Back in time (and saving land) with the Bakers
It turns out that time travel is pretty easy on Cape Cod–just walk into Baker’s Hardware in South Chatham! Suddenly, it feels like the Wayback Machine has been set for 1962, and you’re in a classic throwback store that has a little bit of everything, from beach toys and supplies to paint and nails.
Bob Baker in the doorway of Baker’s Hardware in South Chatham.
That’s where you’ll meet Bob Baker, a 14th generation Cape Codder, who grew up in a house behind the store. His father, Cyrus Baker established the business in 1950, and around 2000, Bob and his brother Gordon (and their wives Hazel and Evelyn) took over operations. Bob now keeps the store open for the summer months.
Choosing a conservation future for family land
The Baker family sold their 2.74 acres of land on the north side of Route 28 to Harwich Conservation Trust (HCT) in 2024. That same year, the Chase family sold their 9.6-acre parcel across the street where HCT is establishing the Red River Valley Preserve. Together, the Baker and Chase properties form a “green gateway” for Route 28 travelers crossing the Harwich-Chatham town line.
The gateway parcels total 12.34 acres at the headwaters of the Red River, a perennial stream that flows into Nantucket Sound right next to the most popular public seaside retreat in Harwich, Red River Beach. The acreage also provides water recharge for municipal water supply wells serving thousands of households in both towns. The land is a key linkage in a north-south wildlife habitat corridor of over 400 acres.
A map showing Harwich Conservation Trust’s (HCT) Red River Valley Properties, which includes 2.74 acres that the Baker family sold to HCT in 2024.
An exciting new chapter is in the works for the 9.6 acres with the Chase family homestead on the south side of Rt. 28. The planning and design process is underway to transform the existing house into HCT offices, stewardship space, and a learning center.
HCT is grateful to our generous donors who helped make this ambitious project possible. The land could have been developed into a multi-lot subdivision or for commercial use—like storage warehouses, which are permitted along Route 28. If that happened, it would have impacted water quality, fragmented wildlife habitat, closed off public access, and changed the scenic view forever. To find out more about donating to HCT, please click here.
“Keep the land the way it is”
Bob Baker said it was an easy choice to sell the land to HCT. “We wanted to keep the land the way it is,” he recalled. “We didn’t want anyone to develop it, maybe put in two or three condo buildings. That was the whole reason we sold it to Harwich Conservation Trust.”
Over the years, Baker has seen a lot of changes on Cape Cod as it became a popular vacation destination. A conservation choice made a lot of sense for his family’s property. “There’s enough development going on and we wanted to keep that parcel as woods,” he said. “And the Red River goes right through there.”
Store was a ‘mainstay’ in South Chatham
Chatting with Bob Baker offered a window into the past, when commerce was a local phenomenon and online ordering was a science fiction pipe dream. “The store was kind of a mainstay when my father opened it,” he said. “There was no Ace Hardware around, no Hinckley Home Center, no Ocean State Job Lot, so he did a really good business.”
Baker’s Hardware offers a delightful throwback to simpler times on Cape Cod.
Trust was an important part of how Baker’s Hardware did business back then. “In the wintertime, the fishermen didn’t have any money, so they charged it all winter, and then they would pay up in the spring when they had money coming in.”
When Baker was a kid, the Cape Cod tourism economy ran at a slower pace. “It was quiet, but you always had the summer tourists,” he said. “They had a small cottage. The mother and kids would come down and spend the summer, and the father would come back and forth. The old Cape Codders just charged enough to make expenses. Now all those cottages are torn down and they’ve got mega-mansions.”
Simpler times and rose hip wars
As we toured the wonder-filled store, our conversation paused to allow this reporter to purchase a Guillow balsa wood glider (made in Wakefield) and the simple-but-legendary forecasting tool known as the Davis Hill Weather Stick (made in East Hardwick, VT).
The glider made us think of childhood days, so we asked Baker what it was like to grow up on Cape Cod in simpler times. “After school, you’d get on your bike and you were gone,” he said. “We’d meet at the village hall and off we’d go to try and get into a little trouble. As long as you were home when the streetlights came on, you were fine.”
Bob Baker at the counter of Baker’s Hardware in South Chatham.
He also told us about an inventive form of true Cape Cod mischief. “We used to have wars with rose hips,” he remembered. “We’d put an inner tube on the end of a two–by-four and shoot them at each other. It’s amazing we didn’t shoot our eyes out.”
Thankfully, Baker survived these youthful shenanigans to sail on as the captain of a remarkable Chatham institution. The slogan on the Baker’s Hardware T-shirts says it all: “The Store That Time Forgot.” There’s also a timeless generosity to the Baker family’s decision to sell their land to HCT, land that now will be preserved forever.
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—Your tax-deductible contributions help fulfill the mission of the Harwich Conservation Trust to preserve land that protects woods, water, wildlife and our shared quality of life. And your land-saving financial support helps us preserve beautiful properties that can become stellar trail destinations. Find out how to donate by clicking here.