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The following is a reprint of Duncan Oliver's articles on the history of Hyannis Park published in The Register.

YARMOUTH’S HYANNIS PARK (PART I)

by Duncan Oliver

A tour boat pulls out of inner Hyannis Harbor- “On your left, you see the beautiful Bayview Beach. It’s one of the few free beaches on Cape Cod. Thank you Hyannis for providing this.” Hyannis? This beach belongs to Yarmouth! How did this area get associated with Hyannis? It’s a very interesting story.

The first place identified in this area was on Yarmouth’s first map, printed in 1795. Gage’s Wharf was located at what is now Railroad Bluffs. During the War of 1812, breastworks (chest high earthworks) were built directly across from Bayview Beach on Fish Hills and a Fort Masonic with cannon was located nearby. These were to protect Lewis Bay and Hyannis Harbor from the British. Vessels captured by American privateers unloaded their cargoes at Gage’s Wharf. One load of wine was transported north to Barnstable. A fair amount was “sampled” on the way over!

Before the Civil War this area was called “Yarmouth Meadows.” Later, it became the Burt farm, and Hyannis’ baseball team played home games here. Fish wholesalers were located nearby. A marine railway was built and ships were repaired there. Remains of that railway were visible into the 1930s. This area is still known as Railway Bluffs. A cranberry bog was built east of Bayview Street – all in Yarmouth.

Speculators after the Civil War thought this could be a prime area for summer folk. The Hyannis Land Company maintained an office on Bayview Street, opposite Willow Street, now Willow Lane (Yes, there are three Willow Streets in Yarmouth, but each is in a separate postal district so it’s less confusing). The 1873 Depression destroyed this project, and the 1880 Barnstable County Atlas showed only the land company’s building.

Early in 1893, a Brockton investors’ group purchased the land. The March 28, 1893 Barnstable PATRIOT stated, “The Burt farm that was purchased by a party of Brockton gentlemen … has been plotted into building lots and called Hyannis Park…It is the intention of the owners to boom the property this season. There are some fine lots, although it is over the line in the town of Yarmouth, its development would be of great value to Hyannis.”

The name “Hyannis Park” is hinted at in the above quote. An 1895 letter to the editor theorized – “I became well acquainted with Hyannis Park, which is in Yarmouth. I don’t know why they called it Hyannis Park unless there is something in the name.” Every bit of advertising pushed the location as being close to Hyannis, near the railroad station.

Obviously the PATRIOT liked this project. Its editorial April 11, 1893 stated:

“Hyannis Park. This property embraces a shoreline of great extent and is reached from the village by a town way 40 feet wide. The park is only about 10 or 15 minutes walk from the railroad station, post office, etc. It embraces some of the highest land in this vicinity and the beach is sandy gravel, well calculated for bathing. Within the limits of the property is a fine grove of young pines extending nearly to the waters of the Bay, which has for some time past has afforded an excellent place for picnic parties.

“Hyannis Park has been surveyed and laid out with ample streets and avenues, and something over 300 lots. Many of the lots are unsurpassed for ocean view….The ocean view is beautiful, and from over the water come those never failing cool southeasterly breezes which are the comforting balm to all dwellers on the Cape…

“Some time ago we urged the owner of this property to put it on the market, but without avail. Recently it has been purchased by parties in Brockton … and they propose to introduce some of their Brockton friends down here this summer. A few lots have already been disposed of and several cottages are to be built this season, and with such a hustler at the head of the enterprise we expect to see quite a village located here in the near future.

“One of the great advantages is that building here will not be obliged to isolate themselves from the conveniences of the village. While the quiet and peace of the surroundings will not be disturbed, a short walk will give them all the advantages of a town where they can seek such enjoyment and pleasure as the place affords... Here is the best beach for bathing to be found on Cape Cod … and the water is several degrees warmer than points east or west, or the north side of the Cape. There is good anchorage for boats...

“We may be a little too enthusiastic over this matter, but what we have said we believe. We believe Cape Cod has a brilliant future as a summer resort and that one of the points especially endowed by nature for this purpose is the South Shore bordering on Vineyard sound. For facilities of easy access, Hyannis goes a little ahead of anything offered in this section... We therefore wish this new enterprise success, and welcome them among us to build up and beautify this locality.” Yarmouth was never mentioned.

