The Long Road of Yarmouth's Bass River (Smuggler's) Beach

 

Today much of the coasts of the United States are a mix of public and private beaches. The rich own strips of sand in front of their property while cities and towns purchase plots of land for the average everyday people to use.

The coastlines were not created as public or private. Many steps go into creating a public beach. Things like legal ownership, planning, regulations, zoning, and meetings are parts of what takes an area from an inconspicuous stretch of sand to a beach packed with people in summertime.

Though no two are exactly the same one example of land going from private to public resides on Cape Cod. At the mouth of Bass River, a waterway running in between the towns of Yarmouth and Dennis, there are popular beaches on both sides.

They both went from private to public. On the Dennis(east) side of Bass River sits Davis Beach. Known more commonly as West Dennis Beach this stretch of sand nearly a mile and a half in length was owned for decades by Charles Henry Davis. He had deep connections to Cape Cod including the creation of America’s first traffic circle at the meeting of River and Pleasant Streets in the Bass River section of South Yarmouth.

America's first traffic circle in South Yarmouth.

Davis at one point it was said could walk from Nantucket Sound on the south coast of Cape Cod all the way to Cape Cod Bay on the north side and never leave the property he owned. This included all of what is today West Dennis Beach. The acquisition of this pristine set of sand was simple and straightforward. Davis sold the property to the Town of Dennis shortly before he died in 1951 for the cool sum of $50,000($589,900 in 2024).

West Dennis Beach has a story that is for all intents and purposes simple and clear-cut. Across Bass River in Yarmouth, the beach has a slightly more complex story. It includes bootlegging, giant resort hotels, and more transfers of ownership than one might expect.

Present-day Bass River Beach began as the property of Joseph P. Phelan. Born in Ireland in 1888 Phelan came to America and settled in Fall River, Massachusetts. He was a successful businessman making significant money with his popular Cape Cod Shirt Company that he established in 1926.

Phelan purchased a triangular-shaped plot of land on the western side of the mouth of Bass River in an area known as The Point from Edward Gleason in April 1926. There he had a summer home constructed. In total, it was ten rooms including five bedrooms along with a wooden pier that stretched out into the ocean. The family’s arrival at the beginning of the summer was headline news in the local newspapers. When they weren’t at the home it was rented out with those renters also making the local news.

The beach at The Point grew substantially in size when in the early 1950s efforts were made to dredge Bass River. The spoils were piled onto either side of the mouth of the river.

For a few years, the piles of dredged sediment sat there. They were used as picnic areas, or for kids to play on. Eventually, Yarmouth used their spoils to fill in the marshland abutting the Phelan property. This also served to fill in the creek leading from nearby Run Pond to Nantucket Sound which was a bone of contention with some locals. In total, the Phelan property was thirteen acres of waterfront land.

During the early 1950’s the Town of Yarmouth had begun buying up beachfront property to be designated for public use. This included buying present-day Sea Gull Beach in 1951 for $25,000($300,000 in 2024), as well as the far smaller Englewood Beach for $9,000($106,000 in 2024) in 1952. As the Phelan property was only in use for a few months of the year rumblings began locally about the town buying that as well.

Bass River looking south toward the former Phelan property

In 1958 Joseph Phelan offered to sell the coveted property to the town for $150,000($1.62 million in 2024). Despite there being support for a new public beach the offer was deemed too high and the town passed. Talks of taking the property by eminent domain were voted down at the time. This left Harwich Port real estate broker John J. Taylor to swoop in and buy the land in September 1959 from Phelan for a far more affordable price of $80,000($858,600 in 2024).

The Town of Yarmouth had balked at the high price of the Phelan property. However when confronted with Taylor’s proposal for what to do with the land the town had wished they’d paid the price.

The plan was to subdivide part of the land for houses and leave a large tract of it to be used for a three-story, 180-room, waterfront resort hotel. This was rejected by the town which left the property in limbo.

Besieged with hurdles and roadblocks surrounding the thirteen acres of waterfront property Taylor sold the land to Sidney Tucker and Paul Lampros in August 1961 for $140,000($1.46 million in 2024). Only a few months later in March 1962 the Town of Yarmouth stepped in and took 10.5 of the thirteen acres of land by eminent domain. The Phelan summer home and a few lots of land surrounding it were left private. Tucker and Lampros sued the town in September 1962, arguing the land's value.

