Though barely a trace remains today, the Pacific Guano Company operated for 26 years on what is now Penzance Point in Woods Hole, transforming what was a sleepy farming village into a thriving community. Cargo ships that had been idled by the Depression of 1857 began shipping in bird guano from the Pacific, where huge quantities had been discovered on islands off the coast of Peru. The guano, which was prized for its high concentrations of nitrogen, phosphorous and potassium, was combined with