1 10 2 https://d1y502jg6fpugt.cloudfront.net/32209/archive/files/4ac4148308671c4683faf3731ccc4245.jpg?Expires=1773878400&Signature=r-VDK85ZF0SWULqV16BrA3bzRtvUVXu6pCApUEOjIFrQ-Qeag%7EVDe6aCIE1xQwyl4caYFHUD%7E23a99K223FbMP5NvHNlHDkrgnYTK6RlJnGebWrimKwxkuMrdW79H0u4OCGLvayl43MzrFe1gw5IVbyuQDzeZqOMcW6VjpDkLgLW2-tJ77KG8DNaGcrO6GddNS431RoiN9uax515DepCb55O30NOE9HY%7EuP-SrNQrRn3nGyIMX%7EGmEJK8k1eORwjss8uTu8DW4sR2CZULrfeqAThOBIwOu2WxRcjwIrvXb74aGSJY-M6d8GjFyyajTCxRj0I4cSKYa3W5Tv9LsncQg__&Key-Pair-Id=K6UGZS9ZTDSZM 5801989b2dcb8cb1a30475c67c9add00 Dublin Core The Dublin Core metadata element set is common to all Omeka records, including items, files, and collections. For more information see, http://dublincore.org/documents/dces/. Title A name given to the resource Falmouth Historical Postcard Collection Description An account of the resource The Library's combined collection of over 2000 postcards are gifts from Robert C. Hunt, Jr. and Anita Gunning. They now reside in the <a href="https://www.digitalcommonwealth.org/collections/commonwealth:1257c7549">Digital Commonwealth</a>, which provides public access to collections of images, documents, and sound recordings held by many local libraries in Massachusetts. Visit the Postcards from Falmouth digital exhibit, <a href="https://falmouthpubliclibrary.omeka.net/exhibits/show/postcards-from-falmouth">NOTES ON FALMOUTH HISTORY</a> , to view more postcards and to learn more about--and add to--our local story. By clicking on the image of the postcard, you can share your recollections, stories, or any historical information in the comment section. To discover more local history resources, visit the <a href="https://falmouth-public.clamsnet.org">Library catalog</a>, or for more information about the postcards, <a href="http://www.falmouthpubliclibrary.org/">visit our website</a>, email, or call us: fpldigital@falmouthpubliclibrary.org (508) 457 2555 x2951 Creator An entity primarily responsible for making the resource <a href="http://www.falmouthpubliclibrary.org/">Falmouth Public Library</a> Source A related resource from which the described resource is derived <a href="https://www.digitalcommonwealth.org/collections/commonwealth:1257c7549">Click here to see the full postcard collection in the Digital Commonwealth</a> Rights Information about rights held in and over the resource Please contact the Librarian. Still Image A static visual representation. Examples include paintings, drawings, graphic designs, plans and maps. Recommended best practice is to assign the type Text to images of textual materials. Original Format The type of object, such as painting, sculpture, paper, photo, and additional data Postcard Physical Dimensions The actual physical size of the original image 9 x 14 cm Dublin Core The Dublin Core metadata element set is common to all Omeka records, including items, files, and collections. For more information see, http://dublincore.org/documents/dces/. Title A name given to the resource Mill Road from the Shore Drive looking North, Falmouth, Mass. Description An account of the resource Front scan of a historic postcard of Mill Road in Falmouth, Mass. Card is unused. Creator An entity primarily responsible for making the resource J.E. Josselyn Source A related resource from which the described resource is derived Anita Gunning Postcard Collection Date A point or period of time associated with an event in the lifecycle of the resource [ca. 1900–1999] Format The file format, physical medium, or dimensions of the resource jpg Language A language of the resource English Type The nature or genre of the resource Postcard Identifier An unambiguous reference to the resource within a given context Gunning_Village_Sts_0003 Anita Gunning Postcard Collection Dwight Estate Mill Road postcards