Historical Paintings of Woods Hole and Falmouth by F. L. Gifford

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This painting of Juniper Point or Parker's Neck as it was then known, represents Little Harbor in the year 1860. Mr. Gifford painted it in 1902. The land in the distance left of center is Nonamessett Island and a portion of Naushon Island. On the right in the background is the end of Long Neck, now Penzance Point. In the foreground is Little Neck as it was known in 1677, or Parker's Point, or Parker's Neck after its owner Joseph Parker.

The stone wharf and store (47) at the left was owned by Colonel Bourne. The wharf was the landing place of the New Bedford and Martha's Vineyard steamboat. The next building to the right on the wharf is the chain shed of the U. S. Lighthouse Service and the long building was the buoy storehouse. The house (46) at the extreme left behind the wharf and under the hill was the home of Captain Thomas Hinckley. It was bought by the Cranes. For a number of years it was occupied by the caretaker, Mr. John Tait, until it was partially demolished by the hurricane of 1944, and razed soon after. An older Hinckley house stood adjacent to it on the north, the home of Captain Hinckley's parents who were old-time settlers. This was torn down by Mr. Crane in 1910.

In the next lot eastward along the shore still stands the old Nymphas Phinney house (occupied by Captain Phinney and his wife Phoebe, and by his parents) an ancient structure with building date unknown. From this family it went to Julia McKean, and thence to Wallace K. Butler who rented it to various families for many years. It is now the property of Mr. Richard T. Crane. In the photographic reproduction of the painting these houses are indistinct and difficult to distinguish.

East of this house was the home of Captain Elihu Fish (45) built by him in 1846. It was later owned by John O. Crane, and currently by Mrs. Laurence B. Packard.

The house (44) among the willow trees directly behind the long building in the buoy yard is the home of Captain Calvin Childs, built for him in 1828 by Edmund Davis. It was bought later by Arnold Vedeler, then Mr. Crane, and is presently the home of Frederick C. Fuglister.

The next house, on the hill, was built and owned by Leonard Dexter, a whaling captain from Nantucket. As recently as 1910 or 1911 it was operated as a hotel, the “Dexter House”. It was demolished around 1911.

The larger building on this same hill and to the north (43) was built for John Webster who intended to rent it to a certain Mr. Ticknor of Boston during the summer seasons. However Mr. Ticknor was called to Europe, so Mr. Webster made it his own year-round residence. The house was later used as a hotel which burned in 1875

The next house on the shore by Little Harbor road was built by Edmund Davis in 1846 (therefore not mapped) for a Mr. Ash. Delilah Davis kept this as a boarding house and it was afterwards owned by Jabez Davis, W. O. Luscombe, and lately by George P. Woollard. The next house to the north (not mapped) was built for Thomas Swift, son of Elijah Swift, shipowner of Falmouth. It was used as a store, run by Thomas Swift. This building was bought from Mr. Swift by Captain Robinson Hatch, who rebuilt it as a dwelling. This house is now owned by Mrs. John A. Christian.

The house immediately south of the large tree (not mapped) was built for Elijah Swift as a residence for his son, Thomas. Some of the persons who have lived here are: Captain Joseph Hatch, William Swift, Willard Besse, and Daniel Butler. In the foreground to the right of the tree is the Ephraim Eldridge house (40) afterwards owned by Joseph Hatch, Frederick Wray, Sanford Harendeen, Joseph S. Fay, Captain Wainwright, and others. It was demolished in 1871. Behind this is the "Webster House" (27) with its barns and stables in the background. Just beyond the stable sheds is the Cornelius Robinson house and on the extreme right the home of Jabez Davis, Sr. (28) which was torn down in 1902.

The long stone wharf in Little Harbor was rebuilt by Joseph S. Fay in about the year 1850. The vessel shown at the wharf was a wood coaster or packet "Ranger". The sloop "Iris", moored in the harbor, was owned by a Mr. Coolidge.

The telegraph pole shown in the foreground carried a wire to Nobska Point. The telegraph office was originally in the house of Thomas Hinckley (46), and was later located in a building near the home of Jabez Davis (28). The first telegraph operator was Rebecca Hinckley.

The text above, except where noted, 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.