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.

In Their Footsteps: New England History - Lizzie Borden

 *Warning - Graphic Photos Below*

    Her name is infamous despite actually being acquitted of the crime she was accused of. A creepy poem was introduced into the American lexicon based around said crimes. It was the crime of the century and she was front and center. The city was Fall River, the year was 1892, and the accused murderer was young Lizzie Borden. This is the story of her life before, the crimes she was put on trial for, and the aftermath.

    Lizbeth Andrew Borden was born in Fall River, Massachusetts on July 19, 1860. Her parents were Andrew and Sarah Borden. The family was wealthy thanks to Andrew's success in manufacturing and real estate. Lizzie had a sister Emma who was 9 years older than her. Prior to her birth a second daughter had been born to Andrew and Sarah named Alice, but she died at only 2 years old in 1858 due to hydrocephalus (water on the brain). Lizzie's birth was sure to have been seen as a blessing to Sarah and Emma alike and she was showered with love.

The Borden family home at 230 Second St., Fall River

    Lizzie led a normal life only for a few years. On March 26, 1863 her mother Sarah died of uterine congestion and spinal disease at the age of 39. This left a toddler Lizzie without a mother, a role that Emma gladly stepped into. The sisters bond was very tight. It became tested though when their father remarried. On June 6, 1865 Andrew married Abby Durfee Gray when Emma was 14 and Lizzie was almost 5. Emma immediately resented Abby becoming a mother-figure to Lizzie since the youngest Borden had no memory of her real mother.

    Emma went away to Wheaton Female Seminary (Wheaton College) in Norton, Massachusetts for a year and a half between 1867-1868. Abby had a chance to bond with Lizzie unopposed. It is purported that Emma didn't finish her studies at Wheaton simply because she lacked the charm and experience of her classmates and felt out of place. However one could point to her potentially growing anxious of her beloved sister growing closer to their stepmother. Whatever the reason Emma returned home to Fall River and the tensions only increased between her and Abby.

Lizzie Borden (public domain)

    The relationship between Abby and the Borden sisters grew more distant. The girls addressed her as 'Mrs. Borden.' As Lizzie grew up her resentment toward Abby intensified likely with help from Emma. As early as grammar school Lizzie spoke badly of her stepmother. She also was odd and did not make friends easily. She carried herself with an air of haughtiness likely from knowing her family was wealthy.

    Andrew was a workaholic, usually putting in 14-hour days, and saving as much money as he could. He tried to cultivate a family dynamic moving into a different home at 92 Second Street in 1874.  As they grew older Lizzie and Emma helped to manage the rental properties he had accumulated. His greatest accomplishment was the building he erected on South Main Street in 1889. The 3-story commercial brick building cost $35,000 ($990,000 in 2020) was a symbol of Borden's success as well as the growth of Fall River into a respected industrial city. By 1892 his net worth was close to $7 million when adjusted to 2020.

    The family fortune may have become a constant source of contention between Abby and the Borden sisters in the years leading up to the murders. Lizzie and Emma remained under the same roof as Andrew and Abby into their 30's and were seen as spinsters by the community. Lizzie for her part wished the family could move up to the hills into a much more fitting home as she saw her family as above the middle-class living around them. On the outside the Bordens were living a charmed life, but behind the doors of the home on Second Street it was a bubbling cauldron of frustration.

    Then came August 4, 1892. One of the most infamous crimes not only in Massachusetts but in the United States as well. Now in the days leading up to the crimes themselves other suspicious events occurred concerning the Borden family. Two days earlier on August 2nd Andrew and Abby Borden awaken claiming stomach sickness. Abby went to Dr. Seabury Bowen suggesting they may have been poisoned although he was skeptical.

    On the morning of August 3rd Lizzie Borden purportedly attempted, unsuccessfully, to purchase prussic acid (hydrogen cyanide) at D.R. Smith's drug store. That evening Lizzie spoke forebodingly about things potentially happening to her father. She spoke of him having enemies and mentioned poisoning specifically and worried someone would do something.

    August 4th began with Abby, Andrew, and friend John Morse having breakfast at 7am. Morse left at 8:45 and Andrew went out to mail some letters while Abby went upstairs to do some cleaning. Before Andrew returned Abby was brutally murdered by 19 hatchet blows to the back of her head. She was left laying beside a bed partially concealed.

Andrew Borden's slain body and the replica sofa at the Lizzie Borden B&B.

    Andrew returned, gave a package to housekeeper Bridget Sullivan. Lizzie tells her father Abby was not home. Bridget went upstairs to her attic room not seeing Abby's body and Andrew lay down on the sofa in the sitting room. Shortly thereafter he is also murdered with 10 savage hatchet blows to his face.

