rl:iia garages witn car dealership @t(-)res and a steamboatwharf that accomiiiodated dailyvisits oflarge white steamers that plied the coast to bring passengers and goods to the town. During prohibition Southwest Harbor was the home of some of the most successful bootlegging operations on the coast, not attested in Chamber of Commerce material
\4any of the old facilities are gone, (,,ded by the inexorable march ofprogress or outdated by the laws of supply and demand, but the town has grown old gracefullyandwears its newer look with the same quiet dignity as the old.
A town manager and selectmen," a governing board equivalent to a city council, runs the town with an efficiency and intimacy hard to achieve in a larger comil:i UtilLy- SCLtillg. just about everyone knows everyone else in town.
Southwest Harbor shares the natural beauty of the rest of Mount Desert Island with its rocky shores, lovely mountain scenes and inimitable rural atmosphere. Today there are fine restaurants, modern shops, up to date services and the blessing of Cable TV.
The population hovers around 2,000. There is a fine police force, protective zoninglaws antigovernment in tunewith the wishes of the people who live there. The town is a lovely extravagance of nature and a masterpiece of human simplicity.
