BOOTHBAY HARBOR — In a small seaside town, a footbridge connecting the one side of the harbor to the other can be like the heart of a community.

It was that way a century ago in Boothbay Harbor. The most important feature of the wooden footbridge there, which was originally built in 1901 with a swing section to let boats pass, was that it connected shopowner Bryan Rowe and his clan to their many downtown businesses, according to local historian Barbara Rumsey.

“The vicinity was one big, hard-working, extended family, and the footbridge was their backyard,” she wrote in an article on the Rowe clan and the footbridge.

But while Bryan’s grandchildren still own the marina and bowling alley near the footbridge, the bridge itself fell out of use. Nancy Rowe and her sisters, Marianne and Sue, watched bowling alley customers avoid the bridge altogether. 

“It was just not nice. There was a lot of concrete, there were a lot of fences,” Rowe said. “It didn’t look like a place to welcome you to come in.”

On the occasion of their father’s passing, the three sisters decided to set up a memorial fund to spruce up the footbridge as a tribute to his life. Not only did the effort get well-funded, but it received a lot of support from many in town.

Town officials gave permission for the sisters to take down fences, and the town fixed up walkways leading up to the footbridge. During the early summer of 2013, the sisters, along with many local business owners, created inviting pathways to and on the bridge, good signage and several rock gardens on the west side of the footbridge. The beautification spirit spread to neighboring properties, Rowe said. 

“It made people kind of look around and everybody started to enhance their properties,” she said. “It was kind of contagious.”

For their efforts, the three Rowe sisters recently won an award given by the selectmen and the national Spirit of America Foundation for “commendable community service.” Boothbay Harbor town manager Tom Woodin says the footbridge project dovetailed with the town’s own plans to make Boothbay Harbor more walkable. 

The sisters and the town plan next to beautify the east entrance to the bridge, with the cooperation of landowners, and to install more attractive lighting for the bridge.