Nellie Carroll Thornton descended from early settlers of Southwest Harbor and was related, in one way or another, to practically all of her neighbors. She inherited her aunt Mary Ann Carroll’s notes for a planned history of the town. Nellie was the author of the SWH social column in the Bar Harbor Times from c. 1921 until c. 1958. She combined her notes from the Times with those from Mary Ann and a good deal of scholarship to produce a very complete history of the town, full of opinion, local mythology and history. She was an astute observer and made a laudable effort to distinguish mythology from history. She left the town she loved its most valuable gift. Traditions and records of Southwest Harbor and Somesville, Mount Desert Island, Maine by Mrs. Seth S. Thornton (Nellie C. Thornton) was originally published by Merrill & Webber Company in 1938. It was reproduced in 1988 by the Southwest Harbor Public Library and digitized in 2010.
Description: Nellie Carroll Thornton descended from early settlers of Southwest Harbor and was related, in one way or another, to practically all of her neighbors. She inherited her aunt Mary Ann Carroll’s notes for a planned history of the town. Nellie was the author of the SWH social column in the Bar Harbor Times from c. 1921 until c. 1958. She combined her notes from the Times with those from Mary Ann and a good deal of scholarship to produce a very complete history of the town, full of opinion, local mythology and history. She was an astute observer and made a laudable effort to distinguish mythology from history. She left the town she loved its most valuable gift. Traditions and records of Southwest Harbor and Somesville, Mount Desert Island, Maine by Mrs. Seth S. Thornton (Nellie C. Thornton) was originally published by Merrill & Webber Company in 1938. It was reproduced in 1988 by the Southwest Harbor Public Library and digitized in 2010. [show more]
"Jim Knott, 76, is said to be the reason wooden lobster traps now are used mostly as decorations or glass-topped coffee tables. He is credited with developing the first wire lobster trap and being the first to use one, in 1957, off Good Harbor Beach on Gloucester’s eastern shore. " Bangor Daily News
Description: "Jim Knott, 76, is said to be the reason wooden lobster traps now are used mostly as decorations or glass-topped coffee tables. He is credited with developing the first wire lobster trap and being the first to use one, in 1957, off Good Harbor Beach on Gloucester’s eastern shore. " Bangor Daily News
Mrs. Mercy Lavinia Warren Bump, aka Lavinia Warren, the wife of General Tom Thumb, continued to tour after her husband's death. In this advertisement, the newspaper misprinted her name as Gevena in the announcement for her visit to Bar Harbor in 1896.
Description: Mrs. Mercy Lavinia Warren Bump, aka Lavinia Warren, the wife of General Tom Thumb, continued to tour after her husband's death. In this advertisement, the newspaper misprinted her name as Gevena in the announcement for her visit to Bar Harbor in 1896.
Newspaper article about the Bowdoin Cottage, known as La Rochelle, when it was being constructed on West Street in Bar Harbor in 1902. A transcription of the article is also attached to this item.
Digital Archives of the Friends of Island History
https://islandhistory.newspaperarchive.com/bar-harbor-record/1902-07-16/
Description: Newspaper article about the Bowdoin Cottage, known as La Rochelle, when it was being constructed on West Street in Bar Harbor in 1902. A transcription of the article is also attached to this item.