https://d1y502jg6fpugt.cloudfront.net/32209/archive/files/711313d8d19e1098bfb3913ede658fee.pdf?Expires=1773878400&Signature=Yd%7EtVwKGFWHuPXN%7EmM2N1h7XrUqIYPm5NkQ81CckihkHfXf8JQrPyj1sXwdv9xQ3zx9k0RB-YGf07w2IB-i0OHFbCIB44zKC1TPknspypBfoiqIVV9EEDiKjMGp%7EO1%7EbU8b6b8M2gm6eFDStmQgT04PdI7-v3R0NV4aj5YepxDvTvqTDffh3kPekijLmJdrYwfwqdWDXZBnJxBG1eaUD%7E60OgU9NZiQLKhEYUlk7qlcqE2NZX-5r8mZfphJfDUpuTCKbWgMrA2UH6TdVYZBgT7ST8cM2%7E0aJgZp-HvpuTWAVzil2%7EI7BmYTI20bTddor2ywprb8Z3u2Zl8ni9i6JyA__&Key-Pair-Id=K6UGZS9ZTDSZM 788871ec90d476713f73a62c656d53df PDF Text Text Falmouth Public Library – Postcards from Falmouth Postcards from Falmouth Oral History Transcript Recorded: March 3, 2020 Oral Historian: William Swift Interviewer: Barbara Kanellopoulos Topic: Dwight Estate Note: The right column references postcards by identifiers searchable in the Digital Commonwealth online collection. 00:00 [Music] 00:45 I am Barbara Kanellopoulos 00:47 and Bill Swift is going to talk about 00:51 the Dwight Estate on Mill Road and the #dwightestate #millroad Gunning_Village_Sts_0001 through 0016 Hunt_Village_Sts_075 through 178 00:54 history of that 00:56 building thank you Bill you're welcome 01:00 uh I’ll try to bring you up to date a 01:04 little bit on the uh 01:07 the house uh back in 01:10 1882 or 3 01:14 John E. Dwight who was the CEO #johndwight 01:18 of Arm and Hammer soda #armandhammer 01:22 baking company and he decided 01:26 to build a summer cottage for his family 01:30 and in 01:34 1884 or so he brought his family from 01:38 Princeton New Jersey down to Falmouth 01:42 and back in those days when houses were 01:46 built along the waterfront 1 #1884 �Falmouth Public Library – Postcards from Falmouth 01:48 they actually owned the land right 01:51 to the waterfront so he ended up 01:54 owning the beach front and right to the 01:57 water 01:58 in front of his his house and 02:02 he built a beach house on the beach at 02:04 the end of his property 02:06 which is still standing today it's the 02:08 first house you see it's up on stilts 02:11 but it's still there and 02:15 he also built a big carriage house 02:18 down at the other end the north end of 02:20 his property which is still standing 02:23 today 02:25 and he was quite a land owner he owned 02:28 quite a lot of land in Falmouth 02:31 he owned the property down on Locust 02:34 Street right 02:36 as you hit Mill Road on the left there 02:39 was a farm in there and that was his 02:41 farm 02:42 he lived in a farmhouse in the fall and 02:45 spring 02:46 of the year when he probably didn't have 02:48 heat in the mansion he used to live in 02:50 the farmhouse 02:52 and on that property they had 02:55 two other houses and a few outbuildings 02:59 and a big barn which is still there 03:02 today and 2 #locuststreet �Falmouth Public Library – Postcards from Falmouth 03:04 they are now remodeling the house but 03:08 he owned that property and 03:11 down Locust Street across from a 03:14 7-Eleven store where the 03:16 Cape Cod Apartments are now he owned #capecodapartments the 03:20 land from there 03:21 all the way back to Siders Pond which 03:24 was quite a big 03:26 big piece of land and when we were boys 03:29 we used to play baseball out on the 03:31 field there there 03:32 was a mowed field 03:35 right next to Barbara Jones's house 03:37 which I think 03:39 was included on his property at that 03:41 time 03:42 but he uh also owned 03:47 two houses in Belvidere Plains and 03:51 a piece of property next to the 03:54 Catholic church on Main Street with #siderspond #belvidereplain #mainstreet #saintpatrickschurch Gunning_Village_Sts_0017 through 0041 03:58 where the nursing home is today he owned 04:00 that property 04:02 and in 1921 04:06 he built a hotel in there called the 04:09 Terrace Gables 04:11 uh excuse me Column Terrace and #1921 #columnterrace 3 �Falmouth Public Library – Postcards from Falmouth 04:14 he ran the hotel for 04:17 six or seven years and then he sold it 04:19 to someone else who 04:21 bought it and then eventually they put a 04:24 nursing home in there 04:25 but that was his property 04:28 and he also was a 04:31 shareholder and one of five board 04:34 members 