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Falmouth Public Library – Postcards from Falmouth
Postcards from Falmouth Zoom Program Transcript
Recorded: July 27, 2021
Presenter: Christopher Setterlund
Host: Sue Henken
Topic: Cape Cod Nights: Historic Bars, Clubs, and Drinks, and Iconic Hotels and Motels of
Cape Cod by Christopher Setterlund
Also mentioned: Historic Restaurants of Cape Cod, by Christopher Setterlund
All books available from CLAMS under CAPE COD 647.95 SET
Note: The right column references postcards by identifiers searchable in the Digital
Commonwealth online collection.
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[Music]
hello everyone I hope that a lot of you
were
here last week and you came back to see
part two
of my pair of events with the Falmouth
library so I wanted to start off so you
can see me but we're gonna dive right
into
the actual PowerPoint presentation
it's gonna be nightlife and hotels
Falmouth in the area around that so
let's go right into it I’m going to
open up my presentation
and we will start from there so
this presentation is going to combine my
fifth and sixth books Cape Cod Nights
and Iconic Hotels and Motels of Cape Cod
and so what we're doing
is basically for those of you that
weren't
here last week I am a 12th generation
Cape Codder
through the Doane family that helped to
settle Eastham
and I included this photo here this is
the
monument to my ninth great grandfather
Deacon John Doane
who helped to settle the town of Eastham
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#doane
#eastham
�Falmouth Public Library – Postcards from Falmouth
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in 1644.
this is in the Cove Burying Ground in
Eastham on Route 6
if anyone's ever gone past there
and like Sue said I am author of
six books all dealing with Cape Cod and
the Islands
the first three were all titled In My
Footsteps I’ve kind of used that
title for a lot of projects
three books um a blog that I have
and a podcast so
after that I jumped into a second
trilogy
that included historic restaurants
historic nightlife
and bars and hotels and motels
so this trilogy essentially
tells you in history where Cape Codders
went to eat
where they went to drink and where they
went to then sleep off the damage they
did to themselves
from those previous two things and that
was actually how I pitched it to my
publisher
when I was pitching book six the hotels
and motels I said this
is a can't miss marketing opportunity
eating drinking sleeping
it's all part of life
so Cape Cod became a vacation
destination
in the years after the book Cape Cod was
released by Henry David Thoreau in 1865.
Thoreau’s connection to Cape Cod he did
four walking tours basically in the
years
leading up to the book's release and he
is actually
semi-responsible for one of the
original Cape Cod hospitality spots
the Highland House in Truro basically
during all four of his
walks on the Cape he stayed
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#1644
#coveburyingground
#route6
#henrydavidthoreau #1865
#highlandhouse #truro
�Falmouth Public Library – Postcards from Falmouth
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with his friends the small family
in Truro they had the property that was
surrounding Highland Lighthouse
including the golf course that's there
and some of the cottages that are around
there
during one of his trips walking up there
he and the I think it was James Small
they talked about this farmhouse that he
had there that was basically
empty and they both kind of talked about
how it could make
a good boarding house basically that's
how it started
the Highland House is now a museum but
when it first started it
was a popular hotel and eventually hotel
and restaurant for about a hundred years
so bringing it back around to Falmouth
in the late 19th century that's when
Cape Cod
really started to cement itself as the
summer destination
and a lot of summer resorts popped up
this included the Terrace Gables which
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#highlandlighthouse
#terracegables
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so the Terrace Gables was originally
known as the Draper Cottage for a man
named Charles Draper
and it was a high-class resort in
1902 it was expanded after it was
renamed the Terrace Gables
the people that owned it they also
bought the nearby
Menauhant Hotel which they actually used
#drapercottage
#charlesdraper
#1902
#menauhanthotel
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�Falmouth Public Library – Postcards from Falmouth
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for overflow from the Terrace Gables it
got so big
that they bought their competitor to use
as overflow for their hotel which was
just fascinating
that was in 1912. at its peak it had 125
rooms but as you'll see as we go along
in this
during the 40s and 50s it was changing
times on Cape Cod
what ended up happening was in 1960
they tried to change with the times and
they created this
restaurant cocktail lounge called the
Club 46
which it didn't really make much of a
difference
the times changing with the highway
the Terrace Gables kind of went the way
of a lot of hotels from that time
and it became the Brothers Four
nightclub which was Cape Cod's largest
entertainment complex you'll see that
again
later but that was in 1971
and now it's condos a lot of these
places
I found that they had one of two ends
they either
burned down or they were turned into
condos a lot
of them in doing the especially the
hotels and motels book
the Hotel Attaquin on the right was on
Route 130 in Mashpee
that was opened by a Wampanoag Native
American named
Solomon Attaquin he opened it in 1840
and it was a smaller bed and breakfast
type of hotel with 17
rooms but it also there were amenities
surrounding it that made it a really fun
place to visit including going
fishing at the nearby Mashpee and Wakeby
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#club46
#brothersfour
#1971
#hotelattaquin
#route130 #mashpee
#wampanoag
#solomonattaquin #1840
#mashpeepond #wakebypond
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Ponds
and Solomon Attaquin became a big deal
in Mashpee in addition to his hotel
he was a selectman he was a town
treasurer
he was the first postmaster of Mashpee
when it was incorporated as a town
after he died in 1895 the hotel
continued on
for another 60 years
although they got into trouble in 1928
they were raided
during Prohibition for illegal
gambling and alcohol
they got more fame during the
early days of radio when they had
the Hotel Attaquin orchestra which would
be featured on
Station WOCB they would actually be part
of
some variety shows locally
the end came like I like I said it's
either condos or
a fire and in 1955 Christmas eve
there was a fire at the Hotel Attaquin
that
ended its reign as a hotel it's now
the site of the Mashpee Community
Gardens
on Route 130 so if you go by there
that's basically where it used to stand
and the rise of these resort hotels the
first the originals it continued into
the early part of the 20th century
on the left the Cape Codder not to be
#1895
#1928
#prohibition
#1955
#mashpeecommunitygardens
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confused with the Cape Codder that is in
Hyannis
it opened in 1900 originally known as
the Sippewissett Hotel
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#sippewissetthotel
�Falmouth Public Library – Postcards from Falmouth
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the land that it was on overlooking the
ocean
was originally a sheep farm
owned by a man named Richard Swift 180
acres
before it became the Cape Codder after
it was the Sippewissett hotel it was then
the Mayflower Hotel
#richardswift
#mayflowerhotel
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before finally becoming the Cape Codder
in 1931.