    Lizzie called to Bridget that her father was murdered while also establishing an alibi of being in the barn while the murders happened. At 11:15am the police are called. Dozens of officers descended on the Borden home and conducted postmortems on Abby and Andrew. They also interviewed Lizzie noting that she had no blood on her although immediately naming her a suspect. Although fingerprint technology was available it was relatively new and the police were wary of its accuracy. A hatchet in the basement of the home was therefore never tested for prints.

Abby Borden's slain body and the bedroom at the Lizzie Borden B&B.  

    Emma, who had been in New Bedford for the last few weeks, returned to Fall River. Upon her return August 7th she purportedly witness Lizzie burning a blue corduroy dress in a fireplace. Lizzie was formally arrested August 11th after a closed door inquest by police about the Borden murders. She pleads not guilty and is sent to prison in Taunton until her trial began in New Bedford Superior Court which was June 5, 1893.

    Even before the trial began the story of the horrific murders possibly by Lizzie Borden made the story a nationwide phenomenon. Despite seeming emotionally detached from the gravity of what had happened there was doubt whether Lizzie could have committed such a crime due to her standing in Fall River as a churchgoer and member of an upper-class family. Plus the sheer brutality of the murders led many to believe a woman was incapable of such atrocities. Her story was filled with inconsistencies and even though Emma staunchly defended her in court all signs pointed to Lizzie Borden being convicted of double-murder. In the end though the prosecution could not produce a murder weapon, bloody clothes, and even chalked up the attempted purchased of the prussic acid to mistaken identity.

Andrew(left) and Abby(right) postmortem.  

    On June 20, 1893 Lizzie Borden was found not guilty. She inherited a sizable chunk of money from her father's estate and in a not-so-subtle piece of irony Lizzie and Emma moved into a large house up in the hills as they had desired years prior. It was a 14-room home at 306 French Street bought by Lizzie and named Maplecroft. Despite being acquitted in court it was not the same in the court of public opinion. Lizzie Borden was shunned by the community and her former friends. She was ridiculed and pranked by kids. She took to traveling to Boston, New York, and Washington D.C. to live the lavish lifestyle without the scrutiny of her past.

    In 1897 Lizzie, now going by Lizbeth, was accused of shoplifting in Providence. She was not arrested and apparently restitution was made. Outside of her traveling Lizzie stayed close to her Maplecroft home even developing a close relationship with actress Nance O'Neill in 1904. This new relationship led to Emma moving out of the home in 1905. Sadly the two sisters remained estranged for the rest of their lives.

Lizzie Borden's Maplecroft (Mott & Chace Sotheby's International Realty)

    Outside of an appearance in probate court in May 1923 to obtain equal distribution of the Andrew Borden Building in Fall River, Lizzie remained out of the spotlight. She had gone in for an operation in 1926 to remove her gallbladder and her health never recovered. Lizzie Borden died of pneumonia on June 1, 1927 at the age of 66. In her will she left several sizable charitable donations. Her estranged sister Emma died a little more than a week later.

    Nobody was ever charged for the murders of Andrew and Abby Borden after Lizzie's acquittal. The home at 92 (now 230) Second St. is a popular museum and Bed & Breakfast. People can get the tour of the home complete with crime scene photos and also spend the night where the murders took place. Lizzie's Maplecroft home in Fall River still stands and as of September 2020 was actually for sale. She is buried in Oak Grove Cemetery in Fall River in the family plot, alongside her sisters Emma and Alice, mother Sarah, father Andrew and stepmother Abby. Even nearly 130 years later it remains one of the most fascinating and shocking cases in history, sparking countless theories, books, films, and one very famous rhyme. 

    Lizzie Borden took an axe, and gave her mother forty whacks. When she saw what she had done, she gave her father forty-one.

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Coming November 5, 2020 the debut episode of the In My Footsteps Podcast wherever you get your podcasts!  

View my previous blog posts: 

In Their Footsteps: New England History - Medfield State Hospital

In My Footsteps: The Scariest Places I've Been

Photo Prints available here: Smug Mug.com

Be sure to check out my website: Christopher Setterlund.com

In My Footsteps: Trip 35: Fall River, Mass.

In My Footsteps

Christopher Setterlund

Trip 35: Fall River, Mass.

March 25, 2010

            Located just before the border with Rhode Island and about forty-five minutes south of Boston, Fall River has an array of tremendous sites that can be the cornerstones of a great trip.  However there are a few that go beyond that and make this small city an exciting destination.  Any trip to Fall River needs to feature stops at Battleship Cove, the Old Colony Railroad Museum, and of course the Lizzie Borden house.

            Fall River got its name from the ‘falling river’ known as the Quequechan River.  Quequechan comes from the Wampanoag word believed to mean ‘falling river/waters’ due to the waterfalls that ran through the city.  These falls were diverted underground due to the development of the Braga Bridge and Interstate 195.  The borders of Fall River at one time included Tiverton, Rhode Island but this area was annexed to the Ocean State to satisfy the border disagreement between Massachusetts and Rhode Island in 1746.

