Postcards from Falmouth: the Dwight Estate

You’ve probably passed by the carriage house on Mill Road, with its distinctive arches, but how much do you know about the mansion it outlived, or the man who built them both? Check out Bill Swift’s oral history to learn about Arm & Hammer co-founder John E. Dwight, who put down roots in Falmouth in the 1880s, complete with winter and summer homes and other properties across town.

The estate has dwindled over the years, most notably when the mansion was lost to the 1944 hurricane, but this oral history will take you back to its early days, when horses raced at Trotting Park, Grover Cleveland summered at Gray Gables, and Mrs. Dwight sat reading on her tiny artificial island in Salt Pond.

Explore the Dwight Estate with Bill Swift here.

Explore the postcard collection online here.

Postcards from Falmouth is a local history project of Falmouth Public Library, funded by a LSTA grant and administered by the MBLC.