it was a four-story resort hotel
and by the late 40s it was the largest
hotel under one roof meaning that there
were no cottages there were some
hotels on the Cape that had
a main building but then also cottages
and such that were
seen as part of it an example of that is
The Pines in Cotuit
which was a huge complex with a main
hotel
and the people that owned it would buy
nearby cottages and mansions and made it
all
part of The Pines but the Cape Codder was
the largest under one roof
and at one point their kitchen
could seat 1500 people a night they
could serve
and it was owned later on by the
Peterson family
all the way up until 1988
when it was knocked down to make way for
condos which still stand
on the right the Coonamessett Inn which is
#1931
#thepines #cotuit
#peterson
#1988
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still going strong now
but it's in a second location so
Coonamessett first opened in 1927
it was named for the pond by which it
stood
and it was the original Coonamessett was
based in the William
Chadwick farmhouse which was built in
1826
it became a really
well-known hotel and restaurant
especially after a woman named Edna
Harris
took it over in 1930
so the Coonamessett was owned by
uh William Chase the man that also owned
Great Island
in Yarmouth the Chase family still owns
most of it
but Edna Harris leased it she had
already become well known by running the
Megansett Tea Room
in North Falmouth and those of you that
saw my
presentation last week I had a picture
of the Megansett Tea Room
because I couldn't find an actual
picture of
the Hangar Tea Room
Edna Harris made this the place to be
and interestingly in 1953
after more than two decades of this
they had politicians there they had
military officials there
had all these the Falmouth Playhouse was
#1927
#1826
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and Edna Harris was very well known and
well regarded
and interestingly in 1953 she was told
that her lease on the property was not
going to be renewed
and this is where her story she became a
legend in my eyes when I was researching
this
because she had already done the Megansett
Tea Room
and she made the Coonamessett Inn the
place
to be
she actually also leased the Popponeset
Inn
and had her daughter Hilda Coppage run
it
so she had her fingers in a lot of pies
as far as Cape Cod
hospitality but what she did with the
Coonamessett was legendary
so the Coonamessett was going to become
a Treadway Inn which was kind of a small
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chain
in the 1950s what she did though
was Edna Harris owned the liquor license
so she bought property on Gifford Street
311 Gifford Street which was
a home originally owned by a man named
Robert Longier
and she bought that house had it
converted and got uh
the license to run it as an inn she took
her liquor license
with her and then because the old
Coonamessett
property
was going to be a Treadway Inn she took
the Coonamessett name
with her and the furniture
so she basically took the Coonamessett
and everything that made it great and
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reopened it
at the spot that it's located at now
and it's just fascinating I’m actually
working on
an article about Edna Harris in just her
life because
it's incredible to think the stuff that
she did in the early part of the 20th
century
but like I said in the early 20th
century
the automobile made travel easier now
that was a blessing and a curse because
people that were coming down to the cape
by a train
or I mean I guess some could come down
by horse and buggy but mostly train
they would stay in one place for many
weeks
long stays at the same place automobiles
made it where
people didn't have to stay in one place
for too long
so the stays became shorter and it put a
lot of pressure on
these hotels and resorts to capture
the imaginations and the attention of
these tourists because that's how they
made their money
and another thing that came up during
this early part of the 20th century was
Prohibition
and with the advent of the automobile it
was possible to drive to
nearby dancing and entertainment
complexes
and both of these were nearby in
Buzzards Bay
and ironically they were on the same
street so you could have gone to both
so the Bournehurst on the Canal
was at 320 Main Street right in the
shadow of the Bourne Bridge
interestingly its whole run
was basically during Prohibition it
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#bournehurstonthecanal
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�Falmouth Public Library – Postcards from Falmouth
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opened in 1920
and it was seen as as a large
entertainment complex because when you
can't serve alcohol you've got to have
some other ways to entertain people
so opening night at the Bournehurst was
July 10th of 1920 and there was more
than
2100 people there for that event
they had basketball games they had
boxing matches
they actually in 1922 they opened a
lunchroom
inside run by a man named Fred Lutz
it was well known for its clam cakes
it was also a spot in the late 20s where
young up-and-coming jazz musicians like
Duke Ellington and Cab
Calloway played at the Bournehurst
the biggest event
I suppose at the Bournehurst was July 26
1930 when Rudy Vallée and his orchestra
came and played there the Bournehurst
inside was packed
outside there were hundreds and hundreds
of people
waiting just to get a glimpse of Rudy
Vallée
State Police had to be called to try to
subdue the crowd which eventually they
did but that was
one of the last hurrahs for the
Bournehurst
October 18th 1933 a fire broke out
with eyewitnesses said it was the
hottest fire they'd ever seen
and unfortunately that it didn't end the
Bournehurst
but then there was another fire 10
months later
and that was really what did it so
in the summer of 1934 the burn
Bournehurst
burned to the ground and sadly it was
right
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#1920
#fredlutz
#dukeellington #cabcalloway
#rudyvallee
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then when Prohibition was repealed and
the new Bourne Bridge
was built so it's unbelievable to think
about
if it had only stuck around a few more
years what it could have done and could
have been
on the right the Blue Moon Dancing
Pavilion
was at 230 Main Street in Buzzards Bay
this opened in 1931 it was also a tea
room
it was mainly outside so
they had a blue neon sign
their dancing stage where you can see
all the people out here
had blue lights half-moon shaped stage
it was perfect for summer funny thing
was that they had midnight frolic
dances which would start at midnight
I’m sorry to 12:01 a.m on Mondays once
Prohibition was lifted
because liquor sales were not permitted
on Sundays
so literally the minute that it was
Monday
they opened up and had people out there
dancing and drinking
it was mainly seen as an outdoor dancing
pavilion
or some people also called it a summer
dance garden
it was owned originally by a man named
George Blakeslee
he owned it for the first decade it
changed hands a few times
before finally being bought by a man
named Alex
Byron in 1957
what happened there was that it became
part of the larger Buzzards Bay Summer
Theatre complex which was theater in the
round
essentially the same as what the Cape
Cod Melody Tent
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#georgeblakeslee
#alexbyron
#1957
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is with a stage in the middle and seats
all around it
so it stayed open I guess
through the mid-1960s before the Blue
Moon itself was closed
the property itself stayed
being used by Alex Byron it became part
of the Byron's Landing restaurant
until 1986. it's now a veterinarian's
office
so the building is still there the
outdoor dance pavilion is not
though
and then after Prohibition nightlife
boomed
and so the casino which someone last
week had brought up
I said you know what better way to read
from the book
the actual story of the casino
so in the 21st century the area known as
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Falmouth Heights
has become a very popular summer
destination
but in 1870 the beachfront neighborhood
was born from what was then known as
Great Hill
it was at that time that George Davis
sold the property
to the Falmouth Land and Wharf Company
which retained its rights
before it ultimately fell into the hands
of its president G.
Edward Smith over the first 50 years of
the Heights’ existence
land values increased more than 600
percent
around the turn of the 20th century a
Falmouth icon would be born
adding serious clout to the village of
the Heights
in 1901 the Casino at Falmouth Heights
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#byronslanding
#1986
Reading from Chapter 8 of Cape Cod
Nights begins here.
#1870
#greathill
#georgedavis
#falmouthheightslandandwharfcompany
#gedwardsmith
#casino #1901
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opened on Grand Avenue
nearly opposite the Terrace Gables hotel
the building 80 feet long by 32 feet
wide
with 184 feet of piazza
was run by Charles L. Hopson the building
was enlarged several times
eventually containing the Cottage Club
Falmouth Heights Post Office
a barbershop and general store
the casino was completely destroyed by
fire in
April 1909 with Hopson immediately
getting to work
starting on the rebuild the barber shop
was the first to reopen just over two
months later
the building was enlarged again in 1914
and became known as the Cottage Club
rather than the club simply being a part
of it
in January 1915 Charles Hopson died
and his waterfront property would be
owned by his wife
in 1937 a year after her death
Hopson's son Harry purchased the casino
it was here that the biggest changes
would begin
on July 19 1939 after extensive
remodeling
the Casino Bar at Falmouth Heights was
added to the property with
soon soon-to-be local legend Joe Miron
22:14 coming down from Dinty Moore’s in
Boston
22:16 to run the bar
22:18 donned in a striped pullover dungarees
22:20 and a beret
22:22 Miron gained notoriety locally as his
22:25 talent for caricatures became apparent
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#charleshopson
#cottageclub
#1909
#1937
#harryhopson
#1939
#casinobar
#joemiron
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#dintymoore #boston
�Falmouth Public Library – Postcards from Falmouth
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the bartender served up the drinks his
customers desired
and then followed that by sketching
their likeness while they drank it
beyond caricatures had skill with
the brush when it came to landscapes and
watercolors
by his third season at the Casino Bar
his works were being showcased at local
art shows and galleries on the cape
he rightfully earned the nickname
Painting Bartender
in an attempt not to focus strictly on
the alcohol output
the kitchen was revamped in 1940 the
establishment was open until
1am and the bar could seat 150
so it was natural to try to incorporate
food to go with the drink
Hopson also tried to maintain the
entertainment complex
feel by adding an E.M. Loew motion picture
theater in 1941.
after trouble with erosion from
hurricanes in 1938 and 1944
Hopson sold the casino bar to Worcester
Massachusetts resident William McCann in
1945.
from there the bar's popularity
skyrocketed
along with that of Captain Joe McCann
focused on creating a positive work
environment
including putting as first priority
feeding the kitchen staff McCann also
supra
supplied room and board to his employees
if it was needed
Joe Miron created a spot in the bar
called Amen Corner
it was named for the those patrons who
drank their
fill and sat in the corner to
philosophize
it was here that hung some of his
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#1940
#1938 #1944
#williammccann
#1945
�Falmouth Public Library – Postcards from Falmouth
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favorite caricature sketches
the notoriety only grew when Miron was
featured in
the October 1943 issue of Click magazine
there he was referred to as Boston’s
bartender artist
the popularity of the Casino Bar led to
the need
for a staff of 27 people per shift
including
four bartenders the fun spot of the
Heights
added horseshoes in 1946 a new sun deck
in 1947
and another name change occurred in 1949
when the establishment became known as
the Casino by the Sea
the seasonal spots popularity continued
to grow
with 1940 1951 being reported
as its most successful year yet
throughout the 1950s and into the 1960s
Joe Miron continued to thrill guests
with his skill
as both a mixologist and his artistic
gifts
summer afternoons routinely saw Captain
Joe
proudly shout down to the casino's
private beach via megaphone
during cocktail hour cocktail spree
Cape Cod fishballs many guests heard it
as cocktails free
and they came running they were
disappointed
things changed again in 1966 when
William Sweeney Jr.