17 albertype illustrations from photographs of views on Mount Desert Island, Maine...The plates in these portfolios [the Forbes Co. series] are larger than the average size of book plates and are therefore more commanding. Large individual prints are very uncommon in the United States."--Hanson Collection catalog, p. 78 Includes plates: 1. Bar Harbor from Summit of Green Mountain 2. Great Head and Newport Sands 3. Schooner Head 4. Green Mountain Railway, 500 Feet Grade 5. The Oven 6. The Profile and Natural Bridge at the Oven 7. The Boulder, Bar Harbor 8. Steamer Mount Desert 9. Green Mountain Railway Station at Base of Green Mountain 10. Summit House on Green Mountain 11. Steamer Wauwinet on Eagle Lake 12. Eagle Lake 13. Eagle Lake House 14. Green Mountain Railway, - The Gulch 15. Otter Cliffs 16. View from Otter Cliff 17. Bar Harbor
Description: 17 albertype illustrations from photographs of views on Mount Desert Island, Maine...The plates in these portfolios [the Forbes Co. series] are larger than the average size of book plates and are therefore more commanding. Large individual prints are very uncommon in the United States."--Hanson Collection catalog, p. 78 Includes plates: 1. Bar Harbor from Summit of Green Mountain 2. Great Head and Newport Sands 3. Schooner Head 4. Green Mountain Railway, 500 Feet Grade 5. The Oven 6. The Profile and Natural Bridge at the Oven 7. The Boulder, Bar Harbor 8. Steamer Mount Desert 9. Green Mountain Railway Station at Base of Green Mountain 10. Summit House on Green Mountain 11. Steamer Wauwinet on Eagle Lake 12. Eagle Lake 13. Eagle Lake House 14. Green Mountain Railway, - The Gulch 15. Otter Cliffs 16. View from Otter Cliff 17. Bar Harbor [show more]
Description: “Bar Harbor Days” by Mrs. Burton Harrison with illustrations by Fenn and Hyde was published by Harper & Brothers, Franklin Square, New York, 1887.
Together, the pictures and text evoke the spirit of the Golden Age of Bar Harbor, with all the accoutrements of the rich and famous robber barons who summered there. Included are images of steamships and railroads; the summer homes, or cottages, and their gardens; the fabulous grand hotels; people in period dress in leisure pursuits; and the aftermath of the Great Fire of 1947, as well as views of the town and harbor and Acadia National Park.
Description: Together, the pictures and text evoke the spirit of the Golden Age of Bar Harbor, with all the accoutrements of the rich and famous robber barons who summered there. Included are images of steamships and railroads; the summer homes, or cottages, and their gardens; the fabulous grand hotels; people in period dress in leisure pursuits; and the aftermath of the Great Fire of 1947, as well as views of the town and harbor and Acadia National Park.
From the 1880s to the end of World War I, the fashionable resort of Bar Harbor attracted thousands of summer visitors with the money and leisure to pursue "the simple life on a grand scale," as A. Atwater Kent put it. They came to rusticate, dance, sail, picnic, flirt--and they did it all with style. Many relaxed at Bar Harbor's lavish hotels, while others built even more lavish and fanciful "cottages" for their own summer retreats. That dazzling era is just a memory now. The Depression and World War II undermined the summer colony, and the Great Fire of 1947 dealt the final blow. Those summer homes and hotels that survived the blaze generally succumbed to changing times, and only a handful stand today. Eighty-six vanished summer palaces are pictured in Lost Bar Harbor. Many never before published photographs from the Bar Harbor Historical Society are supplemented by lively text describing the estates and their colorful inhabitants. It is the most comprehensive collection of early Bar Harbor photographs ever assembled, providing an unparalleled glimpse of one of the world's great resort communities.
Description: From the 1880s to the end of World War I, the fashionable resort of Bar Harbor attracted thousands of summer visitors with the money and leisure to pursue "the simple life on a grand scale," as A. Atwater Kent put it. They came to rusticate, dance, sail, picnic, flirt--and they did it all with style. Many relaxed at Bar Harbor's lavish hotels, while others built even more lavish and fanciful "cottages" for their own summer retreats. That dazzling era is just a memory now. The Depression and World War II undermined the summer colony, and the Great Fire of 1947 dealt the final blow. Those summer homes and hotels that survived the blaze generally succumbed to changing times, and only a handful stand today. Eighty-six vanished summer palaces are pictured in Lost Bar Harbor. Many never before published photographs from the Bar Harbor Historical Society are supplemented by lively text describing the estates and their colorful inhabitants. It is the most comprehensive collection of early Bar Harbor photographs ever assembled, providing an unparalleled glimpse of one of the world's great resort communities. [show more]