2024 Season Walking Tours
Tours Available on Mondays, Tuesdays, Fridays and Saturdays starting Saturday, May 25th to October 18th, 2024. Please check out our Calendar page for more events.
Routes Will Vary – Our Current Schedule is listed below.
Start Time: Tours depart promptly at 10:30am, unless otherwise noted
Meeting Place: Hallett Barn Visitors Center.* Please arrive by 10:15 am.
Saturdays – Village Green: Famous Residents, Falmouth Firsts, Favorite Spots
Learn about several famous Falmouth citizens, see a house full of Falmouth Firsts, and visit one of Falmouth’s favorite places.
Mondays – Locust Street: Home to Many Mariners
This walk focuses on the homes, adventures, and families of several whaling captains, along with the original settlement area of Falmouth, local soldiers from the Revolutionary War to the Civil War, and the old town burying ground.
Tuesdays – Depot Ave. – (Oct 8th will be the “Scandals, Crimes, and Disaster” Tour)
Falmouth’s maritime past is proudly remembered, but there’s more to the history of our town. When the railroad arrived in 1871, Falmouth’s link to the world shifted from the sea to the rails. Trains brought visitors and freight to town multiple times daily. A bustling commercial zone arose, centered around the hub of the train station on Depot Ave. Join us as we explore this aspect of Falmouth’s industrial past and how it led to discussions over zoning and development that we live with today. Along the way, you’ll also see lovely examples of late 19th and early 20th century homes built by Cape Codders who gave up seafaring and prospered in professions like insurance, hospitality, and retail.
Fridays – Rotating between Grave Undertakings, Scandals and Women’s History.
Women’s History – 10:30am on June 28, July 19, Aug 9, Sept 6, 20
This walking tours delves into the less familiar history of Falmouth as we introduce you to a few of the notable women who made – and continue to make – their mark in Falmouth. Along the way, you will meet educators, abolitionists, suffragettes and storytellers. The tour features their stories and will give you new insight into the history of Falmouth.
Scandals – 10:30am on June 14, July 5, Aug 2, 23, Sept 13, 27, Oct 8th
Are there ever any “things that are best forgotten?” Perhaps, but we believe that revisiting past scandals can remind us that history was just real life before it was written down. This new walking tour covers the shadier side of local history, from petty feuds and social spats to serious crimes of robbery and murder. You’ll discover eleven events that really happened, but are rarely mentioned in published histories of our town. For instance, we will tell you about a colonial minister who desperately wanted a divorce, a town official caught with counterfeit money, and an unsolved murder that may have been committed by Prohibition-era gangsters.
Old Burying Ground: Grave Undertakings* 5:30pm on June 7, 21, July 12, 26, Aug 16, 30, and Oct 4th at 4pm
From the most respected minister to the lowliest outcast, everyone in Falmouth ended up here eventually. See their markers and hear their stories as our tour guide leads you through this hidden gem of a cemetery.
* The Old Burying Ground tour meets at the top of Cemetery Lane.
NOTE: Please park in the 300 Committee lot at 157 Locust Street. Use the crosswalk to cross Locust St. and head towards the large boulder of the Mariners’ Memorial. Opposite the Memorial, across Mill Rd., join your tour guide at the top of Cemetery Lane.
Please REGISTER HERE in advance for Old Burying Ground tour.
Sinners, Saints, and Silent Souls: A Special Halloween Burying Ground Walking Tour
Friday, October 18th, 3pm – Friday, October 25, 3pm – Saturday, October 26th, 3pm
As Halloween approaches, spirits come out of the shadows, eager to have their stories told. Now is the perfect time to visit them on their home turf. Join us for an enhanced Halloween version of our popular tour of Falmouth’s Old Burying Ground, where we’ll explore the gravesites of fascinating characters resting in the town’s oldest cemetery. In honor of the season, we’ll also delve into spine-tingling tales of alleged witches, demons, murder, and monsters—all grounded in actual local history from our archives with a Falmouth twist.
Falmouth has a spooky side—come and see it for yourself! Whether you’ve joined us before or this is your first time, you haven’t experienced a tour like this.
Parking: Please park in the 300 Committee lot at 157 Locust Street. Use the crosswalk to cross Locust St. and head toward the large boulder of the Mariners’ Memorial. Opposite the Memorial, across Mill Rd., join your tour guide at the top of Cemetery Lane.
Recommended for ages 13+ and those who can navigate uneven terrain.
Meeting Point: The Old Burying Ground tour begins at the top of Cemetery Lane. Don’t forget to wear long clothing, bring bug spray, and prepare for a hauntingly good time!
$20 / $15 for members — limit of 20 people per walk, please pre-register
Register Here
Nyes & Neighbors: A Walk through North Falmouth Village – Saturday, November 16th, 2pm
For centuries, each Falmouth village has been a world unto itself, developing its own distinct
character and a fierce sense of neighborhood pride. Venture with us into the quaint village of
North Falmouth, shaped by the numerous Nye family from 1699 until the mid-20 th century.
We’ll take in the Congregational Church and its cemetery, then walk along Old Main Road,
appreciating the beauty of its historic homes and sharing stories of their inhabitants. We’ll meet
progenitor Benjamin Nye, tragic whaling captain John Galen Nye, shopkeeper Ferdinand Nye,
and many more. Other residents, not of the Nye clan, also fell under North Falmouth’s spell—a
diverse group that includes Senator Daniel Webster, stonemason Manuel Brazil, and hatmakers
Susan and Cora Small. From traditional sheep farming to Prohibition and beyond, North
Falmouth contains countless reminders of our past.
The Historical Society is pleased to partner with the North Falmouth Village Association in
sponsoring this walk. The Association’s headquarters, the Village Junction, will be open for
walkers to visit.
Sign up early as space is limited. This walk is free and open to the public thanks to an
anonymous foundation.
Please park at the North Falmouth Congregational Church on Old Main Road, North Falmouth
Elementary School, or at the Shining Sea bike path parking lot. The walk will begin at the
Congregational Church.
$20 / $15 for members — limit of 20 people per walk, please pre-register
Register Here
