Marstons Mills

Marstons Mills is a picturesque, rural village in Barnstable on Cape Cod. With wide-open spaces that were once farmland of Mystic Lake Dairy and Clear Lake Duck Farm, Marstons Mills is a community that has always relied on its rich natural resources. The Marstons Mills River, one of the best herring runs on the Cape, was responsible for powering the mills that processed wool from local herds. The same river also played a role in the local cranberry industry. Its headwaters rose in the cranberry bogs, where the large-scale production of cranberries first began in America. In the village center and along its quiet country roads, Marstons Mills has many impressive Greek Revival homes and traditional Cape Cod cottages. These were the homes of whaling masters and clipper ship captains who retired here from the sea. Marstons Mills presents the village's history through rich and fascinating images and gives readers and residents a view into the past.

James Gould is professor emeritus of history and international relations at Scripps College. He writes about Marstons Mills for the Barnstable Enterprise and coauthored Images of America: Cotuit and Santuit. Vivian Cushing has lived in the village for 65 years and recorded the first account of its history for the Barnstable National Bicentennial.