Maine State ferry, Gov. King, crossing the Kennebec River at Bath.

The Gov. King was commissioned during the Centennial of Statehood celebration on Aug. 1, 1920, by then Governor Carl E. Milliken. It was named to honor Maine's first governor and champion of Maine statehood, William King of Bath.

This coal-burning steamboat was built in 1902 in New York for the Port Chester service and purchased for use at Bath to assist the smaller Hockomock ferry in handling increased automobile traffic between Bath and Woolwich on Maine's coastal highway.

Thomas Coss, former captain of the Hockomock and long-term resident of Bath, was the first captain of the Gov. King, which could carry 22-25 cars across the Kennebec.

Together, the Gov. King and Hockomock ferries, operating 24 hours a day, carried 88, 000 automobiles in 1923.

Ferry service ended when the Carlton Bridge was built in 1927.