BETHEL — On Tuesday, August 29, at 6 p.m., the Museums of the Bethel Historical Society will host a book talk and signing with Annie Gibavic, author of Joseph Seavey Hall: Pioneer of Mountain Tourism.

In this fascinating new book, Gibavic chronicles the life of Bartlett, New Hampshire, native Joseph Seavey Hall, an early promoter of tourism in the White Mountains, a mountaineer, a road builder, an adventurer, and a great storyteller.

Hall was instrumental in building the first Summit House atop Mt. Washington in 1852, as well as the carriage road to the summit, completed in 1861. A decade or so later, after leaving New England to fight in the Civil War, he relocated to California, where he built the first carriage road up Mt. Diablo.

Told through the correspondence of his third wife, Calista Fay Hall, (Aunt Kitty), and his nieces Alice Hall Walter and Mabel Hall Walter, the book follows Hall’s coast-to-coast story of his long and industrious life. Copies of Gibavic’s book will be available for purchase and signing.