The proceedings dragged on in court until May 1964. However, once the jury got the case it took a mere twenty-eight minutes to award Tucker and Lampros a whopping $270,000($2.76 million in 2024) for the former Phelan property. This meant that essentially the Town of Yarmouth had paid nearly double the original asking price Joseph Phelan had offered which was seen as exorbitant.

Despite the long road and extra money paid, Yarmouth had its newest public beach. To cover the cost of the new beach as well as the new parking lot needed the town ultimately decided to start charging for parking during the tourist season. This was the start of buying beach stickers in Yarmouth.

Next up was the important task of naming the stretch of sand. In the local newspapers, it had been referred to as Phelan Beach since it was first offered for purchase in 1958. The name chosen was the on-the-nose name of Bass River Beach. However, locals rarely call it by that name.

In the six decades since Phelan Beach became Bass River Beach the area at the mouth of the river has been known more frequently as Smuggler’s Beach. But why? It is due to the stories of rum-running or bootlegging that took place in the area during Prohibition.

Did bootlegging take place at Smuggler's Beach?

The Smuggler’s Beach name becomes even more appropriate when coupled with the story of the Casa Madrid establishment. Located a few hundred yards from the beach on Run Pond Road the Casa Madrid opened in 1933 as a dancing and eating establishment. Only six weeks into its existence though it was raided by law enforcement and exposed as a speakeasy.

Did the liquor seized from Casa Madrid come from the nearby beach? One cannot say for sure, but the legend of Smuggler’s Beach draws heavily on that possibility.

From a summer home abutted by marshland to a hugely popular public beach the area formerly known as The Point in Yarmouth has taken a long road to get to where it is in the present day. It is an interesting dichotomy between the straightforward route of Charles Henry Davis’ property becoming West Dennis Beach and Joseph Phelan’s property becoming Bass River Smuggler’s Beach.

The Story of Casa Madrid - Cape Cod's Speakeasy

 

Prohibition was a law that made the production and sale of alcohol illegal in the United States. The 18th Amendment to the Constitution was on the books from January 1920 to December 1933. During this time, however, despite it being illegal there were still ways for people to enjoy their favorite liquors. One of the most well-known is that of the ‘speakeasy.’ These were hidden spots where one could get a drink. Cape Cod was no stranger to speakeasies with perhaps the most famous of these standing inconspicuously in South Yarmouth until only recently. It was known as Casa Madrid and this is its story.

Sunset at South Yarmouth's appropriately nicknamed Smuggler's Beach.

Situated for nearly a century on Run Pond Road this stucco building stood out like a sore thumb among the shingled classic Cape Cod homes. It was constructed in early 1933 for $125,000 ($3 million in 2024) and promoted as a dinner and dancing establishment associated with the Yarmouth Beach Club. The yellow stucco and red tiles were meant to catch the eye of passersby as was the intention of its creator, local realtor Alex Finn, and his partner Oscar Skinner. The Spanish style was considered entirely new for Cape Cod at the time. There were roads leading to the areas around Casa Madrid with the Nantucket Sound beaches merely a few hundred yards south, yet the establishment was surrounded by trees for the most part. Finn promised indoor and outdoor dancing with an enclosed courtyard with early estimates of the building being able to accommodate 3,000 people.

Casa Madrid was meant to be the destination for dinner and dancing on the Cape with entrance via ticket only. It was high class with proper dress required to get in as well. The grand opening of June 30, 1933, was attended by those sent invitations only, mainly members of the Beach Club and other high-ranking locals. Membership had more than its share of perks. There was access to the lockers in the bathhouse, hammocks, swings, handball and squash courts, canoes, rowboats, speedboats, and even a seaplane. The opening was a rousing success and it appeared that Cape Cod had its newest ‘place to be.’

