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Photo from the collection of
Clive
Driver
The Chequesset Inn, Wellfleet harbor, about 1905. |
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The Chequesset Inn, Wellfleet
Clive
Driver
BANNER COLUMNIST
In 1902, Lorenzo Dow Baker, a Wellfleet native who had made afortune popularizing and being the major importer of bananas fromJamaica, built a classic hotel and pleasure pavilion at the end ofthe mid-19th century Mercantile Wharf on Wellfleet harbor. The hotelwas built 400 foot from shore, completely over and surrounded bywater, to the highest luxury standards. Nothing like it had ever beenundertaken on Cape Cod, and most likely will never be again.
A second-story walkway circled the entire hotel, and every roomhad a water view. The property included two miles of waterfront, andadditional cottages for rent. There were also bath houses, tenniscourts, a bowling alley, a billiard room, open fire-places, andspacious dining and other public rooms. It was entirely electrified,a rarity in 1902, and with bell service for summoning wait staff.
The food was lavish, and the vegetables and green produce weregrown on the property. The average summer temperature of the bathingbeach water was 74 degrees. It was often suggested to guests thatthey stop here first for lunch, drive on to Provincetown for theafternoon, and return to the inn for dinner and overnight lodging,leaving their car in the inn's fire-proof garage.
Many guests stayed for a good part of the summer season, and forthem there were added enchantments. Yachting regattas were regularlyheld in the bay in front of the inn. There was a motor launch forhire that took guests to Plymouth, Provincetown, and pointsinbetween. Day excursions ending in a clambake could be arranged at amoment's notice. An added incentive for some (but not all) was thatno alcoholic beverages were allowed anywhere on the premises, norwere pets, as the proprietors strive 'to have no disagreeable orobjectionable features about the hotel.'
Rates ranged from $5 and up per day, or $25 and up per week, withspecial rates for those making a long stay. As can well be imagined,the inn was extremely popular, and flourished for about 25 years.Unfortunately, the pier was undermined by ice, and the inn destroyedin February 1934. Today, at low tide the pilings of the pier canstill be seen at the far end of Mayo Beach, all that now remains ofthis famous establishment.
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Jul 24th, 1997