the tonal fads of several decades, a return to mainstream classic design was clearly in order. Pallet and slider chests with mechanical action would be most compatible with the tonal concept. This last factor was strongly supported by upkeep considerations. Location and increasing costs began to indicate that organ tuner's visits in the future would be expensive and infrequent. It was imperative to eliminate perishable material as far as possible, and no slider tuners! St. Saviour's broad musical diet and Anglican liturgical practices had an influence on the final product. Due to existing architecture, layout of the space, and usage, it was impossible to locate the organ to speak down the longitudinal axis, so the location is something less than ideal. The choral and service music demands were such that adequate accompaniment stops were necessary, and modern, adjustable combinations action desirable. Clearly the organ was going to serve the worship in the church, not the reverse as is sometimes seen. Visser-Rowland Associates (now Visser & Associates) were entrusted with the job of building an organ fitting the above considerations. The contract for their opus 6 was signed in August 1975 and the finishing done in August 1976. We are very proud of the results. Organ Ranks and Stops Top of the Page