purchased the property and gave it more
of a nightclub feel
making it extremely attractive to
college students and young adults
during the summers of the late 1960s and
70s
the Casino by the Sea experienced
another swell of popularity
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#1949
#casinobythesea
#1966
#williamsweeneyjr
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during the golden age of Cape Cod
nightlife
however after spending nearly the
entirety
of the 20th century entertaining folks
at the Heights
time came for last call in 2000
the fading legend was purchased by
developer Frank Messina
the casino property was torn down in
November 2003
to make way for the upscale Casino Wharf
FX for those wondering what it
might have been to have a drink with
Captain Joe Miron pouring
it's possible to replicate it with a
popular drink from the 1940s called the
sidecar
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for those of you that have never read my
book
Cape Cod nights I put drink recipes
at the end of the chapter for each spot
in there
and I pick the decade that I see as when
it was
most popular and so the 1940s I picked
for the Casino
but after Prohibition
and with the rise in popularity of
nightclubs and bars there was a need for
more hotels and resorts
this included the Red Horse Inn which
for those of you who were here last week
you'll remember that the Red Horse Inn
started as The Bellows
#2000
#frankmessina
#2003
#casinowharffx
Reading from Cape Cod Nights ends
here.
#redhorseinn
#thebellows
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and it was a tea room slash lunch and
dinner spot
owned by a woman named Thekla Hedlund
opened in 1933 on Falmouth Heights Road
after Hedlund died in 1946 it was run
as a restaurant for two more years
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#theklahedlund
#1933 #falmouthheightsroad
�Falmouth Public Library – Postcards from Falmouth
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the name was changed to the Red Horse
Grill and then to the Red Horse
Inn and it's been standing ever since
Popponesset Inn as I mentioned earlier with
Edna Harris
it's at 252 Shore Drive in Mashpee
right in the middle of New Seabury
in 1941 it opened as
an actual resort it was originally owned
by
Malcolm Chase of Great Island who bought
the property in 1929
interestingly before it became the
luxury resort
it was leased out by a nurse named Norma
Armstrong
and she ran it as um
a campsite where basically
people that were going there they had
the money to rent rooms at these
high-class resorts but they actually
preferred
staying in this trailer park slash
campground
that was affectionately known as tent
city
and it was 4 000 acres
then in 1941 when it became the
Popponesset
Inn then it took off where
it started with 10 rooms then quickly
added 15
more as I said Edna Harris took it over
in 1947
and put her daughter Hilda Coppage in
charge
once New Seabury was built and finished
in 1964
then it became a popular wedding
destination
and it was actually owned by the Chase
family until
1998. it's
known for its spectacular views fine
dining
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#redhorsegrill
#shoredrive
#newseabury
#malcolmchase
#1929
#normaarmstrong
#1964
#1998
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and relatively isolated location
especially back in the 40s and 50s when
it first got started
and as I said soon it was the golden age
of Cape Cod nightlife
and there you see the Brothers Four
which was previously the Terrace Gables
so the Brothers Four opened in 1971.
it was three clubs under one roof known
as Cape Cod's largest entertainment
complex
it was so big that it had sister clubs
in Somerville and Nashua New Hampshire
the Brothers Four they were the Robbat
brothers
George Russell Stephen and Allen
Brothers Four is also well known for
being the
finish line of the Falmouth Road Race
where
Falmouth Road Race creator Tommy
Leonard
created it when he ran from the Captain
Kidd in Woods Hole to
the Brothers Four which is why it has
such a unique
mile distance the Falmouth Road Race
because it was a run from
one bar to another
the problem with the Brothers Four was
the zoning
where being this huge nightclub it ran
into a lot of problems with the
locals that lived around there for
noise and drunken disorderly behavior
things like beat the clock happy hour
didn't help
and so basically from the late 1970s
up until it's ending in 1987
it was a constant battle between the
Robbat brothers
and the town of Falmouth to keep the
place going
they even created the Yesterdays
Bar inside there they were trying to
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#robbat
#falmouthroadrace
#tommyleonard
#captainkidd
#woodshole
#1987
#yesterdaysbar
�Falmouth Public Library – Postcards from Falmouth
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make it
more upscale but Brothers Four was known
as
a really wild hangout
in 1987 it was torn down and like I said
with the Terrace Gables it is now
condos
but it was also the golden age of
hospitality
I had mentioned the Coonamessett Inn that
moved to
Gifford Street it is still well known
and highly regarded
for its food and its lodging
the Sea Crest is at 350 Quaker Road
#seacrest #quakerroad
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this one has a fascinating story also
where
the Sea Crest Hotel got its start as the
University Players’
summer theater and that was in 1928 it
opened and some
Hollywood heavyweights got their start
at this theater including Jimmy Stewart
and Henry Fonda
it was chained the name was changed to
the Beach Theater
and in 1936 there was a fire
naturally because fire and condos are a
running theme with these
places when it was reopened in 1937
it was named Neptune’s Tryst then it was
the Old Silver Beach Club then it was
the Latin
Quarter which was run by a man named
Lou
Walters
whose daughter Barbara Walters is pretty
well known
1948 it was finally renamed the Sea Crest
after being heavily renovated
and by that point there was 250 guests
could be accommodated with the
dining room holding 350 seats
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#universityplayers
#jimmystewart
#henryfonda
#beachtheater
#1936
#neptunestryst
#oldsilverbeachclub
#latinquarter
#louwalters
#barbarawalters
#1948
�Falmouth Public Library – Postcards from Falmouth
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it got more of a shot in the arm with a
famous owner when Red Auerbach of the
Boston Celtics bought
a share in it in 1963
and currently it's 264 rooms
but whether you went out to drink at a
place like Smith's Olde Surrey Room
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which Smith's Olde Surrey Room got its
start as the Falmouth Bowling Alley
which was opened in 1939 by a man named
Lester Crane
in July 1946 the Surrey Room was
opened by Lester crane he saw more
value in an eating and drinking
establishment
over a bowling alley and the lead up to
the debut of the Surrey Room on July 1st
1946
and the Falmouth Enterprise there were
these ads that were just
question marks basically the mystery of
what
what was coming and it ended up being an
unusual nightclub
you'd walk in there and there were
actual surreys which were forms of
carriages
that were located in three corners of
the property
inside there was bright red trim
and yellow window recesses but they
stuck a little bit of
a throwback to how they started by
having
the bowling club lounge
in 1950 the property was sold to a man
named Daniel
Smith and that's where it got the name
Smith’s Olde Surrey Room
and there was another connection where
smith's chef was a man named Daniel
Bartolomei
he would go on to create Danny-Kay’s
#redauerbach
#bostonceltics
#smithsoldesurreyroom
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#lestercrane
#falmouthenterprise
#danielsmith
#danielbartolomei
#danny-kays
�Falmouth Public Library – Postcards from Falmouth
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which I mentioned last week in the event
there were two big extensions to the
club they had to make it bigger and
bigger because of how popular it was
and their biggest shot in the arm came
when
they were mentioned in the Duncan Hines
Adventures in Good
Eating magazine in 1961
however now it is affordable apartments
at 704
Main Street
#duncanhines
#mainstreet
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but you could have gone to drink or
sleep off a great night
and that's the Gray Gables Inn which was
at
217 Presidents Road this was known as
the first
summer White House and it was
a home built for Grover Cleveland
and he lived there
and um until his basically
Grover Cleveland would come and stay at
the summer White House
and Joseph Jefferson who was a famous
actor of the very early motion picture
days of the
late 1890s he actually played Rip van
Winkle
in the 1896 version of the film
so he would come down he would fish
offshore that's why
Cleveland Ledge Lighthouse is named for
him and Grey Gables was
the name basically of the railroad
station where he would come in by his
train
it eventually became the name of the
whole village there
but once rumors got to be
out there that they were going to be
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#graygablesinn
#presidentsroad
#grovercleveland
#josephjefferson
#clevelandledgelighthouse
�Falmouth Public Library – Postcards from Falmouth
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creating a Cape Cod Canal
Cleveland decided he really didn't want
to
be there while all this construction was
going on
so he stopped coming in 1908
and after his death his son sold it in
1920
basically the entire property because
they owned more than just
the actual house the whole property was
subdivided
and by 1926 there were 50 houses there
but they kept the actual Grey Gables
home
