Please join us in welcoming the Southwest Harbor Public Library
to the Chamber family!
Most of you are aware of our wonderful treasure, the Southwest Harbor Public Library. Fulfilling so many needs in our community, from a good book to curl up with on a cold winter night, to resources for genealogical research, local history research, fabulous lectures, talks, programs for all ages, to involvement in the community through collaborations with are authors, artists and other, the Library has come to be a cornerstone in our town.
Here is just a preview of their fascinating history, more of which can be found at: http://www.swhplibrary.org/library_history.php :
"The Southwest Harbor Public Library was built in 1895, although its history goes back to 1884, the year Mrs. Annie Sawyer Downs gathered some discarded books from the summer hotels and placed them on a shelf in a corner of Dr. R. J. Lemont’s drug store, which was located on Clark Point Road.
"By 1886, the book collection had grown substantially and was moved to a former coffin shop that sat across the street from what is now Harbor House. This ex-coffin shop/ library building was later moved to site of the "Lawton Block," currently Sawyers Market on Main Street."
