3. Bass River Scene

Tour the Villages
South Yarmouth

Bass River Scene

Looking down river, this image shows the first Bass River Bridge with Dennis on the right and Yarmouth in the distance to the left. Vessels of all sizes are visible including a packet ship docked on the Dennis side, and another docked on the South Yarmouth side. In addition to fishermen and packet ship captains, South Yarmouth was also home to many deep-water skippers. These captains would take a packet ship to New York or Boston, where they would then take charge of a larger ship, bound for China, India, the Pacific, or one of the other many destinations for clipper ship captains of the day. One of the larger Boston shipping firms, Howes and Crowell, was run by two South Yarmouth families and their ships employed many a Yarmouth captain and seafarer.