04:35 on the mushroom plant that was on 04:38 Gifford 04:39 Gifford Street across from the Hunt_Village_Bldg_030 #giffordstreet #coonamessettinn Coonamessett 04:42 Inn where 04:43 Homeport is now and 04:46 he was running he ran that for a while 04:50 or he was on the board for a while and 04:53 eventually it 04:54 went out of business but he was also 04:58 involved in the 05:01 racetrack the Trotting Park racetrack 05:05 he was an original member of the 05:07 Falmouth 05:08 gentleman's racing club 05:12 and I have happened to find in 05:16 in my home where I lived a stock 05:19 certificate of his 05:21 back in the day when he belonged to the 05:24 racing club 05:26 and Sundays they would have a trotting #homeport #trottingpark 4 �Falmouth Public Library – Postcards from Falmouth 05:28 race 05:29 and that was a big entertainment in 05:31 those days 05:34 and a lot of people attended 05:37 and he also was an early member of the 05:39 Woods Hole Golf Club #woodsholegolfclub 05:41 back in 1899 when they first #1899 05:46 built the club it only had nine holes 05:49 then but 05:50 a few wealthy men in town wanted to play 05:53 golf and they had no place to play so 05:55 they 05:56 they started the club 06:00 and when he brought his wife 06:03 and family down 06:06 his wife liked peace quiet and solitude 06:11 so he decided to build her 06:14 an island on Salt Pond #saltpond Gunning_Village_Sts_0010 through 0016 06:18 so she had her own little island which 06:21 is still there today 06:23 and she could go out there and bring a 06:25 chair or bench or whatever and 06:27 sit read and meditate and 06:30 have her own private time and 06:34 they had two daughters one was 06:37 Ruth and one was Janet Ruth married 06:41 Albert McVitty and Janet 06:44 married Frank Nicholson and 5 �Falmouth Public Library – Postcards from Falmouth 06:49 they lived they lived there they 06:52 actually 06:52 the Ruth and and Albert McVitty 06:55 eventually 06:56 bought the property why I guess 07:00 Mr. Dwight might have died and the estate 07:03 was 07:04 uh trying to be settled when they 07:08 they bought the house and used it for 07:10 their family in the summer 07:13 and uh 07:18 I can't remember exactly when 07:22 I think that was in 1921 07:25 they they uh they bought the house from 07:29 the estate 07:31 and well 07:36 because I think I’m going to 07:39 you may want to cut it a second um 07:44 Bill and maybe it strikes me that um 07:47 Bill that um Mr. Dwight was quite 07:50 influential 07:52 in the town uh doings in at Town Hall 07:56 would 07:56 would you think that he had quite a lot 07:59 to say about how 08:00 the town was run yes 08:03 he did I think he was on some 08:07 quite a few boards and 08:10 at one time uh there was a group of men 08:14 who who decided that Salt Pond would be 6 �Falmouth Public Library – Postcards from Falmouth 08:18 a great place for Falmouth Harbor #falmouthharbor Hunt_Village_Har_103 through 120 Gunning_Heights_Har_1320 through 1334 08:21 because the Old Stone Dock #oldstonedock Gunning_Village_Har_0173 through 0188 Hunt_Village_Bch_0089 through 0095 08:23 was not large enough anymore to handle 08:27 the boating traffic and he and some 08:30 other 08:32 influential gentlemen went to the 08:35 legislature and tried to get 08:37 the permit to build a harbor 08:41 well that was fine except that would 08:43 mean 08:44 the road would have to be detoured 08:47 because you couldn't you couldn't have a 08:50 bridge it would be too 08:52 inconvenient so the road plan was to go 08:56 up to Elm Road 08:57 through the moors and down Elm Road uh 09:01 to the beach and that didn't sit too 09:04 well with some of the 09:06 landowners up in the moors and that was 09:10 quickly squelched so that deal fell 09:12 through 09:14 and they did talk about Siders Pond 09:17 being a harbor because it was right to #elmroad 7 �Falmouth Public Library – Postcards from Falmouth 09:20 the middle of the town where the 09:22 town hall is