History Archives

A (Black) Flash in the Pan: Provincetown’s Boogeyman

June 6, 2023

The 1930s were a difficult time. The Depression which had followed the stock market crash was still a factor. Across the Atlantic, Adolf Hitler was building an evil empire. And in Provincetown, a strange creature was sighted abroad at night: The Provincetown...

Governor Bradford Sold & to Reopen

April 29, 2022

History

The Governor Bradford, an Institution in Provincetown, has changed ownership for the first time in 80 years. First a little history from our friend David Dunlap from Building Provincetown: Governor Bradford- Building Provincetown Familiar as the Governor...

The Lemonade Girl

April 21, 2022

For more years than many of us can remember, summers in Provincetown weren’t complete without the sight of a little girl walking up and down Commercial Street, calling out in a lovely singsong voice, “Lemonade! Fifty cents! Lemonade!” That little girl...

Provincetown History Snippet: Lobster

December 1, 2021

History

The lobster industry in North America started here, and Provincetown was the first lobster center of New England. In 1740, large Provincetown lobsters were selling in Boston for three half-pence a piece! But the industry really got going around 1800 when...

Provincetown History Snippet: Bellamy’s Bride

October 21, 2021

History

Most of us know the story of the pirate Black Sam Bellamy, whose flagship, the Whydah, sank just off Provincetown during a nor’easter in 1715. Bellamy was heading north to Maine to hide out for a while after a successful season in the Caribbean. So...

Provincetown History Snippets: Is It Carnival Time?

August 10, 2021

History

Provincetown’s carnival began in 1978 as a fundraiser for the brand-new Provincetown Business Guild, which was seeking to make the town more of an LGBT vacation destination. We love themes here in Ptown, and so The first theme was A Night in Rio, and since...

Ptown History Snippet: The Sidewalk

August 2, 2021

History

Provincetown History Snippet: Walking Down the Sidewalk Provincetown’s sidewalks were originally four-plank wide boardwalks, stipulated as “wide enough for two” in the late 1800s. When summer visitors arrived, crowds of people walked in the streets...

A Re-Imagined Motta Field in Ptown?

April 29, 2021

History

It has been 30, YES THIRTY, years since any significant renovations have been done to Motta Field. This will not come as a surprise to those who use it. Below is the history of updates to the field…… FYI- the tennis courts HAVE BEEN resurfaced...

Did Henry Ford Make A Hemp Car?

February 23, 2021

History
Weed

Have you ever wondered what hemp can be used for? Henry Ford had that same thought during the Great Depression. He wanted to help local farmers survive and was coming up with innovative ideas to try and succeed. Click here to find out more information about...

Provincetown History Snippet: What’s a Cape Cod House?

May 8, 2020

History

The first homes built by the English settlers on Cape Cod were wigwams built of twigs, bark, hides, cornstalks, and grasses, which they copied from those of the local Wampanoag people who had lived here for thousands of years before the Europeans arrived....