However, a mere six weeks into its run Casa Madrid had its most famous night of all. On the night of Sunday, August 13, 1933, a group of thirty-five law enforcement officers under the direction of Lt. James Hughes and Assistant Attorney General George B. Lourie crashed the festivities at Casa Madrid after being tipped off about potential laws being broken there. Although some of the 300 guests present were eating and dancing when the officers arrived a great many more were found to be drinking at one of three bars inside the building while others were illegally gambling.

News of the raid on Casa Madrid in the Boston Globe, August 14, 1933

The raid was a week in planning and carried out with pinpoint precision. The troopers assembled in Norwell and made their way to the Cape accompanied by several Boston-based newspaper reporters who had been tipped off. Upon entering the establishment some of the patrons at Casa Madrid mistook the uniform-clad troopers as performers, this was obviously not the case. In a clean sweep, the raid seized a truckload of liquor, gambling equipment, and furnishings including a roulette wheel. There was also $7,360 ($176,827 in 2024) in cash on gambling tables, and the raid resulted in the arrest of thirty-four people including owners Finn and Skinner. In addition to those developments, rumors had it that many prominent citizens including Boston Mayor James Curley were in attendance that night, with him escaping through a window before being caught.

By pleading not guilty the club was allowed to remain open. On August 29th Assistant Attorney General Lourie personally led a second raid on Casa Madrid. The police used a sledgehammer to break down the door to a room that they said had previously housed gambling equipment yet found nothing this time. The club was operating within the law with more than a hundred guests eating and dancing. Before leaving the establishment Lourie and his troopers were offered dinner by Alex Finn which they declined. The club remained open through Labor Day when it closed for the season.

On September 6, 1933, the cases against those arrested at Casa Madrid were heard at the Barnstable Court House. Most of the charges were dropped or continued although both Finn and Skinner were fined $50 ($1,201 in 2024) for maintaining a gaming house and selling alcohol. Massachusetts Attorney General Joseph Warner pressured Yarmouth selectmen to shut down the controversial establishment. The charter of the Yarmouth Beach Club was revoked due to its connection with Casa Madrid, as a copy of its charter was found on the club wall during the initial police raid. Near the end of October 1933, the Casa Madrid case was closed with the gambling paraphernalia being destroyed but the money seized being returned to the claimants.

A postcard of Casa Madrid in the 1930s.(Historical Society of Old Yarmouth)

Before the start of the 1934 season, Prohibition was repealed which was seemingly good news for Casa Madrid. However, due to the problems it caused while alcohol was still illegal Yarmouth selectmen initially refused to give a liquor license to the club. They relented in May 1934 when Alex Finn sold his property to Alphonse Rossini. Finn liquidated all of his other holdings on Cape Cod shortly thereafter. Residents pushed to have the liquor license revoked and after a fire destroyed two cottages and damaged two others on the Casa Madrid property in April 1935 it appeared as though the club was doomed to fail.

The property as it appeared in 1998

Casa Madrid was again sold, to Peter Panesis, for the 1935 season. It opened July 3rd to a raucous crowd of over 500 with NBC recording artist Betty Bryant on hand to sing. Despite the first-night success, the 1935 season was a relative loss for Panesis and the property was sold once again. New ownership saw modest success in opening the club up for banquets and dances throughout the remainder of the 1930s. It remained a steady albeit unspectacular presence in South Yarmouth until its initial closing in 1962. Three years later it was reopened by Frank Thompson, of the legendary Thompson’s Clam Bar, as a respectable restaurant with no live entertainment and a 9pm closing time. 1965 went as well as possible, however, Casa Madrid only lasted half of the 1966 summer and in 1967 was opened only one day. By 1969 stringent conditions put on the restaurant by the Board of Appeals on their liquor license renewal, along with general changes to the neighborhood surrounding it, led to Casa Madrid throwing in the towel in 1969.

In the mid-1970s new owners tried and failed to convert Casa Madrid into a musical museum. It saw new life as a teen crisis center beginning in 1989. Despite being a relatively unsuspecting establishment for nearly all of its thirty-plus years in operation the legend of Casa Madrid will always be tied to the infamous raid on it during its days as a Prohibition speakeasy.

The Casa Madrid building itself stood on Run Pond Road until April 2024. It was finally torn down with the fate of the spot where it stood currently unknown.

The former site of Casa Madrid in April 2024.