today but 09:26 that was too much it was too far to 09:28 dredge a channel so 09:30 they ended up at uh Falmouth Harbor 09:33 where it is today 09:39 I suspect that the joint the Dwight’s had 09:42 some 09:42 rather influential neighbors too they 09:45 did the house across the street 09:48 belonged to Richard Olney #richardolney 09:52 who was secretary of state to Grover #grovercleveland 09:55 Cleveland President Grover Cleveland 09:58 and I think he used to invite them down 10:01 and take them out on fishing 10:02 trips the President and 10:06 they had a lovely estate across the 10:08 street and the Minot family 10:10 finally ended up owning that property 10:15 but down the street there was quite a 10:18 few 10:19 uh wealthy people wealthy estates 10:23 and there was a Spalding house #spalding 10:27 and Harding and #harding 10:30 there was the E. E. Swift house #swift 10:34 and uh Emery Leland owned #leland 10:38 a big house big estate there and these 10:41 were big estates which 10:43 where Salt Pond Road goes in it's the 10:46 loop in there #minot #saltpondroad 8 �Falmouth Public Library – Postcards from Falmouth 10:47 that was one estate and they 10:52 after the war uh housing was 10:55 critical and so these estates were 10:58 bought and and developed 11:01 now the farm that you spoke of was that 11:04 a working farm 11:07 I think he it was a working farm for his 11:09 own use 11:10 I think I don't think that was a 11:12 commercial 11:14 but it was probably a hobby farm but he 11:17 did have a huge 11:19 barn there that took quite a lot of uh 11:22 carriages or horses or whatever he 11:24 wanted in there 11:26 and he also 11:29 as I mentioned he owned the carriage 11:33 house down on 11:34 on Mill Road and he had a caretaker 11:39 that used to come down and take care of 11:41 his property that lived 11:43 in the carriage house and his name was 11:46 George Gammons and he was a Swedish 11:49 gentleman 11:51 and very friendly and when we were boys 11:55 we used to walk to the beach every day 11:58 in the summer 11:59 and outside his house outside the 12:03 carriage house 12:04 he had a Doberman Pinscher dog 9 �Falmouth Public Library – Postcards from Falmouth 12:07 chained up to a leash on the yard and 12:10 every time we walked by 12:11 he was straining at that leash to get it 12:15 we were scared to death of that dog but 12:18 he was friendly and he befriended us and 12:22 I think I was around 12 years old at the 12:24 time and he taught us how to fish 12:27 because at night when his duties were 12:30 over at five or six o'clock 12:32 he had free time and he'd go down to the 12:34 beach 12:36 and cast off the beach and catch fish 12:39 and we were young kids and didn't know 12:42 too much about it but 12:43 he taught us a lot about fishing and 12:45 we'd go down there and meet him 12:47 and go fishing and 12:50 when the when Mr. Dwight died 12:55 in his will he had left George 12:58 life rights to live in that carriage 13:01 house 13:02 and so as the years went by 13:09 actually in 1938 #1938 13:12 we had a big hurricane and it destroyed #hurricane 13:15 the main house 13:17 and the parking lot and they rebuilt it 13:21 and during the 13:24 the war years I think in 1943 13:28 the government leased the house for 13:31 housing 10 �Falmouth Public Library – Postcards from Falmouth 13:32 because Camp Edwards was being built #campedwards and Gunning_Hatchville_Miltry_0557 through 0561 13:35 was growing and they didn't have place 13:37 for family so they actually had eight 13:41 married couples living in that house 13:44 during the war until 1944 13:48 when the next hurricane came and 13:51 destroyed the house again 13:54 and this time they didn't rebuild it 13:57 they said 13:58 enough's enough so that is when 14:03 I think in 1945 the Town of Falmouth 14:06 wanted to extend 14:08 the beach and so from the beach house 14:11 down at Old Stone Dock 14:13 they bought the beach front all the way 14:15 down 14:16 to his