Amy Beach (1867-1944) was an American pianist and symphony composer who spent most of her summers on Long Pond. As a pianist, she was a child prodigy, playing with the Boston Symphony as a teenager. In 1896, the BSO played one of her original compositions, a first for an American female composer. She married a wealthy Boston surgeon, who was a music fan and supported her work. After he died in 1911, she toured to acclaim in Europe for three years, often playing her own compositions. In the winters, she lived in Boston, San Francisco, and New York City.
She bought five “woodland” acres along the north shore of Long Pond in Centerville in 1894. She said she and her husband could have been happy in a tent, but her piano would not. So “...we built a cottage around the piano.” She often composed in the cabin they built near the water.
The property, which Beach called “The Pines”, was not surveyed until 1930, and the description in the town records before that time provides little detail. However, according to the 1940 town records, Beach owned frontage on the south side of Rt 28 for 400 feet west from the Phinney’s Lane intersection. Her property extended to the pond, so it included what today is the east half of the Sachem Drive circle and the lots at 1413 and 1421 Falmouth Rd.
She later enlarged her holdings to 11 acres, and loyally returned to Long Pond each summer. After she died in 1944, her heir subdivided the property into at least six parcels. Her cottage was demolished to make way for new homes, but her love of Long Pond lives on in our hearts.
