During the following 16 years, the activities of Spencer F. 

 Baird greatly influenced the course of biological research in the 

 United States and put studies of the conservation of marine resources 

 on a sound scientific basis. His achievements in zoological research 

 and its application to conservation greatly advanced the progress of 

 marine biology in the United States. In no other place in the country 

 have the results of his work been felt as deeply as in Woods Hole, 

 where a few years after his arrival the first marine laboratory in the 

 United States was established. The laboratory thrived, and the 

 community developed into one of the world's leading scientific 

 research centers. 



To understand this profound change in the destiny of Woods Hole 

 it is necessary to visualize the local conditions as they existed at 

 the time of Baird' s arrival. The beginning of Woods Hole dates back 

 to the early 17th century. Five years before the settlement of 

 Jamestown, Virginia, and 18 years before the Pilgrims landed at 

 Provincetown and Plymouth, Bartholomew Gosnold coasted along 

 Cape Cod and Marthas Vineyard, and about May 31, 1602, he is 

 believed to have landed at what is now known as Woods Hole. The 

 Town of Falmouth, of which Woods Hole is presently a part, was 

 first settled in 1659-61 when several persons were granted permission 

 to purchase land. The date of the settlement of Woods Hole took 

 place 17 years later. The town (Falmouth) was incorporated on June 4, 

 1686, and called Succonessett, the name which later, probably in 1694, 

 was changed to Falmouth. On July 2 3, 1677, the land around Little 

 Harbor of Woods Hole (fig. 2) was divided among the 13 settlers in 

 "lots of 60 acres upland to a share" and an "Indian deed" confirming 

 the land title was signed by Job Notantico on July 15, 167 9 (Deyo, 1890). 

 Fishing, hunting, and sheep breeding were the principal occupations 

 of the early settlers and their descendents. Later on a grist mill 

 was built and salt was made by solar evaporation of sea water in pans 

 built along the banks of Little Harbor. 



These quiet, rural conditions, devoid of adventure, persisted 

 until about 1815, when Woods Hole became an important whaling 

 station from which ships operated on the high seas. The whaling 

 industry in the United States became a very profitable business, and 

 Woods Hole was a part of it. In 1854, the total receipts for the 

 American whaling fleet amounted to $10.8 million, the largest part 

 of this amount resulted from whaling carried out by Massachusetts 

 captains. Woods Hole participated in these activities and prospered. 

 It is known that between 1815 and 1860, not less than nine whaling 

 ships were making port at the Bar Neck wharf, which was located 

 where the U. S. Navy building of the Woods Hole Oceanographic 

 Institution now stands. The place was busy processing oil and whale- 

 bone and outfitting ships. A bake house for making sea biscuits for 

 long voyages stood next to the present "Old Stone Building" built in 

 1829 as a candle factory. This conspicuous old landmark on Water 

 Street of Woods Hole, identified by an appropriate bronze plaque. 



