The second of three walking tours planned for each of the Tri-Towns stepped off from the Mattapoisett Historical Museum (MHM) on June 23 under splendid summer skies. The Healthy Tri-Town Coalition, along with the historical societies in Rochester, Marion, and Mattapoisett, planned the walks as a way to connect people with the history of the communities and with one another.

            Mattapoisett’s tour guide was none other than Jennifer McIntire, president of the MHM and longtime local resident. Assisting McIntire was Carole Clifford, a real local, whose wealth of antidotal information gave the tour a deeper connection to the town’s history.

            Starting at the museum, McIntire told a group of about 25 people that Mattapoisett and Marion were once part of Rochester, making it a much larger settlement throughout the 1600’s until the split occurred in 1857. First Marion’s townspeople choose independence, which was followed by Mattapoisett’s. Mattapoisett was a thriving economic hub in the region with vital shipbuilding and saltworks industries along its shore. Clifford said that Rochester’s town fathers were “loathed to let Mattapoisett go” because of the commerce it generated. 

            McIntire said that the museum had once been a Baptist Church and that today, while still an active church holding one service each year, it is now a gallery space for the historical museum. The museum was inspired by a collection of local materials from the Dexter family. Around 1958, a trust was established by Minerva Sparrow, Francis Rowlands, and Charles Mendell, thus setting up the church and the collection into a museum that has grown substantially over the decades. The museum is now recognized as a significant source of local and regional history. Its database holds tens of thousands of pieces of information and its collection is being studied by those interested in early American history.

            Pointing towards the Town Hall situated at the corner of Main and Church Street, a half block to the south, McIntire said that the building had once housed the police and the fire department. At one point, town meetings were held in the second story community room and that today the center of the town is located in its coastal village.

            But that was not always the case. Clifford said that the original center of the town was north of where Route 6 currently cuts through the community. She said that at the intersection of River Road and Acushnet Road, again imagining this before the state highway, was where the center had been located. Farmlands flourished, saw mills and grist mills supported many local businesses, woodlands provided raw materials; yet, the harbor became, over time, the center of life.

            But first the lands had to be obtained from the original inhabitants the indigenous people, the Wampanoags. King Philip’s War, which took place in the 17th century, was also known as Metacom’s War. It was a conflict between English colonists and the Native Americans in their last major effort to keep the Colonists from taking over completely. The end of that story is well known. Less known may be that the Colonists were offered free land once the Native American’s had been vanquished. McIntire said only three families took that opportunity to own land. They were the Hammonds, Dexters, and Boyles.

            Meandering along Main Street towards the wharves, McIntire stopped in front of 14 Main Street where the walking group learned that the building had been the second location of the Anchorage By the Sea – a tea room. The first such business had been located where Shipyard Park is today. But the hurricane of 1938 destroyed it along with many other structures. Clifford said that during those days mass communication did not exist; therefore, no one knew a massive hurricane had the southeast in its crosshairs. “My mother was out pushing a baby carriage around,” she said.

            Continuing on, McIntire directed everyone’s attention to several residences noting that the first floor had doors that opened directly out to the street and porches on the second story, “These were taverns back then,” she explained.

            A large home on the corner of Main and Pearl Street was the home of the Willis family during the Revolutionary War. McIntire told the story that one evening they were wakened by gunfire. Mr. Willis joined other locals to head toward the shoreline where British troops might try to land their small boats. Mrs. Willis had to leave her sleeping children and hurry to the schoolhouse on Pearl Street to ring the bell that would warn the entire town. In her journals which are part of the museum’s collection, Mrs. Willis commented on being dressed only “in my nightshirt and cap.” Certainly an unspeakable condition for a woman outside her bedchamber back in the day.

            Mrs. Munro was another owner of this property. She bequeathed the parcel located across the street from the residence to Mattapoisett. It is now a Mattapoisett Land Trust property open to the public with spectacular views of the harbor.

            McIntire described the scope of shipbuilding along Main and Water Street that abut the harbor. She said that the deep harbor allowed for the construction of larger whaling vessels needed for the longer journeys in order to supply the demand for whale oil. In total 500 boats were built here, she said.

            One of the more famous ships built in Mattapoisett was The Acushnet. It was the inspiration for Melville’s Moby Dick. The first shipyard was owned by Charles Stetson in 1752 McIntire said. The last ship built here was The Wanderer. Part of its mast now rests within the walls of the museum.

