Tracing our footsteps

Cyrus Moulton
Jun 28, 2010
A map from 1795 shows the original Wampanoag trail, traced here in red.  The pink road is the current Route 28, the original road to Carver and Middleboro. COURTESY MACK PHINNEY
Long ago, they offered a different type of training at the location of the John W. Decas Elementary School... BY CYRUS MOULTON
The spot was once the South Wareham Muster Field, where Minutemen  in the Revolutionary War honed their sharpshooting skills. SOURCE U.S. HISTORY IMAGES, ORIGINALLY APPEARING IN LOSSING, BENSON J. OUR COUNTRY. NEW YORK: JOHNSON AND BAILEY, 1895.
Bailey cited the 1774 Makie House as an example of what historical preservation can accomplish.  The house was abandoned for years before its current owners rescued it for renovation, even after scavengers had made off with the hand-wrought ironwork.  According to an audience member, the walk-in colonial fireplace in the original kitchen, has a false panel with a hiding spot behind.   While unsure what the hiding spot was for, we do know that the house was built by Dr. Andrew Makie, who arrived in Wareham as a schoolteacher but became the town’s physician for 50 years. BY CYRUS MOULTON
At Center Park, the trail heads down Elm Street past the Fearing Tavern. Originally built in 1690, with subsequent additions in 1765 and 1820, the building was the center of town business - both formal and informal - for many years, serving as tavern, stage coach stop, inn, and possibly even jail (if you can confirm this, let the Historical Society know!) although, they are certain that the stocks were set up outside the building to humiliatingly punish those who committed minor offenses such as swearing, and spitting. BY ANDREW W. GRIFFITH
The bar at the Fearing Tavern, the site of many of Wareham's important moments over the years. BY ANDREW W. GRIFFITH
The stocks: the punishment for minor offenses including spending too much time inside the tavern! SOURCE STOCKS IMAGE COURTESY OF U.S. HISTORY IMAGES, FIRST APPEARING IN BRYANT, WILLIAM CULLEN AND SYDNEY HOWARD GAY. A POPULAR HISTORY OF THE UNITED STATES. NEW YORK: CHARLES SCRIBNERS’ SONS, 1881J. OUR COUNTRY. NEW YORK: JOHNSON AND BAILEY, 1895.
The path splits around what is today the intersection of Red Brook (later Head of the Bay) Road and Cranberry Highway.  One path continued along to Bourne and onto Cape Cod. BY JAIME REBHAN
Another path branched off to Head of the Bay.  Might the paths still be in existence on the Lyman Reserve?  It's had to know, but Phinney said it's likely.  If so, stream crossings have changed quite a bit over the years! BY CYRUS MOULTON

It may look like it exemplifies 20th-century sprawl, but according to the Wareham Historical Society, Cranberry Highway was traveled by deerskin moccasins for much longer than it has been traveled by rubber tires.

In a presentation Monday, June 21, society members and siblings Mack Phinney and Barbara Bailey traced the Wampanoag Indian trail through Wareham, beginning at the Rochester line at the intersection of County Road and Fearing Hill Road, and following all the way until it split just before crossing into Bourne.

Along the way, the presentation, which had been prepared by Phinney and Bailey for students at Wareham High School, stopped at some of Wareham's most historic homes and public buildings, telling interesting anecdotes about its inhabitants and encouraging audience members to reminisce about their own footsteps on this historic trail.

The trail originally connected Indian villages in Rhode Island with those in and around Plymouth, the seat of the nation and the home of its sachem, Massasoit, who famously aided the Pilgrims. By the late 17th century, however, English settlers had arrived and began homesteading along the trail.

Today, cars rumble by on Cranberry Highway and it is difficult to imagine that a colonial-era settler or Wampanoag would recognize the trail. But Fearing Hill Road retains a semi-rural feel, and there are many spots where, if you concentrate hard enough, you might just catch a peak of a sight that may have looked familiar over two-hundred years ago.

 

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