intact and it became a summer resort
owned by a man named John Stackpole
they had dining they had a cocktail
lounge it had a real nice
community feel and they even kept some
Grover Cleveland artifacts in there
including his desk that he used to write
at
and when Grover Cleveland’s grandson
came and visited he got a tour and he
was
very happy with how the owners had kept
it
close to what his grandfather would have
wanted
in 1961 a woman named Peggy Alden
took over and she was known for having
children come down for outings there
where they could come and stay
and do the fishing and things like that
to get in touch with nature
unfortunately December 10 1973 there was
a
suspicious fire that burned down the
Gray Gables Inn
and the property actually stayed
overgrown and
for almost 30 years at the turn of the
21st century
a couple came and they bought the
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#1920
#johnstackpole
#1961 #peggyalden
#1973
�Falmouth Public Library – Postcards from Falmouth
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property
and they actually built an exact replica
of the Gray Gables in but it's a private
home
I have been told that they
expect people basically to come and take
photos of it so they don't
mind if you you know don't go on the
property but if you get to
the edge of their driveway you can take
photos I have not
gone and tried that yet but that's what
I’ve been told that they're very
warm and welcoming to people that are
at least respectful of the property
but all these icons deserve to be a part
of
Falmouth's rich history whether it was
the Casino
or the Cape Codder Hotel
and naturally I end it like I did last
week with
a nice throwback image of Main Street
and Falmouth
and thank you all for coming back
for the second presentation and
are there any questions and I will stop
sharing my screen
okay that was great we do have a couple
questions in the chat
so far you want to take a look
can you see those Chris or want me to
read them
let's see can you hear me
I can okay so there's one about where
were any of the hotels and venues
integrated
if so what years and then also how did
World War I and World War II
impact any of these venues and did Otis
impact any of these venues
well interestingly I’m not sure about
integrated I don't know anything about
that specifically
but I will tell you that world war
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#worldwarone #worldwartwo
�Falmouth Public Library – Postcards from Falmouth
40:15 Two was interesting as far as the
Coonamessett
40:18 because like I mentioned Edna Harris was
40:22 though well she didn't own it she leased
40:24 it
40:25 but Camp Edwards was right nearby
#campedwards
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so she got this huge influx of
military officers it kind of grew the
popularity of
the Coonamessett which made it all the
more
weird that the Crane family would then
decline her
lease in 1953
and then also surprisingly the
breakout of World War Two actually
spurred on the creation of the Popponesset
Inn
because what ended up happening was
Norma Armstrong
the nurse she was running the property
as the
kind of tourist summer camp and then
the military wanted to use it
basically for training the whole
property because it was
down before New Seabury and before all
that it was really isolated
and so they used it the late 1930s
but then really didn't have a need for
them to be out there training
when World War II happened so then the
property was
not abandoned but they were looking for
something to do with it and
it's like all right why not use it for a
hotel
so those are two I could think of yeah
and if anyone has any questions or just
wants to share any stories you can you
can unmute yourself
also and just raise your hand you know
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put your video on
so I have a question um can you tell me
a little bit more about how you've done
some of the research for these
books for these sure
so the nightlife one was actually a lot
of fun because
basically I asked my especially my
parents I said where did you used to go
when you were younger to go out drinking
and partying
and so that's how I got a lot of the
initial ones
then it was a matter of researching
the research is a lot of fun you kind of
find
broad terms nightclub bar and you look
up what places appear a lot
and a lot of them you growing up on Cape
Cod I could pick out a lot especially
from the 80s on
but then the real fun came with
putting out posts on social media and
getting folks that
may have remembered what it was like in
the 50s
and picking out places and you get a lot
of
varying opinions on who who like what
places
places like Brothers Four and Casino those
were easy
I had so many people in there's a
history group on Facebook for Falmouth
and I
I put a blast in there and I said where
did you like to go
to drink and party and Brothers Four
came up
so much it was Brothers Four and
Yesterdays and I didn't realize they
were the same
under the same roof I thought it was a
different place
yeah yeah those are pretty active groups
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definitely so
do you go into all these different
groups all over the Cape
or yes so
after social media I would then reach
out to
historical societies the Bourne
Historical Society was very helpful with
the Blue Moon Dancing Pavilion and the
Bournehurst
and even places that I didn't end up
using for the book like
Quintals they would send me photos
Falmouth I think Falmouth Library sent
me a bunch of
postcards of and it was essentially
just like these places might be ones
you'd be interested in and I would look
at the postcards and then I would start
researching from there and that's where
a place like
Smith's Olde Surrey Room came from I
didn't know it at all
and I saw a postcard of and I said that
looks interesting a big
carriage inside the bar so it was
so much of this was other people helping
me because my knowledge
of restaurants hotels and nightclubs is
very limited you're talking 1980s to now
and mainly Mid-Cape because that's where
I grew up
so I had to rely on a lot of people to
help
me put this together these three books
yeah so what made you decide you wanted
to write a book like this
about restaurants so the restaurants
one was actually pitched to me
so I have a friend of mine Bill DeSousaMauk
see this is what I like is I like when
other people share
what they know because my knowledge is
based on my research and
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#bournehistoricalsociety
#quintals
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very few when it came to the nightclubs
very few people had coherent memories of
them
basically what I would get was oh yeah
it was fun but I don't remember much
because I was drunk so like all right
well
I can say everyone had a good time but
that's about it
but the restaurants book was pitched to
me
by Arcadia Publishing and they actually
wanted
historic restaurants of Martha's
Vineyard and I told them I said I
couldn't even name you
five current restaurants let alone 40
that used to exist
so they came back to me and said we see
you've got a deep connection to Cape Cod
would you like to do that book I said
all right now you're talking
and it kind of went from there because
restaurants
naturally evolved into nightclubs and
bars
and then I pitched the hotels and motels
to go from there yeah
oh someone someone just typed something
in the chat too
Packet Landing in now where is Packet
Landing
in Orleans I don't know
I don't know if anyone who's there if
you went to
Smith’s Olde Surrey Room or I mean the
Coonamessett is still around and the Cape
Codder
see the hotels I think there'd be less
people in the chat that would have
stayed there because you're all
basically from here so why would you go
and stay at the Sea Crest
that's where the the bars and nightclubs
really come into play but even then it's
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like
places like the Bournehurst and the Blue
Moon that's
way back we're talking the 20s and 30s
so
that's kind of difficult yeah
Brothers Four in the Casino I would
think
you get some folks that would remember
that
yeah and by the way I want to recommend
these books because I I have looked at a
lot of these books they're great books
so
I encourage people to buy them or get
them out of the library and I’m not just
saying that because he's here
and the Casino part that you heard I
actually read
from the book I read it word for word
which
because someone last week had brought up
the casino and I had mentioned that I
would be talking about it this week and
I decided
we were talking this is behind the
scenes that
these events people that come to them
like to hear the authors read from their
books so I
picked a chapter that I thought would
fit and the Casino has got a
a great history Captain Joe Miron the
the painting bartender I did an article
about
his actual life so I do a deeper dive
and that I think is on capecod.com I did
a lot of writing for them
for several years and I stopped writing
for them a few years ago because I
I got to the point where i wanted to
write about
things I wanted to write about and so
you'd have to pitch ideas to the editor
and sometimes they wouldn't be on board
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so an article like Edna Harris who
ran the Coonamessett that would be one
where they might not be interested in it
but now I don't have to worry
it's a part of the In My Footsteps
Podcast Blog
that goes along with the podcast
yeah do you have any do you have any
other books about Cape Cod or the
Islands that you're
that you have in the works sir well
so I’m starting work on
a photography book now
the thing with that is I’m waiting for
contracts I guess you would say it's
basically been approved
and so it's going to be
