Hailing from Steuben, Maine, John Godfrey Moore was the son of a sea captain who made his fortune both in the telegraph industry and on Wall Street. He gained fame in 1893 by successfully suing the U.S. government to stop the new income tax, delaying its implementation by 20 years. He was also a developer and purchased over 2,000 acres of land on the Schoodic Peninsula via the Gouldsboro Land Improvement Company. Their dream was to create a resort in the Grindstone Neck area to rival Bar Harbor. Moore built roads and trails on the peninsula.

After his death, his widow Louise Leeds and his daughters donated their land to the park, on the condition that the name be changed. At the time, it was known as Lafayette National Park, and Leeds and her daughters were staunch Anglophiles. As a concession, George B. Dorr agreed to change the name to Acadia National Park.

A memorial plaque for John Godfrey Moore can be found at Schoodic Point. The inscription reads as follows:

SCHOODIC PENINSULA IN
ACADIA NATIONAL PARK
DEDICATED TO THE MEMORY
OF
JOHN GODFREY MOORE
1848-1899
A MAINE MAN WHO LOVED
HIS NATIVE STATE, WHEREIN HE SPENT, WITH HIS FAMILY,
SOME OF THE HAPPIEST DAYS OF HIS LIFE. HE OWNED SCHOODIC PENINSULA,
BUILT THE FIRST ROAD UPON IT, AND OPENED IT TO THE PUBLIC
IN THE YEAR 1897