Recently, a friend asked if I could identify the South Wellfleet house pictured in this early 20^th century postcard.

The postcard was printed in Germany by Leighton and Valentine Company, New York City. This company was formed in 1909 when the Valentine Company of New York and Boston merged with the Hugh C. Leighton Company of Portland, Maine.

Using the photo archive at the Wellfleet Historical Society and Museum, I identified the “weird old house” as the David Wiley house (photo W2032), based on a comparison of the window placement and the tree growing in the front. A lucky find, helped by a useful digital collection.  

Thanks to my friend’s question, and the photo match, we now know that the old house was photographed in 1905 when it was still on the south side of Blackfish Creek near Old Wharf Road. According to the Historical Society’s record of the photograph, Abbot Paine took it apart and re-assembled it after that. The photograph was taken by Clem Baker who has only one other photo in the collection. The identification was by David Ernst, former Wellfleet Selectman and a major supporter of Wellfleet’s conservation projects, sadly no longer with us.

Turns out, I had written about this house and the Wiley family back in 2013.  Based on more than one source, my post on the Wiley family identified a house moved in 1866 across Blackfish Creek and now located at 165 Paine Hollow Road.

When I wrote that post in 2013, it was before the Wellfleet Historical Society developed its photo archive. Now I know there is a second Wiley house that Abbott Paine moved in the 20^th century.

I contacted my friend Irene Paine who has written about the Paine family, remembering that her grandfather was Abbott Paine. Indeed, she knew all about his project, carried out after he returned from military service in World War One. She knows that he added the dormer windows fairly soon after moving the home and made other additions later.

The house that was moved in the 1920s is now at 60 Pleasant Point Road. So many changes have been made, if it was once the Wiley house, you can’t identify it now.  It’s also possible that Mr. Paine moved another old house, or that the Historical Society’s identification is wrong.  Possibly, the house that was moved in 1866 was not a Wiley house —- the most recent Massachusetts Historical Commission’s Form B, updated recently by Lynn Smiledge, does not identify it as such.

We’re leaving this topic as a bit of a mystery.

Sources

Wellfleet Historical Society and Museum photo archive

The David Wiley place. – W2032 | Wellfleet Historical Society (pastperfectonline.com)

Massachusetts Historical Commission Form B for 165 Paine Hollow Road (WLF 335)

The Wiley Homestead in South Wellfleet | South Wellfleet, Massachusetts (south-wellfleet.com)

The Hugh C. Leighton Co., Manufacturers — Dumbarton Oaks (doaks.org)