The short version
How did the state actually take Washburn Island? These registry records answer it. On June 14, 1983, the Massachusetts Department of Environmental Management (DEM) took about 335 acres of the island by eminent domain “for conservation and recreation purposes,” and the order was registered at the Barnstable County Registry of Deeds at 11:31 that morning. Attached to it are the two votes that made it possible: Falmouth’s selectmen approved the taking on April 14, 1983, and the state Board of Environmental Management approved it on April 29 with a damages award of up to $2,250,000. A 1985 Land Court order then settled the title. These are the records behind Saving Washburn Island.
What the records are
Both documents are on file in the Registered Land (Land Court) section of the Barnstable County Registry of Deeds, because the island is registered land.
- Order of Taking, Document 312770 (5 pages): the registry cover sheet, the two-page order, the Board of Environmental Management’s certificate of vote, and the Falmouth Board of Selectmen’s certificate of vote.
- Land Court order, Document 356399 (2 pages): the court’s February 13, 1985 order in Case No. 36365-S cancelling Dr. A. Lincoln Washburn’s certificate of title for the island and issuing a new one to the state.
What they show
- The land. “An island bounded on all sides by the waters of Vineyard Sound, Eel Pond, Seapit River and Waquoit Bay,” shown as Lot 2 on Land Court Plan 36365-A. It stays subject to the public’s rights in the surrounding tidewaters and tidal ponds, and keeps a right to build a dike first licensed to Henry Bryant in 1898.
- The authority. The state took the island in fee under the state laws that let DEM acquire land for conservation and recreation (G.L. c. 132A, sections 3 and 3A) and the eminent domain law (G.L. c. 79).
- Who was named. The order lists two “supposed owners”: Albert Lincoln Washburn, and the Washburn Island Preserve Limited Partnership “under an agreement to purchase.” (See the 1981 agreement.)
- Who signed. DEM Commissioner James Gutensohn signed the order; Gov. Michael S. Dukakis approved it; T. David Raftery, chief of the Attorney General’s Eminent Domain Division, approved it as to form; and Tunney Lee signed as deputy commissioner for capital planning.
- Falmouth’s consent. The selectmen’s certificate, signed by chair Heather McMurtrie, records their April 14, 1983 vote approving the taking.
- The money. The Board of Environmental Management voted on April 29, 1983 for a pro tanto award (a payment made now, with the owner free to sue for more) “not to exceed $2,250,000.” The Falmouth Enterprise reported that the state paid $2.1 million (our summary).
- The title. Dr. Washburn filed an objection in the Land Court on March 15, 1984 and withdrew it on February 11, 1985. Two days later the court ordered a new certificate of title for the island to the state.
What it means for Waquoit Bay today
These records fix the date and terms of the taking that ended the 50-lot plan and put Washburn Island in public hands. The Enterprise dated it loosely at the time, and two later stories put it in July; the registry stamp shows June 14, 1983. The island later became part of the Waquoit Bay National Estuarine Research Reserve (the 1984 sanctuary plan).
Read the documents
Commonwealth of Massachusetts, Department of Environmental Management. (1983, June 14). Order of taking: Washburn Island, Falmouth (Land Court Document No. 312770). Barnstable County Registry of Deeds, Registered Land Section.
Massachusetts Land Court. (1985, February 13). Order, Case No. 36365-S (Document No. 356399). Barnstable County Registry of Deeds, Registered Land Section.
License: Public records of the Commonwealth of Massachusetts, free to view in the Barnstable County Registry of Deeds’ public search. The copies hosted here are the registry’s free online images, which carry a “Not an official copy” stamp; certified copies are available from the registry for a fee. This summary is based on the full documents. The card image is a title card made from the citation.
Drafted with AI assistance from the linked source.
