The Rocktide trolley will continue its approximately 37-year run around Boothbay Harbor this summer.

Paul Coulombe representative Michelle Amero said Coulombe's vice president of operations, Melissa Neel, confirmed that Coulombe, the new owner of Rocktide Inn & Restaurant, plans to keep the trolley and its service of shuttling people from Rocktide to the harbor and around town, going.

In an email, previous Rocktide owner Susan Miller said her stepfather, Welles Steane, who started the business in 1968, got the idea for the trolley in Naples, Florida, where he spent winters. “He had seen them in use in Naples and thought it was exactly what Boothbay needed,” Miller said.

Steane had his trolley built in Naples in 1980 and drove it back to Boothbay Harbor that spring. A few of his friends, including George Cochrane, Bud Logan, Thorny Hooper and Bill Barrett, joined in on the ride. “They had a ball,” Miller said. “There were others I am sure. Not everyone made the full trip. They got on and off as they wished.”

Miller said Steane called it “Welles Cargo.”

“It served as a good will ambassador and advertising for Rocktide and other businesses in town,” said Miller. “It has always been a free shuttle service for the town since the beginning. I know he was proud to be able to provide that service.”

Coulombe purchased Rocktide Inn & Restaurant, along with an adjacent 16,000-square-foot waterfront lot, in January for $3.75 million.