Historical Paintings of Woods Hole and Falmouth by F. L. Gifford
Eeling through the Ice, 1864
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Although eeling is no longer rewarding there are occasions even in the generally milder winters of modern times when the Eel Pond freezes over solidly enough for skating and sail boating. The buildings behind the men eeling front on Water, or Main Street. These buildings are from left to right: Braddock Gifford's Blacksmith Shop (15), the Coopering Shop (14), the Rake House (13), and the "Stone Building" or Candle Factory (11). The Candle Factory (11) remains but the other buildings are now gone. All are described in greater detail under painting 14: The Water Front at Woods Hole, 1870.
To the right of the men eeling and the skaters is an ice boat rigged with a "Woods Hole spritsail" which could be dropped to the deck readily for passage under the low wood and later stone bridges then across Eel Pond entrance. A very few spritsail rigs are still in existence. The familiar granite block now in front of the Community Hall, bearing the inscription "Woods Holl, 1879", was once a keystone of the stone bridge.
The text above is from Historical Paintings of Woods Hole, by Franklin Lewis Gifford (Woods Hole Public Library, 1962). The numbers in parentheses refer to Gifford's "Map of Woods Hole as of 1845," which you can see by clicking here.