Mayflower Point Association History - Our Roads
The Mayflower Point Association became an official organization in August of 1960. Residents who had lived here since the mid 1940s had been holding periodic informal meetings but decided by the late ‘50s that they needed an organization with bylaws to clarify leadership and financial matters. They also needed an organization to “own the roads”. At the first annual meeting in August 1960, they formed a road committee to make recommendations on types and location of signs and treatment for the dirt roads. As voted by the new Board of Directors at that first Annual meeting, Russell (Russ) Harper was elected President of the Association and remained in that position for close to 15 years providing ongoing communication about the condition of the roads to MP members. Russ kept copies of his communication so our archives are full of his letters and notes. At that first annual meeting, it was recorded in those minutes from 1960 that “Mr. Harper thinks he can obtain a couple of loads of stone to fill in low spots. Mrs. Herold will investigate the possibility of obtaining crank case oil and application to the roads for a bond to retain fill.” That year, residents paid $196 to Roland Mayo for road fill.
How our roads have changed over time is interesting. There are many “road” stories in the archives but here is one of the first. The history of our main road, Herring Brook Way evolving into Kescayogansett is a story involving John Pershing, the father of Pam Pershing Herrick, and probably the first homeowner on Mayflower Point. Pam’s Dad bought their house in 1939/1940 — 8 Kescayogansett — their family history (along with a picture from 1939) is on the MPA website and presents a great introduction to the 1940s Mayflower Point. Pam’s history details the story of “moving the road” after WWII. Here is an excerpt from her history:
Right after war when I was 12 or 13, I remember seeing a Grossman Lumber truck come up on the Point. At that time the road from Monument to the Point was just three feet from our front door. My mother talked to the town and asked that they move the dirt road further out away from our house. The road was dirt with plenty of pot holes, now called Kescayogansett, and she knew there would be trucks up that road into the Point to build houses. The town moved the road and at some point, I can’t remember when, it got paved.
In our archives, we have the original 1941 Plan of Land in Orleans, MA surveyed for John Pershing by Arthur Sparrow, Engineer, that was recorded in the Barnstable Registry of Deeds July 1941. On it, you can see the land that Herbert Snow et al owned then and the vehicle tract right up to the front door of the Pershing house and barn. The proposed road is drawn and shows the curves in the road we now have on Kescayogansett. Lonnie's Pond was called Kescayogansett Pond then and, as Pam Herrick says in her family history, the dirt road started at Monument and went right by the Herring Brook. You can follow all this on the two photos below. The “vehicle track” was the original dirt road that went up to the Pershing front door. That house is now owned by Andy Cooper and Emily McKhann.