Fonseca Parcel

A long, narrow parcel of woods off Carriage Shop Road in Waquoit was farmland in the mid-1900s and, during World War II, a bivouac for soldiers from Camp Edwards (Massachusetts Military Reservation). The 17.2 acres extend between Bonnie Lane and Alton’s Lane to the Mashpee town line; the parcel links at the back to the Falmouth Rod and Gun Club and the Mashpee National Wildlife Refuge.

The town purchased the property in 2000 from the children of Charles and Amelia Fonseca, who in turn acquired the land and a house fronting on Carriage Shop in 1942. The house lot was not part of the town’s purchase.

Mr. Fonseca’s parents, Manuel and Ida Fonseca, were among the first Portuguese immigrants to settle in the Fresh Pond area. Their son Leonard was killed in World War II; the small park at the corner of Carriage Shop and Fresh Pond roads bears his name.