AUGUSTA — The Kennebec Historical Society’s April presentation, covering Mac Smith’s book “Disaster at Bar Harbor Ferry,” is scheduled for 6:30 p.m. Wednesday, April 19, at the Augusta City Center, 16 Cony St.

In an era when the only means of travel to the new, glamorous and growing resort of Bar Harbor was through a small, isolated, rural-yet-elegant point of land on the mainland in the small town of Hancock, “Disaster at Bar Harbor Ferry” tells the true story of what was, at the time, Maine’s deadliest disaster, according to a news release from the society.

The tale starts with the arrival of a train overcrowded with passengers anxious to be among the first to cross the bay and their rush for a ferry with too few seats, turning a casual summer Sunday outing into a scene of chaos, tragedy, death and heroism, occurring as quickly as the break of a wooden gangplank.

The book tells not only the complete story of the people and the events of that day, but of a time and way of life long gone by and nearly forgotten.

A Navy veteran of the first Gulf War and former reporter for The Bar Harbor Times, Smith lives in Stockton Springs, in the village of Sandy Point. He is also the author of “Mainers on the Titanic,” “Peyton Place Comes Home to Maine,” “Maine’s Hail to the Chief” and “Siege at the State House.”

The society will accept donations for the program.

Those with questions can call Scott Wood, the society’s executive director, at 207-622-7718.

 

 

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