A History Mystery
by Susan F. Witzell In January 2014, our director Jennifer Gaines received a phone call from Jeff Sauvé, Associate Norwegian-American Historical Association Archivist from Northfield Minnesota. He had been given ...
The Younger Joseph Story Fay
By Susan F. Witzell, Archivist Joseph Story Fay, August 25, 1896, in Woods Hole. Photograph by Baldwin Coolidge. When I published the first-ever biography of our earliest summer resident, Joseph ...
Train Stations and Ferry Terminals in Woods Hole
by Susan F. Witzell The Old Colony Railroad, originating in Boston, was extended from Monument Beach in what is now Bourne to Woods Hole during the years 1870 to ...
The Old Stone House Rejoins The Old Candle House – or Why I Love Archivists
by Mark Foster “View Across Eel Pond No. 3” (usually titled “MBL Site”). Photo by Baldwin Coolidge, ca. 1893. Courtesy MBL Archives. I could tell you stories about ...
Fishmonger Restaurant and Other Restaurants at the Bridge…
By Susan F. Witzell, Archivist I was asked to write something about the history of the Fishmonger, the restaurant which has been in existence since the early 1970s at ...
Blacksmiths in Quissett and Woods Hole
by Susan F. Witzell Braddock Gifford (1791-1873) worked as a blacksmith in Quissett in the early 1800s. There was a small shipbuilding works there and he made hardware for the ...
Exhibits at the Museum through the Years
A list of exhibits at our Museum over the years. The first exhibit of the Woods Hole Historical Museum was held in 1974 in Endeavor House on School Street. The following year, in 1975, an exhibit was held at Fisher House on Church Street.
Permanent Exhibit – Scale model of Woods Hole Village in 1895
This impressive, room-size model of Woods Hole Village in 1895 was crafted by 37 museum volunteers in 1982. The year 1895 was chosen because most present-day activities had begun about this time: ferries to the islands, scientific research and summer tourism.
Historic Ice Houses
Electric home refrigerators didn't begin to replace home ice boxes until the 1920s and to keep things in those ice boxes cold, one needed ice. Here in the northeast, much of that ice was cut from ponds that froze over in the winter. The ice was cut and then stacked in ice houses to be used throughout the year. During summer of 2015 one of the exhibits at the Woods Hole Historical Museum told the story of the ice and the ice houses that were found around the shores of many of the ponds in Falmouth. Much of what was on display in that exhibit is now online and can be viewed by clicking here.
Woods Hole Women of a Certain Age
This online exhibit is devoted to Women of Woods Hole over age 75. Joan Pearlman and Sally Casper photographed approximately 115 women and the photographs are paired with short autobiographical sketches. Some of the women are summer residents and visitors, others are year-rounders. Some are scientists, others are artists. Some are associated with MBL, others with WHOI. Most have been parents and home-makers. All love Woods Hole.