Photographers’ America is the name of the
series that started
and the Arcadia Publishing they came to
me with three different
titles and they said you want to do
these and I said well I can't do all
three
I’ll pick one and so
I picked the photography one and I’m
waiting to get
official confirmation I’ve already
started taking photos it's going to be
beyond just the norm like I’ll have a
lot of places that are well known
but there's going to be some street
scenes I’ve got pictures I took in
Provincetown at the
Lobster Pot of people in line and
things to give people a feel of what the
heart and soul of Cape Cod is all about
beyond just what everyone goes to as a
tourist
so that's one I’ve got another one that
I’m
working on but it's more
tight-lipped I want to say it's
something
big and exciting but I don't have an
29
#inmyfootsteps
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agent I don't have a publisher yet but
I’ll just say it's
true crime and it's working hand in hand
with a documentary film that's coming
out
so that's one where I’m really excited
about but I have to keep it kind of
hush just in case I don't ever like to
share things and then have it fall apart
yeah I know that you happen to take some
gorgeous scenery photos
of the Cape you know that oh thank you I
I post a lot on Instagram I
I believe I just passed my 10 year
anniversary on
Instagram and I have somewhere in the
neighborhood of
4 500 photos on there which I figured
out comes out to
basically 1.3 photos per day for 10
years
so I like Instagram yeah
so that's on the photography oh and
someone just said something the Casino
had a life-size
papier-mâché statue of Captain Joe that
was part of the flagpole
wow oh I would have loved to have seen
that
yeah yeah Captain Joe I’ve seen photos
of him
but he seemed like just a fascinating
guy
so I had to do a whole article about him
yeah if anyone does have any memories of
those places that they can remember yes
that's the big
catches do you actually remember going
to these places
yeah yeah the restaurants probably more
so
which was last week yes it was
interesting
when doing the research for the three
books
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�Falmouth Public Library – Postcards from Falmouth
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I had a lot of help with the restaurants
a lot of help with the hotels not as
much
with the nightlife because people didn't
remember
but I got a lot of names of places that
was about it no stories though
I think people are also fond of
restaurants because they grow you know
it's part of their childhood or their
summers they remember
going to these things absolutely
it's more family fun rather than
nightlife where it seems like you get in
a lot of trouble
yeah yeah and definitely yeah take
take a look at our postcard collection
on our website too because there are a
lot of
great historical postcards if you
haven't seen them if you go to
falmouthpubliclibrary.org we do have a
digital
page where they have a lot of these
great postcards that Chris has probably
seen
yes I highly recommend it that's I
always joke that
when it comes to obscure Cape Cod
history I always think it's
this might only interest me but I’ll
share
things that I find and that's why things
like the postcard collection I love it
no there's a lot of interest in in Cape
Cod history because I yeah of course I
work in the Reference Department we get
a lot of questions
a lot of those questions
yeah there's random things that I’ll
find interesting I was out for a run on
the
bike path down in Harwich last week and
there's a building
called Depot Storage and it's just a
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storage building
and I’d run by that hundreds of times
this time I went by there
and they had I guess removed shingles
and it revealed this old mural that was
I guess it used to be an
Ocean Spray cranberry warehouse
so now there's a painting of Ocean Spray
cranberries from the 20s
what was that that I did
oh someone said the Falmouth Enterprise
more is an interest is an amazing source
of photos and articles I’m not sure what
you mean by more do you know that
there is a ton of stuff in there though
well the Enterprise
I was just on the website this morning
doing my research for Edna Harris
oh and I I go down the rabbit holes
where I’ll find something else and I’ll
say okay
put a pin in that I’ll go look at that
later
that's the I find that interesting the
old newspaper archives I think are
fascinating
yeah they are and yet we do have the
Enterprise I don't remember the exact
date off the top of my head but we have
the Enterprise microfilm pretty far back
pretty far back yeah it's interesting to
even go
and just you start by researching
something you're interested in and then
you never know where it goes
oh and Kim just Kim just did a link to
the Joe Miron postcard
in our Digital Commonwealth that you
guys can
you can click on now or you can look
later
he's a very interesting character I wish
I could have met him
Kim is our cataloger by the way she
works here as well can do well
32
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so she knows and she puts together much
of this all of it
so I encourage you guys to check out
Chris’s site chrissetterlund.com
because
you know this there's even more on that
site
oh [unintelligible] oh okay I’m okay
good to know yeah I was like I didn't
think I didn't think that was a mistake
but
more see that's I should know that
but I guess I didn't and by the way we
do have the Enterprise digitized but
only unfortunately up to 1962 so
if you want stuff from 62 to the present
you do have to go to the microfilm
sadly we hope to have it digitized all
the way up at some point so you don't
have to go through the mic oh I would
love that
see I didn't want to bother you about
that cause I was gonna say it only goes
up to like 62.
and by the way yeah we we will search
the microfilm the microfilm
you know for people within reason if
they have a date and a specific thing
if they come to us and say I think it
was 82 maybe it was 83
and that's a little harder but if
someone has a specific request
you know with some kind of pinpoint of
the day we can we're happy to look if
you can't get in here
and Kim said that he painted the mural
at Captain
Kidd in Woods Hole which is pretty cool
that would make sense
I’ve actually never been in the Captain
Kidd so
that might be a destination yeah Chris
lives Chris lives in Yarmouth by the way
so Falmouth isn't his regular
spot but he did a lot of digging to find
33
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out
you know specific found the things
because his books are about Cape Cod but
he looked
he's you know he did go beyond and find
some Falmouth information that isn't
even in his books for these talks
yes I wanted to make sure that it was
relevant to you who came
to actually check out this event
so that it wasn't just like oh there's
all these places in
Eastham and Provincetown and it's like
you may not have ever heard of them I’d
rather it be at least
relevant to the town you're in yeah that
was great
that was great all right and
just a reminder to everyone that we are
recording this and FCTV is recording it
they're going to edit it for us and
make it look nice and then I’m going to
post it on our social media and
what I try to do is I’ll try to email
you guys all the link to it it'll be a
YouTube it'll be up on YouTube and I’ll
give people the link because I know
sometimes people
you know didn't hear it well or they got
in late or something they want to hear
the whole thing
yeah that I’ll definitely share it all
around too
absolutely yeah it'll go light on our
promotion
yeah it'll go on our Falmouth YouTube
page and our Falmouth Library YouTube
page
and does anyone have any questions
before
we let Chris go
yeah if you think of any shoot me an
email and I can shoot him an email too I
think
he has his email on his website too oh
34
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yeah definitely I’m always
I get people that contact me about
places to stay I had someone
who listens to my podcast asking me
where he should bring his wife for their
anniversary they're not from here
so I was pitching in places to go I
don't know where he stayed but
I kind of ran the gamut from resorts
like Wequassett
down to little bed and breakfasts oh wow
well the Captain David Kelley you might
remember Sue
um oh I’m trying to think of the name of
the man he's he
would do spinning at Mid-Cape
and he he and his husband they own that
and so I always promote him so that's
where I’m hoping they win
oh wow David Kelley House in Centerville
he had his scones
oh he's I’ll have to ask Kailyn she
knows his name
wow yeah so if anyone needs a place to
stay in Centerville
yes who knows anyone who does okay
well I want to thank everyone for coming
and yeah
we're really glad that you came and we
want to thank Chris for coming too that
was a great presentation
thank you so much to everyone who came
out and took some time out to
listen to me talk about these books that
I took a lot of
pride in creating yeah no it was
wonderful
and have a good night everyone we will
see some of you guys
at the next event and we have a thank
you here well thank you so much
I really appreciate it
[Music]
35
#wequassetresort
#davidkelley
#centerville
�
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Transcript of Christopher Setterlund's Zoom Presentation on Historic Nightclubs and Hotels of Cape Cod
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Text
Falmouth Public Library – Postcards from Falmouth
Postcards from Falmouth Oral History Transcript
Recorded: September 22, 2021
Oral Historian: Linda Collins
Interviewer: Anna Lee
Topic: Falmouth Public Library
Note: The right column references postcards by identifiers searchable in the Digital
Commonwealth online collection.