The first cottage was started early in May of 1893. “Cottage” meant virtually any house built for a summer resident. [Anthony’s Cummaquid on Route 6A was called a cottage when it was built.] By June 1, 25 lots had been sold.

Over Memorial Day, 1893, many from Brockton came to view the property, staying at the Iyanough House in Hyannis. Twelve lots were sold at that time. The PATRIOT reported, “we were informed that there is a prospect of several cottages going up this season.”

A speculators’ July 4 clambake resulted in 150 attending from Brockton. They were met at the railroad station by the Hyannis Cornet Band. Thunderstorms interrupted festivities and the clambake prepared by Tom Collins of South Yarmouth. Still, 32 lots were sold averaging $50 a lot. People who bought their lots that day didn’t have to pay the $5.00 for the clambake! Some lots were flipped – resold almost immediately! The only lament of the PATRIOT was that the local baseball team could not find a suitable field to play on. They reported that a third cottage was being built on the bluff.

The land company hustled lots in Brockton as well. At a Brockton meeting in August, the people were entertained by Martland’s Band and then shown photographs of the property which were “thrown on a screen 10 or 12 foot square.” The company sold 31 lots.

Advertising continued in the BROCKTON ENTERPRISE. By 1895, Hyannis Park had its own by-line in the PATRIOT. Heavier traffic on Bayview Street led the Yarmouth road commissioners to “harden” it. Mixing oyster shells with clay made a road base that became very solid after it got wet the first time.

The 1896 July 4 fireworks were a bust. The PATRIOT reported, “The dense bank of fog that overhung Hyannis obscured nearly everything. The rockets would shoot up into the mist and disappear.”

A.W. Tripp, a cottage owner, built a dock near the end of Bayview Street in 1897, with seats at the end for the residents. Some of its pilings are still visible on the beach at low tide. Sailboats frequently tied up. Two years later he brought his steam launch, the MYSTERY. It could seat at least 20 and took frequent trips out to see the lighthouse at Bishop and Clerks rocks. Tripp also rented bathhouses (five cents each person), ladies’ bathing suits (ten cents) and gents’ suits (five cents).

The Depression of 1907 created havoc on Cape Cod and nothing about Hyannis Park was reported in the PATRIOT again until 1912. The 1907 Barnstable County Atlas showed a map of Hyannis Park with nearly 300 lots, but only 39 had buildings. Until after World War II, there wasn’t a building boom in the area, although many owners bought adjoining lots to enlarge their property.

YARMOUTH’S HYANNIS PARK SINCE WORLD WAR II

By Duncan Oliver

Since World War II Hyannis Park has been a very active part of Yarmouth. It lies to the east of Cape Cod Hospital and is bounded by Hyannis Inner Harbor on its west and Lewis Bay on the south. Streets have changed from the original Hyannis Park plan. Rosseter Street has become Rosetta Street, Arlington Street now runs only to Newbury Street, and there is no road around the northern end of Hyannis Park bordering the cranberry bog. Railroad Bluffs became Columbus Road and has changed back to Railroad Bluffs. Brockton Street is now Park Avenue, Linwood Street is now Russo, Monroe Street is now Malfa, and a new road, Stone Road, has been created.

Residents of Hyannis Park organized in 1953, creating the Hyannis Park Civic Association to improve the area and keep it residential. This is the longest continuously operating civic association on the Cape. Elinor Bill was one of the leaders and Bayview Beach’s condition was a major reason for people organizing. Early on, in 1954, they took on a local judge, Gershom Hall, who they felt was too easy on teenage partying in the Hyannis Park area. The judge criticized local authorities for closing public beaches at night, saying that daytime workers needed access to them. The incident occurred at 4 a.m. and involved 16 off-Cape young people. Many citizens supported the existing regulation which closed the beaches at 9 p.m., allowing the Yarmouth police to arrest the young people for disturbing the peace.

Hyannis Park residents have enjoyed annual picnics and outings during the day! In the 1960s the Shea sisters on Highland Avenue would hang a rosary around their religious lawn sculpture to ask for divine intervention to prevent rain on the Hyannis Park Association beach parties (it always worked). Today, the Association still has its annual get together.