property where his first beach 14:19 house was 14:21 and so the town owns that today and they 14:26 they also after the 14:29 hurricane the town wanted to buy the 14:32 land for 14:33 a parking lot for the beach so 14:37 that's why the parking lot is there now 14:40 but 14:41 they couldn't do anything with the 14:44 carriage house because of 14:46 the life rights so #1944 11 �Falmouth Public Library – Postcards from Falmouth 14:49 the town owned halfway down to the 14:52 carriage house and the carriage house 14:53 was separate 14:55 and back in 1980 15:00 I think it must have been when uh Mr. 15:04 Gammons died 15:05 because one day my wife and I were 15:08 walking by and we saw a for sale sign 15:10 out in front of the carriage house 15:13 and it was kind of in 15:17 disrepair because no one had lived in it 15:19 for years 15:20 it was strictly a summer house with no 15:22 heat 15:23 and no insulation but my wife said 15:27 why don't we look at it and I said are 15:29 you crazy 15:31 and we know the reality and 15:35 we did take a look at it and we decided 15:39 we fell in love with it the the sunsets 15:42 were just 15:42 gorgeous and we decided 15:47 we would take a chance and buy it and we 15:52 did 16:06 [Music] #1980 12 � Dublin Core The Dublin Core metadata element set is common to all Omeka records, including items, files, and collections. For more information see, http://dublincore.org/documents/dces/. Title A name given to the resource Postcards from Falmouth Oral Histories Description An account of the resource A collection of transcribed oral history interviews from the Postcards from Falmouth project, 2020-23. Postcards from Falmouth is a local history project made possible by a Library Services Technology Act grant administered by the Massachusetts Board of Library Commissioners. Creator An entity primarily responsible for making the resource Falmouth Public Library Format The file format, physical medium, or dimensions of the resource pdf Language A language of the resource English Contributor An entity responsible for making contributions to the resource Falmouth Public Library Text A resource consisting primarily of words for reading. Examples include books, letters, dissertations, poems, newspapers, articles, archives of mailing lists. Note that facsimiles or images of texts are still of the genre Text. Dublin Core The Dublin Core metadata element set is common to all Omeka records, including items, files, and collections. For more information see, http://dublincore.org/documents/dces/. Title A name given to the resource William Swift's Oral History on the Dwight Estate Subject The topic of the resource John E. Dwight Estate, Falmouth, Mass. Creator An entity primarily responsible for making the resource Falmouth Public Library (Falmouth, Mass.) Source A related resource from which the described resource is derived Postcards from Falmouth Publisher An entity responsible for making the resource available Falmouth Public Library (Falmouth, Mass.) Contributor An entity responsible for making contributions to the resource William Swift Barbara Kanellopoulos Falmouth Community Television Falmouth Public Library Format The file format, physical medium, or dimensions of the resource pdf Language A language of the resource English Type The nature or genre of the resource Video transcript Date A point or period of time associated with an event in the lifecycle of the resource March 3, 2020 1884 1899 1921 1938 1944 1980 Arm and Hammer Barbara Kanellopoulos Belvidere Plain Camp Edwards Cape Cod Apartments Column Terrace Coonamessett Inn Dwight Estate Elm Road Falmouth Harbor Falmouth Main Street Gifford Street Grover Cleveland Harding Homeport hurricane John Dwight Leland Locust Street Mill Road Minot Old Stone Dock oral history Postcards from Falmouth Richard Olney Saint Patrick's Church Salt Pond Salt Pond Road Siders Pond Spalding Swift (family) transcript Trotting Park William Swift Woods Hole Golf Club