00:00
[Music]
00:44
yeah so the um the library obviously the
00:47
Main Library is a real anchor of Main
#falmouthpubliclibrary
Gunning_Village_Bldg_0258
through 0288 &
Hunt_Village_Bldg_009 through
012
00:49
Street and the branches have been around
00:51
long enough to be these recognizable
00:53
community centers but it wasn't always
00:56
that way so can you give me a walk
00:58
through of the history of how that came
01:00
to be
01:01
happy to
01:02
there was a librarian in 1958
01:07
whose quote I use often she said library
01:11
Falmouth is a library-minded town and it
01:13
was true in 1958 it's true today
01:17
and it was certainly true um when the
01:19
library was being
01:21
um
1
�Falmouth Public Library – Postcards from Falmouth
01:22
put together in the 1800s
01:24
there was a subscription-based library
01:27
and goes back to the 1700s
01:31
but the main move to get a free public
01:33
library was in the
01:35
1800s the
01:38
Falmouth Free Public Library was
01:40
established at town meeting in
01:43
1891 um with an appropriation of 50
01:46
dollars a year
01:48
but the the real momentum behind it was
01:52
Esther
01:53
Elizabeth Beebe who died in
01:56
1889 and left us three thousand dollars
02:00
which was a substantial amount of money
02:02
at that time
02:04
to establish a library
02:06
the um
02:08
cost of the library was 35 000
02:11
and there was an interesting letter to
02:13
the editor
02:14
by somebody who signed it um “Heavy
02:17
Taxpayer” and he charged the the
02:21
library trustees with building a Taj
02:24
Mahal
02:25
because they were concerned about it
02:27
being a fireproof building so the
#1891
#estherbeebe #beebe
#1889
2
�Falmouth Public Library – Postcards from Falmouth
02:29
construction was
02:31
iron and concrete
02:33
and they had Vermont green slate for a
02:37
roof which we still enjoy today
02:39
and the base is local granite
02:43
so the the
02:45
the library was well built and the main
02:48
part of the library we still enjoy
02:50
the 1901 library was designed for
02:52
Falmouth of 1901 which had
02:55
about 900 homes
02:57
and the collection was about 5 000 books
03:01
so it quickly
03:02
it quickly got to be
03:04
a bit small
03:06
in the 1920s they considered building a
03:09
mezzanine to hold more more books and if
03:12
you go into the old part of the building
03:14
look up and see you would have to be
03:17
pretty short uh to make use of a
03:20
mezzanine in that area so although the
03:22
plans were drawn I’m I’m pretty
03:23
grateful that that
03:24
that they didn't follow through with
03:26
that plan
03:28
the main
03:30
addition to the library the first
#1901
3
�Falmouth Public Library – Postcards from Falmouth
03:32
addition to the library happened in 1967
03:36
when they built wings on either side of
03:38
the initial building and that added
03:40
another seven thousand square feet to
03:43
the building
03:44
in 1978
03:46
uh a
03:48
addition was added to the right which is
03:50
the current Adult Collections room and
03:52
that
03:53
uh added another 15 000 square feet
03:57
and then the most recent addition in 2007
04:00
added the wing on the left side which is
04:02
the Reference room and the meeting rooms
04:05
to bring it to the current um 40 000
04:08
square feet so when is the next addition
04:11
not going to happen we are
04:13
a steady state library for um
04:16
zero-based growth for every book that
04:18
comes in um
04:20
we we get rid of one and
04:24
that's not a bad thing uh it's a good
04:26
thing to um
04:29
to be good stewards of the collection
04:31
and keep the collection fresh and
04:33
current
04:34
um
4
#1967
#2007
�Falmouth Public Library – Postcards from Falmouth
04:37
that's the history of the main library I
04:38
should jump backwards and talk a little
04:40
bit about the branches because the
04:42
branches are interesting the North
04:44
Falmouth Branch
04:45
is actually older than the main library
04:49
that was established
04:50
in
04:51
1879 it was a room in the North Falmouth
#northfalmouthlibrary
#1879
#northfalmouthcongregationalchurch
Gunning_North_Bldg_1363 through
1368 & Hunt_North_Bldg_368 &
369
04:54
Congregational Church
04:56
and
04:57
in 1955 and looking for more room they
05:00
moved across the street to the old fire
05:03
station it's the little white building
05:05
that currently is used by the North
05:07
Falmouth Village
05:08
Association and
05:11
they were there for
05:12
10 years and then they moved to their
05:14
current location in Nye Park
05:18
and that's an interesting story the
05:20
building they're in
05:21
was an old barracks building that came
05:24
from the from um
#1955
#northfalmouthvillageassociation
#nyepark
5
�Falmouth Public Library – Postcards from Falmouth
05:27
from the base and it was moved across
05:30
land
05:31
it took five days to get it to Nye Park
05:34
uh it they had some heavy rains it got
05:37
stuck in the mud
05:39
an axle broke
05:41
they had to take a day off because it
05:42
was Sunday and they needed a day of rest
05:44
so
05:45
after five days of of dragging this poor
05:47
building across they set it up on blocks
05:50
in the parking lot and there it sat
05:52
waiting for um town meeting to vote for
05:55
the money to um establish it as a
05:58
community center not a library in Nye
06:01
Park and
06:03
one of the stipulations was that there
06:06
would always be room in the in the
06:08
basement for storage of Park Department
06:11
uh tools
06:12
and I haven't been in the basement in a
06:14
long time but the last time I was there
06:16
there was still tools belonging to the
06:18
Parks Department in the basement
06:21
so finally it was it was turned over to
06:24
the library um
06:26
I think it was in
6
�Falmouth Public Library – Postcards from Falmouth
06:27
1960 a pardon me for having my
06:30
notes but when I get nervous I would
06:32
need notes to tell you what my name is
06:35
in 1964
06:37
the building was transferred to the
06:39
Trustees of the public library and it
06:41
became
06:42
a public library and at that same
06:45
location still is
06:46
today the East Falmouth Library is not
#eastfalmouthlibrary
06:49
as old it was established in 1935 in a
#1935
06:52
classroom in the
06:54
East Falmouth Elementary School
#eastfalmouthelementaryschool
06:57
and in 1943
#1943
07:01
they needed that space
07:02
for kindergarten and so the library was
07:05
closed and it remained closed until
07:08
1958 when the school was able to give
07:11
them space again
07:13
but it was clear that the East Falmouth
07:15
Library needed more room and so in
07:17
1971
07:19
the um town purchased the Vidal House
07:22
across from or by Mill Pond next to
07:25
Smitty's and
07:27
that's where the library is today well
07:30
that's really fascinating the the note
#1964
#1958
#1971
#millpond
7
�Falmouth Public Library – Postcards from Falmouth
07:32
especially about North Falmouth Library
07:34
that is not the origin I would have
07:35
expected for that building
07:38
and um what you said about
07:40
building uh the idea of building a Taj
07:42
Mahal is very interesting because
07:44
libraries obviously become very heavily
07:46
identified with the buildings they
07:48
inhabit but at the same time they're an
07:49
institution that's beyond a building
07:51
that has to
07:52
think about how to serve the public
07:55
so if
07:57
you could tell me a little bit about the
07:59
library's intentions in the community
08:01
especially things that you think other
08:02
people may not necessarily be aware of
08:04
if they’re just casual patrons
08:07
well it's it's interesting
08:10
the services library services are
08:11
changing
08:12
and um
08:14
again the need for space
08:17
is
08:17
the need for a library is is always
08:20
going to be there
08:22
it's just that the use of the existing
8
�Falmouth Public Library – Postcards from Falmouth
08:24
space will change
08:26
or be reconfigured to meet the changing
08:28
needs of the community and as as we're
08:31
all aware
08:32
a lot of the collections are becoming
08:34
digitized our current collection of DVDs
08:38
will slowly uh be phased out as as
08:42
we receive more of our um DVD watching
08:45
via video streaming we're buying a lot
08:47
of ebooks people are reading books
08:49
electronically the e-audiobooks it's a
08:52
big space grab in the library but new
08:56
cars are not even being equipped with CD
08:58
players so people are getting their
09:01
audio books through streaming and and
09:03
downloading them to their phones
09:05
I don't want to scare people we will
09:07
always have books we will always meet
09:08
the needs of the community and it's
09:10
interesting because we're a tourist
09:13
community and sometimes
09:16
our summer homes are not kept up
09:17
technology wise as
09:19
as as much as our main home so it's
09:23
important that we
