Historically, Woods Hole included one of the few good harbors (along with Hyannis) on the southern side of Cape Cod (i.e. Great Harbor, contained by Penzance Point). The community, originally spelled "Wood's Holl", became a center for whaling, shipping, and fishing, prior to its dominance today by tourism and marine research.
Woods Hole was first used as a fishing ground by the Wampanoag people. In 1602, Bartholomew Gosnold first set foot on Woods Hole, and European settlement began. A Wampanoag Indian deed dated 1679 details the transfer of land to early European settlers. The deed was witnessed by Shearjashub Bourne and Thomas Hinckley.
alarm and a general mustering of the militia in the several towns, they drew off in the direction of Chatham.1 There can be scarcely a doubt that the attack attempted to land at Woods Hole, but about SO of our men posted there gave them a warm fire which soon drove them off. and the boats went to Nonnamesit, an island near Woods Hole, where they lauded and killed the few sheep, cow?, and hogs tho enemy had before left, and threatened to kill the family that lived there, because, they said, the d d rebels had
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Jouathan Hatch Sr., William Weeks, and Thomas Ewer. There were laid out 10 acres to a share, in Great Neck, to the same individuals.1 A blacksmith being indispensable to the necessities of the settlers at Woods Hole, w 12 acres of upland with the marsh thereabout," was laid out and appropriated " to encourage a smith to come and settle among us."
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Scans and text from the Internet Archive. Books published in 1930 or earlier, which are in the public domain.
By decade
Woods Hole, decade by decade
4 decades in the archive, from the 1860s to the 1930s. Scroll each row; tap a photo for its story.
Nothing in the archives for these yearsWeddings on Main Street, storms, parades, school pictures, the old store. If it’s in your family album, it belongs here.
Founding dates: Wikidata, Wikipedia, the U.S. post office records of Blevins & Helbock (CC0) and the Census. Homes by year built: Census ACS 2020–24. National Register of Historic Places: National Park Service (list of May 22, 2026). Old photos, postcards and papers: Wikimedia Commons, the Library of Congress and other public archives, credited on each item’s page. Maps: U.S. Geological Survey historical topographic maps (via Esri) and Sanborn fire-insurance maps (Library of Congress). History text and census tables: Wikipedia (CC BY-SA 4.0). Places that used to be: USGS Geographic Names Information System (2021). How TownRatings grades history →
From Wikimedia Commons (6), Wikipedia, Wikidata and Wikipedia for famous people, U.S. Geological Survey historical maps and old county and town histories (Internet Archive). Archive images are copied here with their credits and licenses, shown on each photo’s page. Refreshed monthly.
c. 1865
1907–1915