Katharine Lee Bates, the poetess who composed "America the Beautiful", was a Falmouth native. Her father was a pastor at the Congregational Church that overlooks the town green. She taught at Wellesley, penned several books, but it was her lyrics for "America the Beautiful" which immortalized her. Her original 1893 lyrics had phrases like "O beautiful for halcyon skies" and "upon the enameled plains" before it became the "O beautiful for spacious skies" and "fruited plains." Bates' journey from Chicago (and its Columbian Exposition) to Colorado inspired her most famous poem.
This statue in front of the public library, sculpted in 1986, apparently depicts Bates as she overlooks the Rockies and Great Plains from Pike's Peak. The statue is in a peaceful spot, albeit in an odd one. It's beside a public parking lot/restroom, and it's the hangout of Falmouth's local tribe of turkeys (no wonder they're avoiding Plymouth)
The Katharine Lee Bates statue is a pleasant spot on Main Street Falmouth. read more