Battleship Cove is the largest collection of World War II naval vessels and is a breathtaking sight upon arrival.  I parked at the nearby Fall River Heritage State Park(left) which gave me a wider scope of what lay out before me.  The park is only about eight and a half acres but with some benches underneath the trees facing the cove it is a sweet resting spot to escape the bustle of the busy streets just behind it.  There is a lush green meadow which hosts summer concerts as well, it amazed me how close this park was to the streets but how it could feel so far removed from them as well.

Nestled partially beneath the Braga Bridge, Battleship Cove includes many vessels but chief among them is the U.S.S. Massachusetts(left) which is one of eight surviving battleships built by the United States.  It is now a museum ship and can be toured year round.  Also included among the ships U.S.S. Joseph P. Kennedy which was a destroyer in the Navy; this is also a museum which can be toured.  The U.S.S. Lionfish is a submarine situated between the Massachusetts and Joseph Kennedy; it avoided a pair of Japanese torpedoes during the war and became part of the Battleship Cove collection in 1972.

Apart from the impressive collection of vessels and war memorabilia at Battleship Cove there is also an unexpected site, a restored carousel.  Originally located at the now-closed Lincoln Park in nearby Dartmouth, the carousel, which was built in 1920, was restored by local high school students in the early-1990’s.  Unfortunately on this day it was being rented out for a private party so my best view was through the windows.  It is certain to be more accessible on other days so it should be sought out during any visit to Fall River.  Having never been to Battleship Cove I took a bit of time to simply stand near the water’s edge and just marvel at the enormity of the ships and the area they covered. 

Only a short walk from Battleship Cove is another piece of American history that needs to be seen: The Old Colony & Fall River Railroad Museum(above).  Although the museum itself is small, consisting of a few vintage railroad cars, it is still nonetheless a very important collection and piece of history.  The Old Colony & Fall River Railroad came about as a merger between the Old Colony Railroad and the Fall River Railroad in 1854.  Though the museum itself is small it contains a very conclusive look at the cars which once ran along the Fall River Railroad.  On the museum grounds you can see how a rail switch works along with specific rail cars like the caboose and theater cars.  It is impossible to miss this museum if you are anywhere near Battleship Cove and is a great stop on a visit to Fall River especially during the warmer months.

My final stop during my time in Fall River was the site of one of the most famous, or infamous, murders in American history: The Lizzie Borden House(left).  For those of you who may have never heard of the events legend has it that Ms. Borden murdered her father and step-mother with an axe inside the house in 1892.  She was acquitted but the murders still took place regardless of who the perpetrator was.

The house is now a Bed & Breakfast and is available for overnight stays.  It stands out in the neighborhood as a snapshot of when the Borden family lived there, not just because of its deep green color but also the fact that it is virtually unchanged in nearly 120 years.  It was part amazement and part trepidation as I walked through the rooms and stood in the same spots where Mr. and Mrs. Borden were brutally murdered.  It was something I would have regretted not doing during my travels.

The interior of the house looks much the same as it did on that fateful day in 1892 with many original items and other period pieces of furniture.  The owners have done a masterful job of keeping the integrity of a legendary crime scene while also updating it enough to be a modern bed and breakfast.  My tour guide was very knowledgeable, sharing so much of the details of the murders and the lives of the Borden family that you’d have though she had lived during the time.  I highly recommend taking the tour of this piece of American history.  Stay the night as well if you are in town for a longer time as well.  You will leave the house with a feeling that you have just been a part of the legendary story of Lizzie Borden.

Fall River started as a small farming town, grew into a textile industry giant, and is now synonymous with Battleship Cove and Lizzie Borden.  Close to both Providence and Boston, this historical wonderland needs to be seen and enjoyed by any and all travelers.  Spend some time at Battleship Cove and take a walk through the Lizzie Borden House and you will see what I mean.  Have fun and happy traveling!

Directions: Heritage State Park & Battleship Cove: From I-195 heading west take Exit 5 for Rt. 79.  Keep left at fork in road to continue toward and merge w/Rt. 79.  Continue to Broadway Extended, take left at Columbia St., turn left at Eagle St.  Turn right at Firestone Ave., continue onto Water St.  Battleship Cove, Lincoln Carousel, Heritage State Park, and Old Colony and Fall River Railroad Museum are all within walking distance.

            Lizzie Borden Bed & Breakfast:  From I-195 heading take Exit 7, Plymouth Ave. Exit.  Merge onto Hartwell St., slight left at Borden St., slight left at 2^nd St.  There is parking behind the house.

References:  Lizzie Borden.com

            Old Colony and Fall River Railroad Museum.com

            Battleship Cove.org