Joseph Allen was a member of Hancock County Trustees of Public Reservation and chairman of Seal Harbor Village Improvement Society Roads and Paths Committee. Energetic and extremely committed to the path system, Allen constructed new trails in the Seal Harbor area and made alterations to improve the system.

Funding for trail work was often solicited by Allen for improvements on specific trails. For example, John D. Rockefeller Jr. donated $500 toward the improvement of the Jordan Stream Trail, which ran across his property. Allen would later comment, “An inevitable first effect of the coming of the automobile was the banishment of the horse and the desertion of foot paths and trails. Extensive motor trips over broad highway through new country became the favorite recreation, and the fascinations of speed bid fair to dominate the vacation time of the nation. But vacations are intended for the true rest and refreshment which exciting motion cannot bring. More than ever, therefore, the bridle paths through quiet woods and trails, by lakes and over mountains, are most desirable features of a vacation resort. Seal Harbor is excelled by few places in the world in the extent and charm of its roads and trails.”

His plaque is located at the northeast end of Jordan Pond near South Bubble Trail. The inscription reads as follows:

LOVER OF ROCKS AND

HIGH PLACES

BUILDER OF NATURAL

BEAUTY

JOSEPH ALLEN

CHAIRMAN

SEAL HARBOR PATH COM-

MITTEE

1914–1945