Conservation Lands
River Bend Farm
The 300 Committee purchased River Bend Farm on Sandwich Road in the fall of 2007. The 10-acre parcel is a key piece in the goal of the town and the land trust to establish a pathway along the Coonamessett River. Once the pathway is formed, a trail along the length of the river will be possible.
This parcel is unusual in its own right; it combines level grassy fields, a vernal pool, freshwater marsh, red maple-blueberry wetlands, and a wooded slope leading down to the water. A path winds along the stream and through an abandoned, overgrown cranberry bog, where the straight lines of the ditches of the bog are still evident. A sluice gate that served the bog also exists at the lower end of the property where Coonamessett River flows under Sandwich Road to Pond 14 on the other side.
In the early 1900s, Hatchville was dominated by large dairy farms, and this property was part of Sunnyside Farm. Earlier, at the turn of the 19th century, a wool fulling mill was operated, reprocessing old woolen material. According to a survey funded by the Falmouth Historical Commission, the site constitutes the only documented wool fulling mill in Falmouth.
The sellers will continue for several years to operate their kennel business, named River Bend after the turn in the river that flows below the house and kennel barn.
