Historic Falmouth - Hurricane Valley Overlook

Hurricane Valley was so named because of a 1767 hurricane that leveled trees in the area, “leaving only the sturdiest oaks upright.” With so many trees uprooted, the land was much easier to clear than it was before, which soon led to settlement of the area. Many of the first settlers were members of the Leighton family, but some were also Quakers fleeing persecution in Portland.

Hurricane Valley was once the location of several dairy farms and one poultry farm. Today only Wilshore Farm remains (formerly Stimson’s Dairy); the poultry farm is now a winery. Wilshore farm (the building with the silo) and the fields across from it are protected by an agricultural easement that requires that the property remain in agricultural use.

According to E Pluribus Unum, a publication of the Falmouth Historical Society, “one of the most intriguing stories about Hurricane Valley concerns the two witches who were supposed to have lived there, Old Kate and Sally Trip.”

Hurricane Road once extended all the way to Scitterygusset Creek, where farmers brought produce to be picked up by boat near Tide Water farm. Traces of the old road can be found on either the end of Autumn Way (off Hadlock Road). The lower section of Hurricane Road was abandoned when the new Gray Road (Route 100) was built in the mid-1800s.