Northeast Harbor’s fire has received the most attention, but on July 24, Swan’s Island, off Mt. Desert Island, lost its heart. Its library burned to the ground, likely due to a lightening strike.
Not only did the island lose a social center and all its books, but it also lost its history. The library, a former schoolhouse, was listed on the National Register of Historic Places, and most of the historical society’s collection of photographs, documents and historical artifacts, previously displayed in Seaside Hall, had been moved to here last year.
Rebuilding plans are already in progress for the library, but while some documents and images have been preserved and are available on line, it will be far more difficult to reach out and touch the island’s past.
