25 Reservation Road and Frannie Dobbs

Rebecca and I purchased the property formally belonging to the Dobbs. The property itself has a long history most of which “Frannie” Dobbs occupied living over 100 years. The stories of what happened over the last 100 years at 25 Reservation Road come from the fellow residents of Smiths Ferry. Some information comes from the Stearns Family, right next door, who has also occupied their house for over 100 years. Marion Gartman who is known as the “Mayor of Smiths Ferry” to the residents has provided us with as much information as the Holyoke Public Library. Some people who were witness to the renovation stopped in and told us of amazing experiences they had when they lived in the area. The people were all somehow tied to Frannie Dobbs and had something to say about her. One woman just wanted to come in and see. She didn’t care that there was no lights, plumbing, or walls. She just wanted to look out the window and remember what it was like to see the fall leaves change from where she sat days ago on Thanksgiving.

Francis Dobbs actually purchased the land from Leroy F. Avery in August of 1924. She was married to Ira Dobbs; however, the deed was in her name. They had a store on the land and also ran a tea shop across the street that is now Competitive Edge Ski and Bike. The story goes that there was a carriage house in the back, and a turn off of the dirt road known then as Northampton Highway. Behind the house was a pit under cover that was for storing ice blocks for sale for peoples ice boxes. At some point early on Ira Dobbs passed away. Most of her life Frannie spent with what seems to be a countless amount of cats. She was always active mowing the lawn even in her later years. From what we understand she just had a love of nature and the preservation of such. When we bought the house there was a hundred foot maple tree that was completely dead standing next to the house. The only thing keeping it up is the steel cables tying its branches together, to a telephone poll, and another tree. When we started asking around it turns out that’s how far Frannie would go before she cut down a tree. To sum up the kind of person she was our other neighbor Peggy Boulais said, she would have a 50 pound bag of food for the birds, and another 50 pound bag for the cats…..she would feed everything else before herself.

The Re-Construction of the “Dobbs Place”

Just like Frannie Dobbs we purchased the property in the month of August, only many years later in 2003. The work began immediately on the house. First was the destruction of the old plaster and lat walls. We removed so much it filled three “roll off” dumpsters. The work we did ourselves day in day out. The only exception was our contracting a plumber. There were our friends and family who came here and there when needed most, and we thank them again.

Some of the more interesting finds in the house was the Transcript Telegrams that were used to insulate underneath the old wood siding. They are all dated between WW1 and WW2 era. There was an old bed in the attic inscribed “Made for John Tilley and Co. Holyoke, MA.” We made a table out of that.

Some commonly asked questions about the construction:

Q. How long did it take?
A. Nine months at 14 hours a day/ 7 days a week

Q. How big is the house?
A. Almost 4000 sq/ft.

Q. How much did it cost?
A. About $50,000 in addition to the price of the property

Then there is the never ending question and statement of why don’t we sell the place because we could make so much money. That’s not an easy answer to give. The only cut and dry part about it is the $150,000 profit we could make in the drop of a hat. For myself, I have lived all over the world serving in the Marines. Three times around the world brought my back to Holyoke. Rebecca and I invested all out time and money into what we wanted. We made a choice to settle our home in Holyoke. We saw potential in the Dobbs house that no one seen for the years it stood awaiting someone to do something with it. This concept is the same on any level. Everyone told us with the house it couldn’t be done. At best we heard that it would take us ten years to make it livable. How surprised they all were. We see that same potential in Holyoke. Our city stands in stagnation awaiting some motivated people to make things happen.

A brief history of Smiths Ferry

In 1653, the area which is now Northampton, Easthampton, Westhampton, Southampton and parts of Hatfield and Montgomery was purchased from the Norwottuck Indians by the Commissioners of Springfield. Many years later Smiths Ferry was to change hands again, being purchased by the City of Holyoke in the year of 1909.

A swing ferry, begun in 1770, spanned the river between this land and the South Hadley Shore. It was owned and operated by Elias Lyman, the first licensed ferryman. The ferry was based on the east side of the river, and after a succession of owners, in 1836, Captain Herbie Smith was the first to operate from the west side of the river. Chester Smith and his sons, descendants of the Captain, owned and operated the ferry until after the Civil War. During this long tenure, the area gradually became known as Smiths Ferry.

The Holyoke Canoe Club has been a resident of the ferry for many years. It was one of the first boating clubs on the river. Its present location on the site of the old railroad station was chosen after the original building was destroyed by fire in 1907.

The Holyoke Country Club, also a longtime resident, is adjacent to the Mt. Tom State Reservation. Over the years the Reservation with its entrance on Rt. 5, has provided much pleasure. Families have fished in Bray Lake in the summer and ice skated in the winter. The Connecticut River at our feet has provided us not only transportation, but enjoyment and beauty.

Smiths Ferry has gone full circle, from a rural area to a commercially active area in the 30’s to late 50’s period and now mostly rural again, with a small town family felling amongst neighbors.

This information was taken from a book titled Cooking With Smith’s Ferry Women’s Club. There is no date of publishing.

The above histories were written by Damian Cote.