09:24
we have it we still have a collection of
09:27
VHS tapes
9
�Falmouth Public Library – Postcards from Falmouth
09:29
they have got to be phased out there are
09:30
just a few people who are still using
09:32
VHS but
09:34
we'll hang in there as long as as there
09:36
is a need for it
09:39
the note about the rental homes is very
09:41
interesting because I can imagine people
09:43
um
09:44
there's a divide definitely between
09:45
people who interact with the libraries
09:47
locals and people who come back every
09:48
year as vacationers
09:51
and I would imagine they come back
09:52
expecting what they have seen for the
09:55
past five ten years maybe even their
09:57
whole childhoods
09:59
do you think that there's a difference
10:01
in the way the library serves
10:02
vacationers as opposed to locals in
10:04
terms of programming materials anything
10:06
like that well we certainly direct our
10:09
programming um which is
10:12
financed by
10:13
well the programs are financed by the
10:15
Friends of the Library and the Trustees
10:19
but we certainly
10:20
our main constituents are our tax-paying
10
�Falmouth Public Library – Postcards from Falmouth
10:24
residents of Falmouth but we we have a
10:26
real commitment to the tourists and we
10:28
do
10:29
allow borrowing and welcome them to the
10:32
library so
10:33
so
10:35
and and go out of our way to provide the
10:37
services that they need I was
10:39
talking with Jill Erickson and she was
10:42
telling she was showing me a letter from
10:44
some visitors from England who had
10:46
uh marveled over the the quilt that
10:48
hangs in the Reference Room and the
10:51
reference librarians gave them all kinds
10:53
of information about the quilt and even
10:55
found a poster an old poster of the
10:58
quilt which they took home and framed
11:00
and sent a photo back to us of of our
11:02
Falmouth quilts hanging on the wall in
11:04
their home in England so um
11:07
we always we meet the needs of the of
11:10
the public and
11:11
many times go above and beyond those
11:13
needs
11:15
the um speaking of the quilt that's very
11:17
interesting because
11:20
perhaps for some people it might fade
#jillerickson
11
�Falmouth Public Library – Postcards from Falmouth
11:21
into the background but the library
11:23
isn't just a home for
11:25
the materials that you would expect
11:26
there's also there's art there's other
11:29
things that are
11:30
in the collections that help to
11:33
preserve a picture of Falmouth as a
11:35
community not just
11:37
not just those informational materials
11:40
it's it's interesting because um
11:44
I found a quote from one of the original
11:46
Trustees of the library Reverend Henry
11:49
Smythe and he I’m going to have to read
11:50
this because I don't want to mix it up
11:53
he um said that the library should
11:55
gather and store materials related to
11:57
the history of the town and he talked
12:00
about old letters logbooks stories and
12:02
traditions
12:03
and he said specifically things that
12:05
have never been written down but which
12:08
are most important material for
12:09
understanding the town's life this is by
12:12
far the most valuable work a library can
12:14
do for a town
12:15
so yes our mission is beyond
12:19
current reading of fiction and that it
12
#henryherbertsmythe
�Falmouth Public Library – Postcards from Falmouth
12:20
is to preserve the history of the town
12:23
and this project they will that we're
12:25
working on Postcards from Falmouth
12:27
certainly meets um the desires of the
12:31
initial trustee who who would
12:34
greatly approve of what we're doing I’m
12:36
sure I would think so even though in the
12:39
way that um the idea of what the library
12:42
should be has changed there are some
12:44
things that um
12:45
that definitely haven't they still hold
12:47
strong
12:48
and
12:51
in terms of that obviously we've gone
12:52
through a period of a lot of upheaval in
12:55
the last couple of years or so so if you
12:57
could tell me a little bit about the
12:58
adaptations the library has had to make
13:00
to
13:01
things that might have otherwise been
13:03
considered iron-clad in order to deal
13:05
with the pandemic
13:06
oh during the pandemic
13:08
that that was a very interesting time
13:11
for us we had to rethink how we provided
13:15
library services
13:17
without people coming in the building
#postcardsfromfalmouth
#pandemic
13
�Falmouth Public Library – Postcards from Falmouth
13:19
we did a lot of home delivery we did
13:22
outside delivery of materials
13:25
people asked for they missed the
13:28
browsing so we loaded up book trucks and
13:30
brought books outside for people to
13:32
browse we
13:34
listened to the community to see what
13:36
they needed and what we could do to meet
13:39
those needs
13:40
one thing people missed was the
13:41
computers
13:43
and and
13:45
internet connectivity so we bought hotspots
13:48
that people could borrow we bought
13:50
Chromebooks that they could take home
13:52
um
13:54
we had to
13:55
be on our feet thinking fast and and
13:59
staying in touch with other CLAMS
14:00
libraries across the Cape
14:02
to get good ideas libraries are great
14:05
about sharing
14:07
and meeting the needs of everyone in
14:09
that way
14:10
we were lucky that
14:13
that we had already started down the
14:15
digitization path so we had a lot of
14
�Falmouth Public Library – Postcards from Falmouth
14:17
ebooks available for people
14:22
research that people would normally do
14:24
at the library is a lot more online and
14:26
I’m not talking about
14:28
Google
14:29
we had a wonderful digitization project
14:32
in 2012 using CPC funds
#cpc (Community Preservation
Committee)
14:36
and we digitized the Falmouth Enterprise
#falmouthenterprise
14:38
from January
14:40
of 1896 through
14:43
December of 1962 we
14:46
had to stop in 62 because there was a
14:49
requirement that um only historic
14:52
records could be
14:54
digitized so it had to be from 2012 when
14:57
we did the project back 50 years
15:00
we're looking we're working with the
15:01
Boston Public Library to complete that
15:03
digitization project
15:05
and the the Falmouth Enterprise is such
15:08
a wealth of information about the town
15:11
this is one of the the best things we
15:13
did it really is it's um
15:16
there's so much research so much you can
15:18
learn about that one thing I learned in
15:20
looking at the Falmouth Enterprise was
15:22
that there was a a crime that took place
15
#bostonpubliclibrary
�Falmouth Public Library – Postcards from Falmouth
15:25
in the library in December of 1943
15:29
the librarians came in to find that the
15:31
library had been broken into
15:33
and a set of historic stamps had been
15:36
stolen
15:37
and he'd come in through the basement
15:40
window and taken the displays off the
15:42
wall
15:44
and one of the librarians had remembered
15:46
a gentleman in army fatigue studying the
15:49
stamps the week before
15:51
and so she was able to give a
15:53
description of him to the police
15:55
and the police went to the base and
15:58
talked to the librarian there and she
16:00
said oh yes
16:01
a
16:02
gentleman had borrowed
16:04
the six books they had on the value of
16:06
stamps
16:08
prior to our break-in so they
16:11
they went and uh
16:13
arrested him
16:14
and he had
16:16
packaged the stamps up in a box and
16:18
buried them in his mother's garden in
16:20
Framingham
16
�Falmouth Public Library – Postcards from Falmouth
16:22
and they were retrieved
16:24
unharmed but the beautiful frames they
16:27
were in um
16:28
apparently he thought this would
16:30
identify the stamps with Falmouth so he
16:32
stopped on the Bourne Bridge and threw
16:34
them in the Canal
16:35
so those were not recovered but it's
16:38
stories like these that um that you
16:40
wouldn't know from uh
16:42
it would be too hard to go back through
16:44
microfilm and and learn about it I’ve
16:47
looked uh
16:48
that's not the end of the stamp story
16:50
I’m trying to figure out what happened
16:52
to the stamps and I’ve talked to the
16:53
Historical Society and
16:55
talked to people in the library but that
16:58
timeframe 1943 is just far enough back
17:01
that there isn't
17:02
uh memory of the event so I’m I haven't
17:06
given up though I’m still going to keep
17:07
looking to try and find the end of that
17:09
story
17:10
that is a really interesting little saga
17:13
maybe a sign or a I hate to say a
17:15
symptom but when you
#falmouthhistoricalsociety
17
�Falmouth Public Library – Postcards from Falmouth
17:17
have a an institution that's really
17:19
supposed to be a clearinghouse and a
17:21
place for as many people from the public
17:23
to come and be served and to gather
17:25
strange things happen yes for sure
17:28
and um
17:30
thinking of the the steps that the