            On the wharves, the group gazed back up to Water Street where today the Inn at Shipyard Park continues to operate and lays claim as the oldest continuously operated inn anywhere in the country. Other homes were used as boarding house, or suppliers to the shipbuilders such as caulking and cordage.

            Clifford said that in the early 1900’s a group of wealthy people, mostly women, joined together to create an improvement society that was responsible for municipal trash collection, the preservation of Shipyard Park, health clinics for children, and the planting of trees. A prime mover in those efforts was one Huybertie Hamlin, a friend of the Roosevelts. Her summer home is located at Ned’s Point.

            On the northern corner of Cannon and Water Street stands a home that bears a plaque. That plaque was erected in memory of Francis Millet who was in his day a famous painter, writer, and sculptor. The true renaissance man was also a doctor. At his marriage to Elizabeth Merrel, Samuel Clemens was his best man McIntire stated. His would be a short life, however, as he went down with the Titanic in 1912.

            As the tour slowly walked past homes that could have been built in those bygone days, McIntire said that two bearing bow roofs were reproductions, but that doesn’t take away the charm of the narrow roadway. It was once called clamshell alley and most assuredly would have smelled the part.

            The historic plaques on many homes in town were placed there by the Mattapoisett Historical Commission after extensive research into the origins of the structures McIntire shared.

            McIntire also invited everyone to return on Thursday, June 27 at 5:30 pm for the opening of the museum’s art exhibit titled “Inspiration, Time and Texture” featuring local artists from the Tri-Town area.

            The Mattapoisett Historical Museum opens for the season in July. Museum hours are Fridays from 10:00 am to 4:00 pm and more information can be found at www.mattapoisettmuseum.org.

            The last Healthy Tri-Town walking tour will take place in Rochester on Saturday, June 29 at 10:00 am in the Plumb Corner parking lot.

Healthy Tri-Town Coalition

By Marilou Newell

            The Williams family of Rochester has done something quite amazing: they have raised over $6,000 for the Buzzards Bay Coalition (BBC) as Team Splash. On June 22 they, along with 276 other supporters of the BBC mission, entered the waters of the outer harbor at New Bedford’s south-end and swam towards Fairhaven emerging at Fort Phoenix. This was the twenty-sixth year of the BBC’s annual Buzzards Bay Swim.

            This event was initiated to heighten the public’s awareness of the necessity of protecting Buzzards Bay, a vital natural resource that serves a vast swarth of Massachusetts’ coastline. While the BBC has worked diligently for more than 30 years protecting the bay, wetlands, and associated resource areas against over-development, nitrogen pollution, hazardous chemicals, and governmental neglect, the need to engage the community in the fight to protect it all still continues.

            And that is the inspiration for the entire Williams’ clan.

            Mom, known to most as Rebecca, shared, “I was not a strong swimmer. I sort of relearned and improved my stroke through practice.” She made swimming in the 2016 event a previous New Year’s resolution and focused on making it a reality. Her husband, Roger, has been a longstanding volunteer at BBC activities, which is how Rebecca first caught the swim bug. “I learned about the swim through Roger as well as the work of the BBC.” Her New Year’s resolution brought her to the Gleason Family YMCA where she met Mel Dyer, her swim instructor and trainer. She credits Dyer with being instrumental in her being able to achieve her goal – just keep swimming. “It was a real win-win,” she said, “… achieving my goal helps the BBC reach their goal.”

            Entering the water this year with Rebecca was her daughter Xan Williams.

            “I grew up swimming as recreation,” Xan said, “I’m more of a runner.” She said that she too trained at the Y completing 38 laps each session, a distance about equal to the 1.2 mile open water swim. “It takes about 45 minutes to complete it in the pool,” she confirmed, while the open water swim may take about an hour.

            Previously, Xan was her mother’s Kayak Safety Squad team member. The BBC encourages first-time swimmers or those who feel the need to be accompanied across the outer harbor to have a dedicated volunteer whose encouragement can’t be overrated and whose emergency assistance is available, if necessary.

            According to the BBC, the start of the swim coincides with the incoming tide; thereby, giving the swimmers a bit of an edge or push towards Fairhaven versus trying to stay on course fighting the outgoing pull towards the ocean. This year there was a bit of a head wind.

