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Woods Hole History

July 1, 2018

It’s summer in Woods Hole, Mass., with plenty of opportunities to enjoy the outdoors and even learn a little about the fascinating ocean science that goes on here. But in the height of winter, it’s not unusual for ice to form on the surface of Great Harbor off the WHOI pier, as it did in January 1945 when this photo was taken. About a century earlier, from 1863 to 1889, the Pacific Guano Company operated a factory on the peninsula then known as “Long Neck,” now Penzance Point (background). The company produced fertilizer from local fish and from bird droppings collected on islands in the Pacific Ocean. Before that, from 1828 to 1864, as many as nine whaling ships worked out of Woods Hole. (Photo courtesy of Woods Hole Oceanographic Institution Archives)