17:32
library has taken to adapt to the
17:33
pandemic
17:34
do you
17:35
see any of those things carrying forward
17:38
has the patron response been to to hang
17:41
on to these things or they want to go
17:42
back to the way things were
17:44
absolutely library services are forever
17:47
morphing um we would never step
17:49
backwards and um library home delivery
17:53
is really uh important we have a a
17:56
homebound librarian who
18:00
people can register with and she will
18:02
deliver books to them and
18:04
she develops a real personal
18:05
relationship with the people that she
18:07
serves and she knows what books they
18:08
like she makes recommendations and
18:12
that's something that's certainly
18:14
ongoing it happened before the pandemic
18
�Falmouth Public Library – Postcards from Falmouth
18:16
but during the pandemic we expanded it a
18:19
bit I would
18:22
on several occasions I would stop at
18:24
people's homes with the instruction to
18:26
put the books underneath the back cover
18:28
of the pickup truck in the driveway or
18:31
or put the the bag of books in the
18:33
mailbox after the mail delivery that
18:35
came at four o'clock so it was kind of
18:37
uh kind of fun making sure that people
18:39
still had the reading material that they
18:42
desired
18:43
uh at that time of course we've always
18:46
done a phone-in reference service um ask
18:49
a librarian so a lot of the services
18:52
were there we just needed to ramp them
18:54
up a little bit
18:57
I would imagine that that kind of thing
18:59
really puts you up close and personal
19:00
with the the texture of people's lives
19:02
because people bring strange questions
19:04
to the library
19:06
they do
19:07
they do
19:09
that that would be a better question for
19:11
a reference librarian I know Jill has
19:13
her favorite questions
19
�Falmouth Public Library – Postcards from Falmouth
19:15
and um
19:18
they're not interesting stories are not
19:20
coming to my mind right now
19:23
I would like to talk about the um the
19:25
Postcards though the
19:27
Postcards from Falmouth is a
19:31
a grant funded project
19:33
and
19:34
why postcards and Falmouth and this is
19:37
an interesting story
19:41
some years ago
19:42
my husband and I were having
19:44
dinner at the Quarterdeck and a woman
19:47
that we knew
19:49
from the Falmouth Road Race and the
19:51
Falmouth Mile enough to say hello to
19:52
Doris Beatty was seated next to us so we
19:55
said hello she was
19:56
dining with a a friend
19:59
and the next night
20:00
we were at the Flying Bridge for dinner
#quarterdeck
#falmouthroadrace
#flyingbridge
Gunning_Village_Bldg_0377
through 0383
20:03
while we were having dinner two nights
20:04
in a row I don't know that's enough
20:06
that's a whole other story but seated
20:09
next to us was Doris Beatty and her friend
20:11
and so we teased them that they
20
�Falmouth Public Library – Postcards from Falmouth
20:14
were following us and we got talking
20:16
with them and um her friend Mr. Hunt
20:19
Robert Hunt
20:20
told me that he had been stationed here
20:23
during the war and had started a
20:25
collection of postcards about Falmouth
20:28
and would we be interested in having
20:29
them and I said absolutely so he came
20:32
with 600 postcards and we scanned them
20:35
and put them up on our our website and
20:38
they were we're really lucky in Falmouth
20:40
because um as a tourist town there are a
20:43
lot of postcards about Falmouth if
20:45
you're not a tourist community you might
20:47
have a handful of postcards but Falmouth
20:50
has lots as we found out
20:53
Mr. Gunning came in the library after
20:55
seeing the
20:57
Hunt collection and said that his mother
20:59
Anita Gunning had collected postcards
21:01
for years and would we be interested in
21:03
hers he brought in 1800 postcards
21:07
from about Falmouth so with volunteers
21:10
and staff we scanned the front and back
21:13
of those
21:14
postcards and then most recently a
21:17
gentleman in Falmouth Gareth Jennings
#robertchunt
21
#anitagunning
#garethjennings
�Falmouth Public Library – Postcards from Falmouth
21:20
brought in his collection and so we
21:22
scanned them so we have
21:25
well over 3000 postcards of Falmouth
21:28
scanned and you you might think there'd
21:29
be a lot of duplication yes there is
21:31
some
21:32
but um there are different time frames
21:34
the different collections of different
21:36
time frames so we're constantly finding
21:38
new postcards
21:40
and postcards you know what what do we
21:41
do with them well it's been really
21:43
interesting we had a creative writing
21:45
program where people chose a postcard
21:48
and wrote a story about it
21:50
um
21:51
this project Postcards from Falmouth to
21:54
to look at postcard locations across the
21:57
town and
21:58
film people's memory of that location
22:02
I had an interesting question from a
22:04
patron he was looking through our
22:06
postcards and came across one
22:09
where someone had written on the front
22:11
of the card “why so quiet,” signed Marie
22:15
and this this was the first batch that
22:17
we had scanned and we hadn't done the
22
Hunt_Village_Bch_093
�Falmouth Public Library – Postcards from Falmouth
22:19
front and back just the front and he
22:21
wondered if there was any more to this
22:22
question on the back of the card
22:25
so I looked and on the back of the card
22:26
was just the address and the postcard
22:29
had been sent to
22:31
a Julia Quiring in Boston so I looked
22:34
her up to see what I could find out and
22:36
she was a most interesting woman
22:37
fascinating she was a Boston Brahmin a
22:40
hat designer
22:42
her brother was an artist who did
22:44
frescoes in the theaters in in Boston
22:48
and she lived to be 108 which so
22:51
impressed me
22:52
I did find two other postcards addressed
22:55
not to her but to her sister Anna so
22:58
every time we get a new collection I go
22:59
through to see if there are any more
23:01
postcards written to this family but I
23:03
think
23:03
I think that's probably all we've heard
23:05
from the Quirings
23:07
I think that's a really a great example
23:09
of the idea of what we're trying to do
23:11
with the project being to use these
23:13
ephemera to capture moments
#juliaquiring
23
�Falmouth Public Library – Postcards from Falmouth
23:16
in history and in people's memories
23:18
because that's where the really
23:19
interesting particulars are and it's
23:22
also a great visual history of the town
23:25
I was so impressed with the postcards of
23:28
the train stations in North Falmouth
23:31
when when the main uh
23:33
means of transport to Falmouth was
23:35
trains and there it was a huge huge uh
23:38
depot in North Falmouth you wouldn't
23:40
think there'd be room for it but I think
23:42
it was mostly in the area where the
23:44
parking is for the uh for the ferries
23:46
now but quite fascinating
23:49
and nowadays it's kind of an element of
23:50
the landscape that's either been
23:52
effaced totally or really pushed into the
23:54
background yeah so having that record is
23:57
it's valuable but also like you said it
23:59
really provokes people's curiosity and
24:01
leads them down interesting paths yeah
24:04
and to that point as we wrap up is there
24:06
anything that you want to
24:08
say to people about the library
24:10
yes I always am happy to talk about the
24:12
library
24:14
the library appropriation is only 1.5
Hunt_North_Bldg_403 & 404
24
�Falmouth Public Library – Postcards from Falmouth
24:18
percent of the town budget and it is um
24:22
a real deal for the for the residents of
24:25
Falmouth the um
24:28
there is so much to offer at the main
24:30
library the East Branch the North Branch
24:33
but also the West Falmouth Library and
24:35
the Woods Hole Library all open to the
24:38
public all offering different programs
24:40
and services there’s truly
24:42
something for everyone at the Falmouth
24:45
Public Library
24:47
and our our our two private libraries
24:49
that are still open to the public
24:52
well that's wonderful thank you for
24:53
coming thank you for having me
24:55
[Music]
25
�
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Transcript of Linda Collins' Oral History on Falmouth Public Library
1879
1889
1891
1901
1935
1943
1955
1958
1964
1967
1971
2007
Anita Gunning
Anna Lee
Beebe
Boston Public Library
COVID-19
CPC
East Falmouth Elementary School
East Falmouth Library
Esther Beebe
Falmouth Enterprise
Falmouth Historical Society
Falmouth Public Library
Falmouth Road Race
Flying Bridge
Gareth Jennings
Henry Herbert Smythe
Jill Erickson
julia quiring
Linda Collins
mill pond
north falmouth congregational church
North Falmouth Library
north falmouth village association
nye park
oral history
pandemic
Postcards from Falmouth
quarterdeck
robert c. hunt jr.
transcript