Vernon Morgan (1906-1991), author of this piece, was a retired postmaster, born at Yarmouth Farms by the railroad bridge across Bass River and delivered by Dr. Parker. He said, “When I lived at Yarmouth Farms I rode to school by horse and wagon with an older girl over Great Western Rd to Weir Village Rd which was the old stage coach road to South Dennis from Yarmouth.” Here he takes you on a tour of Yarmouth Port and shares his memories.

On Willow Street stood the crossing tenders’ house between the two sets of tracks. The tenders were John Cobb, Patsy Heffernan, and John Silver. I recall this was the warmest place in town. Hinckley's was the hay, grain and lumber store [then by the tracks]; deliveries were made by teams with pairs of horses and drivers. When this store burned, the smell of the burning oats was unforgettable. Nearby was the railroad station with the water tank for filling the engines and there was a shed for horses and wagons. The Register office was on Railroad Avenue. Henry Usher's blacksmith shop was to the left of Railroad Avenue.

Yarmouth Port Railroad station circa 1946. The large warehouses in the rear belonged to Hinckley Lumber.

James Crocker’s store in the 1860s, later it was Dexter Paynes. In the 1960s it became the Christmas Tree Shop.

What is now the Christmas Tree Shop was Dexter Payne’s store which sold a little bit of everything and the Ansel Hallett store. Opposite the corner was the home of Captain Asa Eldridge who was the skipper of the clipper Red Jacket which was the fastest sailing vessel in its day.

The entrance to Sandyside, the Simpkins’ estate, ran from Main Street to Summer Street and bordered on Dennis Pond, the whole estate being hand mowed and very beautifully landscaped. The Simpkins family had their own ice house, greenhouses, large stable, sunken gardens, vegetable gardens and a caretaker's house. My first recollection of the caretaker was that he was a man named Schmidt, followed by John Usher and Horace Ryder. The first automobile we ever saw was a Stutz owned by Richie Simpkins, an open one seat affair with a man on the running board pumping something. We kids thought it was gasoline but now we know it had to be oil as the first cars had no oil pumps. It could have been a foreign car as Richie had just returned from an African safari. We were not allowed to get close to it.

Next on Main Street was, and still is, Hallet's drugstore. Across the street was the Colonial Club, a social club where the men played pool, cards and billiards. There was one room where people voted on town affairs. Later a barber shop was opened in the rear of the building and was run by Danforth Whelden who had the dullest cutting tools I ever saw and felt.

Across from the club was the store and post office run by Elmer Hallet, postmaster. Elmer taught shorthand to a few students at a time each year. He was to teach me the next year but died during the winter. Maybe the shock of having me as a student was too much to bear. He believed in teaching this method to students between 10 and 14 years old so that the students could take their knowledge back to school and teach others as this was not taught in school. One of his pupils was such an apt student that he became a very successful court stenographer in Boston

The next store later became Ansel Hallet's antique store, then R.H. Harris jewelry store. Mrs Harris, after her husband's death, adopted John Harris, who later became president of the First National Bank of Yarmouth.

What is now Connolly's store was then a dry and fancy goods store run by Miss Isabel Lewis. Our mothers would buy us three or four cents worth of penny candy to keep us quiet while they browsed through the store.

This store, now a pediatric office next to Lighthouse Keepers, was a dry goods store and later Connolly’s General Store in the 1960s.

Lyceum Hall was on the corner where it is to this day. Everything happened there, from minstrel shows to dances for all occasions and many plays - the real social center of Yarmouth Port. At the corner of Main and Summer streets was the watering trough and the hand pump for the horses. Later the salesmen who toured the Cape would stop and fill their Stanley Steamers with water, much to the delight of us children.

Soranus Hall's meat market was on the corner just before the Old Yarmouth Inn which was, in the old days, a stage stop. My grandfather, Patrick Morgan, drove the stage at times.

