Rock Harbor As It Was

Weirs off Skaket Beach

The fishermen are Frank Ellis and Horace Rogers. As many people know (and saw), Frank and his partner, would drive their horse and wagon at low tide out to the weirs to take in their catch. Bud Snider said that he worked with those men when he was a kid growing up on West Rd.

Weirs - 1930's

As many know, these nets were strung out as you seem them on the flats of Skaket Beach. The tide would rise sometimes as high as 12', almost completely submerging these nets. Fish, unaware, would swim into the nets and not be able to escape.

Weirs - 1930s

As the tide ebbed, the fishermen would go out by horse and wagon and scoop up the catch.

Tending the Weirs

Frank Ellis and his partner, H. Rogers, at low tide would drive their horse and wagon out to the weirs to take in their catch.

Not For the Faint of heart

Here Frank contends with a rather large Blue shark that got trapped in the nets. One of the men carried a Luger pistol in case there was an aggressive type of shark, such as a Mako.

Eben Cummings — Bullraking

Brother to H.K. Cummings, who took the picture, Eben is shown here with a typical bullrake, which could be as long as 40' and weigh about 20 lbs. The rake would be about 36" wide and have upwards of 25 teeth.

Frozen solid-1961

Good thing the boats are relatively "flat-bottomed" and have a shallow draft. Otherwise they'd be "flat on the bottom".

High and somewhat dry-1961

In the winter they'd haul the boats up onto the Eastham side. Apparently no one squawked about using town land to store boats for the winter.

Fishing Fleet-Draggers-Ca 1950

The white boat in the foreground, the Triton, was that of Tony Peters, who fished with his brother, Lawrence. These men would go out on the tide and return on the tide, making a very long day at very hard work.

Inspections & Repairs-Ca 1950's

Very low tide. Notice the cradles on the far shore. Bill Hoffman of Eastham would haul the boats out for the winter and store them on the Eastham side. Roger Smith's wife, Etta, ran the gas pumps for many years.

"Forty Fathom"

Biggest boat in the Rock Harbor fleet. Owner: Bob Jordan

A Working Harbor

"Katherine" — owner Howard Fulcher, run by son, Donald (at the helm) and "Buzzy" Wilcox as mate. "Triton" — owner Tony Peters. "Wild Duck" — in background — owner Gene Fulcher

How is Your Balance?

That was back when you built your own access to your boat. You had to be a pretty good swimmer in those days.

The Quahaug House

That was back when quahaugs (sic) lived in houses.

In the 1950s

"Sparetime". Owner, Chet Higgins