Quick History Stops: Bourne, MA

Just before leaving the Cape after my five-day adventure back in August 2024, I made a few quick history stops in Bourne before crossing its infamous bridge. Historic buildings included a restored home, a church, a blacksmith shop, a reproduction carriage house, and a public library, while the most unique discovery of the day was an amphibious vehicle used during World War II.

I began at Bourne United Methodist Church, part of the Bourne, Cataumet, West Falmouth Parish. This congregation was founded in 1831 according to its official sign, but little other historical information seems to be widely available. While fairly similar in design to other classic whitewashed New England churches, the square bell tower and long steeple over the main entrance are unique.

Crossing the street, the next three buildings I visited were maintained by the Bourne Society for Historic Preservation, Inc. (BSHP). This is a different organization than Bourne Historical Society (BHS), which runs the Jonathan Bourne Historical Center and the Museums at Aptucxet. BSHP focuses on preserving Briggs-McDermott House, a two-story yellow-painted home that stands across from the Bourne Public Library and was constructed around 1830. The organization began in 1979 specifically to save this house from demolition, and the property was listed on the National Register of Historic Places as George I. Briggs House in 1981.

The two smaller buildings near Briggs-McDermott House are the Alonzo Booth Blacksmith Shop, which was constructed before 1888, and the Alan Green Carriage House, a recent reproduction. The blacksmith shop had its own plaque explaining that its claim to fame was as a stable for the horses of President Grover Cleveland. The president kept his Summer White House at Gray Gables in Bourne during his second term in office from 1893 to 1897. Unfortunately, that property was destroyed by fire in 1973, and the shop was moved to its present site in 1997. As for the carriage house, Alan Green was also a blacksmith, and the building was constructed in his honor in 2007.

Just behind the church was Jonathan Bourne Historical Center, the original town library building. Today, it holds the historical society, historical commission, and town archives. Both the building and the town are named for whaling agent, merchant, and politician Jonathan Bourne Jr.; originally, this area was the village of West Sandwich. Among his claims to fame was his support of Abraham Lincoln during the 1860 election. His oldest child, Emily Howland Bourne, employed Boston-based architect Henry Vaughan to create a town library and donated the property to the town in 1897. For a side note on Vaughan, he was a contributing architect to the National Cathedral in Washington, D.C., where he was interred upon his death in 1917. As for the building in Bourne, it was listed on the National Register in 2013 under its original name of Jonathan Bourne Public Library.

In front of the historical center was a rusty but recognizable DUKW boat, also known as a duck boat. According to the official website of the US Coast Guard, the acronym is not as simple as it first appears, since D stands for the year 1942, U stands for Utility vehicle, K stands for front-wheel drive, and W stands for two read-drive axles. The two-and-a-half ton boat was manufactured by General Motors Corporation (GMC) as the DUKW-353, and this particular boat had a hull number of 35311203. Since about 20,000 boats were made, I imagine this was number 11,203 to assembled. While replica DUKWs make the rounds through Boston on daily tours, this original vehicle does not seem to be going anywhere for awhile.

While I parked in the lot of the current Jonathan Bourne Public Library before walking to my quick history stops, I saved its photoshoot for last. This library belongs to the network Cape Libraries Automated Materials Sharing (CLAMS), allowing card holders to make requests from previously featured libraries included Falmouth Public Library, Hyannis Public Library, and Cotuit Library. I may inadvertently visit all the libraries in the state during my adventures. According to a helpful metal plaque on the outside of the building, the elegant red brick structure was originally constructed as Frances S. Stowell School, named for a school nurse and school committee member whose career lasted from 1924 to 1970. The switch seems to have taken place in 1985. My favorite physical feature of this school-turned-library was the sailing ship weathervane perched atop the bell tower. With that last picture taken, I sailed away home, having completed my successful and historical Cape Cod trip.