Chicago Chapter
This page is dedicated to the memory of Noel Beyle. He was a sculptor, an author, a historian, a local character, the Mayor of West Eastham, and the founder of the SS Longstreet Preservation Society. When I was a child if you went to Thumpertown beach at low tide and looked west over the bay, you could still see the remains of the target ship just below the horizon. When I was a child if you walked past Noel Beyle’s house you could get a good chuckle out of his lawn signs and sculptures (we particularly liked “Viagra Oyster Company”). Now what remains of the SS Longstreet has sunk beneath the waves, and the house Beyle inhabited for 50-odd years is slated to be leveled and redeveloped.
That things must change is not a tragedy. Cape Cod is one big constantly shifting sandbar. Efforts to freeze it at a specific nostalgic moment in time, no matter how well-meaning, are doomed to fail. Still, old man Beyle loved this town in his way, and he dedicated his life to recording its trivia. His work is now as complete as it will ever be, and it is his turn to be the subject of someone else’s history.
This page is a work in progress. With luck it will be complete enough one day.