The Association has had much on its agenda; opposing expansion of the marina, against enlarging the Steamship Authority, fighting airport noise, and against a proposal in 1962 for a 30 unit motel on Bayview Street near the beach. This motel would have been on the land formerly occupied by Bill Cox’s Sea Grill. After the Sea Grill, this restaurant was called the Captain’s Chair and the association occasionally held meetings there.

Two of the owners of the land where the proposed motel was to be built were members of the Yarmouth Board of Appeals. While the petitioners for the motel couldn’t prove that it wouldn’t be substantially different in character to the rest of the neighborhood, never-the-less, three members of the Board of Appeals voted for it, but four votes were needed.

Two years later, in 1964, the Association opposed granting a variance for an 18 room house on Park Avenue and Vernon Street which would have allowed it to be a rooming house (dorm) for Cape Cod Community College students.

Dealing with the marsh areas in Hyannis Park also have occupied the Civic Association’s energies. There was a proposal in 1963 to dredge out an 80 foot lagoon on the eastern side of Hyannis Park and fill three acres of marsh with the sand, allowing 15 more house lots. It was unsuccessful. In 1993, an ambitious plan called Discovery Harbor was proposed, dredging out much of the marsh as well as the cranberry bog and making a large marina along Bayview Street. The plan included berths for cruise ships, a Coast Guard Station, and a large marina. This was to be on land owned by Cape Cod Hospital. It failed as well.

Three years later the Association supported a proposal to reconstitute the large cranberry bog owned by the hospital. Although many felt that this would be an effective way to promote a conservation friendly use of the land which would further protect it from development, the EPA responded with a cease and desist order, ruling that it violated the clean water act.

In 2003, the Civic Association worked closely with the hospital to write and support an article presented to Town Meeting that rezoned the land on Bayview Street. The hospital needed this rezoning to proceed with the construction of the Mugar expansion. The association was regarded as such a significant ally by the hospital, that the association was honored and thanked at both the groundbreaking and opening ceremonies at the hospital.

Keeping the area residential led the Association to oppose Haymarket Bank’s attempt in 1997 to build a six unit condominium complex at the site of the former Captain’s Chair Restaurant on Bayview Street. The two story condominium complex would have had 14 bedrooms. The plan needed Conservation Commission approval as well as Board of Appeal approval for two separate permits and several parking variances. It didn’t pass. This was in the same general location where the Association had opposed a 30 unit motel 35 years earlier.

Dredging the channel for the inner harbor has long been an issue for Hyannis Park residents. Dredging would have enabled expansion of the marina, allowed more large ferries in the inner harbor, and more boat traffic very near Bayview Beach. The large boats travelling near Bayview Beach have caused erosion and have foiled efforts to replant shellfish which formerly thrived there. While not successful in preventing dredging, they did get some of the dredged sand put on their beaches, replenishing some of what had been lost to storms and waves. The previous replenishment had been in the 1950s and some estimated that the sand was worth more than $200,000.

Bayview Beach has always been both a source of pride and concern to Hyannis Park. A small purchase of land by the town helped enlarge the beach area in 1961. A boat ramp used to run through the middle of the beach and many felt it was an unsafe situation with children playing there. Despite several attempts by others to open and/or improve it, the state said that it was never an official boat ramp because it was not permitted by them and has not allowed it reopened. The berm at the edge of the parking lot, which Hurricane Irene and other storms had washed out, has recently been rebuilt without a boat ramp.

The question of whether all Hyannis Park residents had the right to use all of the “private” beaches in the area finally went to court in 1986. Some owners of waterfront lots wanted to exclude others from using the beaches in front of their houses. It was determined in court that those beaches were open to all Hyannis Park residents since, when the lots were originally sold, the bathing beach was advertised as one of the benefits. That decision was appealed but was upheld in 1989.

Hyannis Park remains a hidden gem of Yarmouth. Its residents have fought against any project which they felt infringes on the residential character of their neighborhood and have fought for things that would benefit Yarmouth, such as Fire Station #3 in West Yarmouth. Today everyone enjoys the “free” beach at the end of Bayview Street, a wonderful place for people to swim, sun, read, and watch the boats in and out of Hyannis Harbor and Lewis Bay.

The area retains some of the flavor of old Cape Cod, a place for both “summer folks” and full time Yarmouth residents. Perhaps its name now acts as camouflage for those who live in this Yarmouth treasure and don’t want everyone to know it!