            After the race, Rebecca reported that, “It was choppy out there; the ocean kept slapping you in the face.” But the chuckle that accompanied the comment tells the bigger story – it was a major accomplishment for the mother-daughter team.

            For the Williams, the goal of securing funds for the BBC is the driving force of the swim. “We are currently the top team fundraisers,” Rebecca stated prior to the swim, which was confirmed after the swim was completed.

            To accomplish their fundraising goal, the Williams reached out primarily to their personal contacts, family, friends, professional associates, and at least two corporate sponsors. They sent out letters telling their story and were pleased with the support they received.

            The women’s training and the associated sacrifice that it requires was rewarded as Rebecca completed her swim in 56 minutes and Xan made it to Fairhaven in 41.51 minutes.

            And what about next year? Well for Rebecca, she’s already formulating plans, “After last year’s swim I thought I would call it quits, but then Xan stepped up to join me so I couldn’t say NO!” She shared that both swimming and fundraising has been fun to do as a family, but, “I think we may expand our team next year. That will change things up and keep it fresh.”

            As an encouragement to anyone thinking about trying the event, Rebecca wants you to know, “If I can do it – you can.” She said to start slowly, build up one’s confidence, and of course, “Enjoy the ride,” or should we say SPLASH.

            Update: The final count for Team Splash was $6,350. Swimmers raised $145,000. The BBC’s goal was $187,000. If that sum is achieved before July 31, an anonymous donor has pledged another $50,000. 

            Visit www.savebuzzardsbay.org to learn more about the BBC’s work and fundraising events.

By Marilou Newell

            The striped bass, affectionately called a striper for the dark lines along its side by sportsmen, prefers a water temperature from 55 degrees to 68 degrees. To stay in this range, they migrate both in spring and fall. With the arrival of summer, the spring migration is all but complete in Buzzards Bay, having started more than a month ago from distant winter quarters down south. They soon pass up along the coastlines of North Carolina and Virginia, where they then detour into the Chesapeake Bay, and finally the Delaware, Hudson, and Connecticut Rivers to spawn.

            The stripers are labeled anadromous by spawning in brackish or fresh water. After spawning, they school up into moving formation, as in my illustration. They head up along the Atlantic coast to eventually pass through the Cape Cod Canal into Massachusetts Bay toward northern New England for the summer.

            Sport fishing for stripers is very popular, and they are the state fish in Virginia, Maryland, New Jersey, Rhode Island, and New Hampshire. Their natural history dates back to colonial days of gratitude for their legions swimming up coastal rivers with alewives and shad. They were seen as a godsend to hungry settlers and famished troops at Valley Forge. However, annual overfishing took place into the start of the last century, and now several hundred years later, the numbers have sadly declined to a mere 5 million stripers.

            In 1982, Atlantic States Marine Fisheries reacted by making them a protected game fish and imposed the current 29-inch keeper requirement. Fortunately, a ban was also imposed prohibiting harvesting beyond the 3-mile coastal limit. Within just 10 years, the population was remarkably back to 56 million, with about 3.8 million annually taken for sport fishing.

            The largest striped bass ever taken on light tackle was 81 pounds and 4 feet in length. The striped bass has a mild, but firm flavorful flesh with a large flake when eaten. It is popular when pan seared, steamed, poached, sautéed, or roasted, but especially when grilled outdoors, making it a gourmet ritual in coastal communities like Buzzards Bay. Commercial demand is so much that they have been hybridized with a commercial common white bass, known as a wiper. It was stocked experimentally in lakes and rivers across the country. Once inland, natural population could be verified as successfully landlocked. However, an observable diminution of spawning activity meant that regular reproduction levels must be stocked by hatcheries.

            The fall migration of stripers south will not begin for another two months. As in the 1950’s end of summer popular song “… the days get short when you reach September,“ we will then witnesses a seasonal ebb tide motion of migrating songbirds, waterfowl, ospreys, hummingbirds, and butterflies. This movement will also be shadowed underwater by stripers on the move. As the water cools, they are anxious to fatten up on baitfish such as peanut bunkers and silversides. We look for gulls diving down on blitzing bait pods that come in with a rising tide. Striper fall migration extends into late October and from our window on Little Bay, it is a very entertaining seasonal curtain call of a stripe bass migration performance.

By George B. Emmons