Swift and Chute Preserve

Property Address: 76 West Falmouth Hwy. & Pumping Station Road, Falmouth

These 24 acres within the watershed of Long Pond, the Town's primary drinking water source, were donated to The 300 Committee as two separate gifts eight years apart. The first nearly 13-acre parcel was given to T3C in 2006 by E. Kent Swift, Jr., a local businessman with ties to the marine industry who served on the Board of Trustees of the Woods Hole Oceanographic Institution. In 2014, T3C accepted a gift of 11 additional acres from the estate of Oliver Swift Chute. These parcels are further protected by conservation restrictions (CRs) held by the Town of Falmouth. Documents relating to the CRs indicate that the land had been owned by "Oliver S. Chute and his family since approximately 1680."

In 2016, T3C conveyed a 500-foot "buffer strip" on the western shore of Long Pond to the Town in accordance with a watershed agreement for the protection of Long Pond dating back to 1960.

The land for many years included a summer cabin where the members of the Chute and Swift families would gather to enjoy the quiet woods and fish in the small pond to the west of Long Pond. The setting was so idyllic and the reflections on the water so clear that the family named this small pond "Angel's Mirror." Today, a path from Pumping Station Road winds through the woods, downhill and around the lovely pond. A bit farther along, hikers can branch right to meet the main trail that encircles Long Pond (southern section of Falmouth's Moraine Trail), or branch left to continue through a less-travelled section of woods to the west. that encircles Long Pond.

Access to this area is from the trail system at Long Pond, or from Goodwill Park. The closest parking area is adjacent to the Goodwill Park playground.