Soranus Hall’s Meat Market, just west of the Old Yarmouth Inn, where outdoor seating is now offered.

Across the street was Knowles grocery store, now Parnassus bookstore and a millinery shop. Next was Sears Lane where Dr Sears lived. I remember his house being struck by lightning and the lightning bolt unscrewed the nut holding the pendulum of his grandfather's clock.

Next on Thacher Street was the livery stable of Pat Hannon, behind the 1680 House. Also the farm of Alfred Howland on George Street, now called Thacher Shore Rd.

Across the street from the 1680 House began the estate of the Thacher family. On the hill behind the present Post Office was a large building called Thacher Cottage with a porch covering three sides. There were pool and billiard tables below and a dance floor above for their private parties. Beyond that was their nine hole golf course (now HSOY’s Nature Trails). The grass except for the greens was kept in a playable state by a flock of sheep with a large sheep barn and open pen. In the hollow to the left of the cottage was a large greenhouse where flowers were grown for their table decorations. The gardener and farmer were two Dutchmen. Their families were the most beautiful skaters we had ever seen and their skates were the kind that rolled up and over the toes of their shoes. We skated on Dennis Pond and sometimes on Miller's pond. Family groups, mother, father and all the kids would skate. We had a large brush fire for warmth.

The farm of my aunt and uncle, Winnie and Frank Arey, was at the foot of Church Street and ran right to the marsh - about 80 acres. They later sold the farm to the Thachers. I remember the three and four masted schooners frozen in the ice of Cape Cod Bay and people walking out to see them. These ships were seen by me from the windows of the farm as I was not allowed to go out by myself.

The schoolhouse, located where the present fire station stands, had eight grades downstairs and four grades of high school upstairs. The manual training building was next door. This was donated and equipped by the Simpkins family. There was a chemistry and physics lab and the girls' cooking and sewing room downstairs. The woodworking shop was on the top floor. Mrs. Agassiz used to arrive at Christmastime in her chauffeur driven car with presents and candy for all the children in grades one through eight.

Northside School with the manual training building on the left. The bell from the school still sits in front of the Yarmouth Port fire station.

Another well-known family of Yarmouth was that of George Otis who gave Fourth of July parties for the children, and I remember them passing around a jar of pennies from which the kids could take what their fists could permit which wasn't too many pennies

The building behind the school playground held a horse-drawn hearse for funerals. Also behind the school was the farm of William Lack who was the school janitor. He wore celluloid collars and no necktie.

On Winter Street was the home and greenhouses of Herbert Vincent. One greenhouse was just for pinks. The nicest smell in the world is a greenhouse full of pinks. The Vincents were a very nice family. Mrs Vincent always had the best goodies in her large kitchen which had an old wood burning stove.

On Center Street were two large farms belonging to Edmond Eldridge and John Cobb. The Yarmouth Alms House was across from the Cobb farm. This was run by a superintendent and his wife and the inmates worked the land and tended the animals unless they were sick, and more or less took care of themselves.

The Yarmouth Port Alms House, near Bass Hole.

A little house, a camp meeting cottage, at the foot of Center Street by the Bass Hole was lived in by Fred Currier who was the American Railway Express agent. We kids used to go there to visit. Fred was a lovable person when sober. One time we were invited in and Fred started a fire in the wood burning stove. As it began to get warm we noticed the oven door, which was ajar, move and upon opening it were surprised by his cat jumping out. A little longer and we would have had baked cat. It made a lasting impression on me.

Where now stands Captain's Row shopping plaza was the home of William and Norton Nickerson whose father was a stonecutter. I can remember the gravestones in front of his house. Norton, who lived on Summer Street, studied engraving in New York.

Yarmouth Port had the first house to house mail delivery on Cape Cod, obtained by the Honorable Thomas C. Thacher when he was in congress. The mail carriers I recall were first, John Brice; second, Thomas Baker; third, Lloyd Montcalm.