The Brewster Historical Society
Honors the Eddy Sisters
With Women’s History Month upon us, we got to thinking of a couple of women who left their mark on Brewster in ways that will never be forgotten. Maybe you knew them or maybe you didn’t, but you’ve certainly heard their name: The Eddy School, the Eddy Sisters Trail, the Eddy Bay Trail, the Eddy Foundation.
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Jean, Ruth, and Mary-Louise Eddy |
Mary-Louise and Ruth Eddy, along with their sister Jean, summered in Brewster with visits to their Grandfather Thorndike’s farm on Lower Road, and in 1970 Mary-Louise and Ruth moved here full time. In the 1890s, their grandfather, Augustus Larkin Thorndike, had purchased land all along the Lower Road area, buying up what was then considered worthless shorefront property. "Everyone thought he was crazy," Mary-Louise recalled in an interview conducted with the Cape Cod Times.
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The Thorndike Farmhouse on Lower Road |
The sisters inherited a chunk of that "worthless" real estate - about 31 acres with some 400 feet of frontage on Cape Cod Bay-- and gifted a large portion to the Brewster Conservation Trust. They might have stopped there and earned the undying devotion of Brewster residents and visitors, but they didn’t. They also gave of their time. Ruth served as selectwoman, town clerk, treasurer, and member of the personnel board, government study committee, and golf commission. Mary-Louise served on both the Town elementary and the Nauset Regional school committees for many years. Both sisters served on the Brewster Ladies Library Board of Trustees, and Mary-Louise Eddy put up a $15,000 challenge grant to help the library building fund. For every $100 donated, she matched it, up to $15,000. |
Mary-Louise Eddy helping Fred Young on the farm |
Another gift of about 18 acres from the sisters provided the town with their community gardens on Lower Road and the lovely Eddy Sisters Trail that winds through the woods surrounding the gardens. Across the street, the Eddy Bay Trail meanders through forest to emerge on the bluff overlooking Cape Cod Bay.
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Cape Cod Bay from the Eddy Bay Trail |
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And let’s not forget the Eddy Elementary School. In an unusual move, the town named the school after the sisters while they were still living. When the school opened in February 1996, the kindergarten class presented the sisters with crowns. By all accounts the sisters were delighted and never took them off throughout the day. |
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Eddy Elementary School, Brewster |
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During an interview with the Cape Cod Times Mary-Louise commented philosophically on the changes in town. “As long as plenty of the historic things are preserved. We love the historic district. I hope Route 6A never, never gets changed."
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Jean, Mary-Louise, and Ruth Eddy
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In a final bequest from the sisters, The Mary-Louise and Ruth N. Eddy Foundation was formed. Each year select groups, The Brewster Historical Society among them, are invited to apply for funding assistance for specific projects. Some of the Historical Society projects assisted by the Eddy Foundation include digitization of archives, curation of exhibits, an oral history project (in collaboration with Brewster Ladies Library), and repair and maintenance of the Higgins Farm Windmill, the Harris-Black House, the Hopkins Blacksmith Shop, and the Elijah Cobb House. |
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Higgins Farm Windmill, Hopkins Blacksmith Shop, and Harris-Black House at Windmill Village |
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Cobb House Museum. The Eddy Sisters appear in the photo to lower left. |
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The Brewster Historical Society is proud to honor the sisters who gave so much of themselves – and continue to give -- to Brewster. |
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