About Cape Cod

The villages of Cape Cod are some of the most quaint in the country.

Town of Provincetown

Provincetown is at the tip of Cape Cod. This last stop on the continent, at the tip of this great sandy curve, has been home to Native Americans, explorers, Pilgrims, fishermen, whalers, artists, beach-lovers and pleasure seekers.

This is the spot where the Pilgrims first landed; a 252-foot tower, the tallest granite structure in the nation, commemorates that landing. Here, too, the Mayflower Compact was signed.

Provincetown’s sheltered harbor contributes to its long economic success as a fishing port, and many of the town’s fishermen are descendants of Portuguese sailors who arrived here during the whaling days of the 1800s.

Artists and writers have widened the town’s spectrum with their libertarian lifestyles, creating a colorful mix of inhabitants. And the community patchwork is nowhere more evident than on vivacious Commercial Street.

Town of Truro

Beyond a post office, a seasonal gourmet food market and a single blinking light, there is hardly a town to Truro. And beyond beautiful homes built into the hills and a narrow strip of tiny cottages and motels, there is little real commercial development here.

Beyond the highway is a sleepy and rural world of moors, hills, valleys and rivers with homes hidden amongst the trees. Back roads wind through fascinating scenery dominated by long rolling hills called “hogsbacks.” Near a high ocean bluff overlooking the ocean is Cape Cod Light, which has been a warning beacon to mariners since the age of sail.

The beauty and solitude of Truro attracts people who want to live or vacation in a beautiful, peaceful place.

Town of Wellfleet, MA

Wellfleet is an old whaling port, a contemporary fishing village and a cultural haven as well. Its walkable streets are lined with art galleries representing artists and crafters of both local and national acclaim; bookstores and boutiques dwell within its historic residences.

The Wellfleet Harbor Actor’s Theatre shares harbor space with the town’s shellfishermen, and the town’s clock still strikes ship’s time. The town has long been recognized for its plentiful supply of shellfish, including the famous “Wellfleet Oyster.”

Nature-lovers and families will enjoy hiking the trails of the 1,000-acre Wellfleet Bay Sanctuary and visiting the dune-top site where Marconi dispatched the first transatlantic wireless message in 1903.

Town of Eastham, MA

Eastham, in southeastern Massachusetts, was settled by the Pilgrims in 1644, incorporated as "Nausett" in 1646, and was ultimately named Eastham in 1651. It is a town of 5400 year-round residents (2000), with a population swelling to over 20,000 during the summer months.

With its beautiful bayside and ocean beaches, miles of bicycle and walking trails, a historic schoolhouse, and the Cape's oldest wind-driven windmill, Eastham is the ideal place for the fisherman, beach-goer, birder, photographer, bicyclist, and vacationer.

Included within the boundaries of Eastham is the Salt Pond Cape Cod National Seashore Visitor's Center. With its many programs, tours, and a small museum, it is usually among the first stops for visitors to the Cape.

The ocean beaches in Eastham, Coast Guard Beach and Nauset Light Beach, as well as the land bordering them, were incorporated into the Cape Cod National Seashore, under the auspices of the National Park Service, on August 7, 1961. The National Park Service also is the caretaker and runs tours through the Penniman House, a partially restored whaling captain's house built in 1868, and the Three Sisters Lighthouses, a set of three small wooden lighthouses which functioned as a trio when they were active.

Town of Orleans, Massachusetts

The Town of Orleans, incorporated in 1797, is a resort community on the outer Cape whose European history begins in 1642 with the first permanent settlement established by Nicholas Snow and his family. Settlers had purchased rights to the town from Mattaguason, sachem of the Manamoyick Indians.

The Colonial economy was built on agriculture, especially corn, rye and wheat, plus the growing of hay and vegetables. In the 18th century commercial fishing and shellfishing supplemented local incomes and residents worked on herring boats and went after whales. By the 19th century, coastal packets from Boston were being serviced and several windmills created power resources in the town, but the heaviest reliance by residents was on cod and mackerel fishing. Life long residents recall that in those days the very old and the very young farmed, while all the able-bodied men fished. Fishing in Orleans declined as competition from larger boats and larger ports grew, but the town had established a commercial importance on the Cape as a market center for other communities, that continues into the 20th century.

Small businesses like the Mayo Duck Farm that produced 50,000 ducklings in 1918 were welcomed by the town, but the major modern change in Orleans was spurred by the impact of summer development. This resort home development, which accelerated between 1915 and 1940 and still continues, has had the greatest effect on the town and in turn has supported increasing commercial development along Route 6.

Town of Brewster

In the mid-1800s, there were said to be more masters and mates of vessels roaming the globe belonging to Brewster than any other town in the country.

Though those glory days of seafaring have long past, many of the 100 sea captains’ mansions and estates along Route 6A are now serving as B&Bs, art galleries, craft studios and antique shops.

There is no real village center to this rural town, but the Brewster General Store is an old-fashioned gathering place at one of the town’s main crossroads.

Just off the main drag, the herring still run upstream in spring to the 1660 Stony Brook Mill.

Here also you will find 300 acres of beaches and tidal pools along Cape Cod Bay, and the 400 acres of trails, camping areas and freshwater ponds of Nickerson State Park.

Town of Chatham

Encompassing a mere 16 square miles of dry ground, Chatham is a decidedly maritime place of pristine beaches, wild barrier islands, tidal shoals, fleeting sandbars, circular coves and miles of saltwater inlets.

Incorporated in 1712, Chatham remains remarkable old-fashioned, despite a well-deserved reputation for shopping. Chichi boutiques reside in quaint storefronts along its winding Main Street lined with historic inns, white-steepled churches, varied eateries and art galleries.

A visit to the busy commercial fishing pier reveals the thriving fishing village that exists beneath Chatham’s stylish façade.

Town of Harwich

The villages of Harwich lie along the waters of Nantucket Sound and reach all the way east to Pleasant Bay.

Harwichport is the town’s most charming spot; its picture-perfect Wychmere Harbor is a favorite for photographers.

Harwich Center, which lies inland, is a quiet and almost isolated village. Only a few stores, including an old-fashioned hardware store and friendly coffee shop, are among the pristine structures of this historic district.

Though no longer host to a thriving fishing industry, Harwich is today one of the most productive cranberry areas on the Cape with many well-maintained bogs scattered throughout the town. The town’s annual Cranberry Festival in autumn celebrates the prosperity of that tart little berry.