The rocky promontory of Great Head on Mount Desert Island in Bar Harbor, located near Sand Beach, became a frequent site for visitors to the Island as early as the 1860s and 1870s, featuring often in souvenirs and promotional brochures and marketed as the highest headland on the Atlantic coast. Recreational walking, boating, picnicking, and buckboard riding were common activities at the time. The pastime of exploring the island’s rock formations was known as “rocking.”

In the early 1900s, Great Head was owned by the Satterlee family as a gift from Louisa Satterlee’s father J.P. Morgan. The point of Great Head featured a tea house and observatory built by the Satterlees, the ruins of which still stand on the promontory.

The caption reads, "Great Head, highest headland on the Atlantic Coast, Bar Harbor, Mt. Desert Island, Me."

The Tichnor Brothers printing company published this type of postcard circa 1930-1945.