Falmouth’s Whaling Heritage

In the early 19th century, Falmouth remained a remote farming and fishing community. But then the growing New England whaling industry began to capture the imagination of Falmouth youth who dreamed of adventure as Cape Horn sailors searching the Pacific Ocean for whales and whale oil. Falmouth was no competition for New Bedford, the “city that lit the world,” but whaling and whaling-related trades became Falmouth’s principal business. Falmouth was the home port of 13 whaling ships that made 52 whaling voyages, mainly to the Pacific, between 1820 and 1860. Six whalers were built in Falmouth, most of them at Bar Neck Wharf in Woods Hole, under the oversight of the patriarch of Falmouth whaling, Elijah Swift. With a total population of no more than 2600, Falmouth produced an astounding 65 whaling ship captains, some of whom took their wives on whaling voyages of three to five years and had children born at sea. In this presentation, you will compare the Falmouth boys’ dreams of glory and adventure with the hard, punishing realities of whaling.

$20 Non-Members/$10 Museums on the Green Members, or donation based ticket. Light refreshments served.

About the Presenter: Joe Mattingly is a docent at Falmouth Museums on the Green with a special interest in the history and culture of New England and Falmouth whaling. Joe has himself recently traveled several of the whaling grounds of the Pacific and once lived for two and a half years in the Republic of the Philippines as a U. S. Air Force officer following an initial assignment at Otis AFB here on the Cape. Joe is a native son of Maryland, a long-time docent for Historic Annapolis, and a retired lawyer. He and his wife returned part-time to the Cape in 2011 and have lived here permanently since 2019. Knowing what he does, Joe still has difficulty understanding why a young man who went on a four-year whaling voyage to the Pacific in the 1800s would want to go again.

Host or Publisher Falmouth Museums on the Green