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    Provincetown History Snippet: World War I
    January 24, 2020
    Provincetown War Memorial
    A contingent of anti-submarine boats was stationed at the Provincetown Naval Base for the duration of the First World War—to the very vocal distress of townspeople, who complained that the submarine activity was interfering with the weir fishing going on in...
    Provincetown History Snippet: Gosnold and Cape Cod
    January 17, 2020
    Provincetown History Gosnold
    On May 15, 1602, English explorer Bartholomew Gosnold dropped anchor in a broad harbor he called “Shoal Hope,” meaning “shallow harbor”; we call it Provincetown. (Ironically, it’s one of the world’s deepest natural harbors; what did Gosnold know?)...
    Provincetown History Snippet: The Mackerel Fleet
    December 20, 2019
    Provincetown History Mackerel Fleet
    Provincetown’s fishing fleet has traditionally gone after tuna, cod, haddock, and striped bass, but for many years it’s mackerel—a migratory fish arriving off the Cape in summer—that was one of the area’s primary catches.   The mackerel...
    Provincetown History Snippet: How Did Harry Kemp Die?
    December 13, 2019
    Harry Kemp Provincetown
    He had lived alone for years in one of the dune shacks on Provincetown’s back shore, but poet Harry Kemp spent his last days in a cottage on Howland Street built by his friend Sunny Tasha especially for him. He died on August 8, 1960, of a cerebral...
    Provincetown History Snippet: Old Reliable Fish House
    November 29, 2019
    Fish House Provincetown
    Between Lancy’s Wharf and the engine house of the Colonial Cold Storage plant is a three-story building that once housed the Old Reliable Fish House restaurant and pier, now a forlornly abandoned near-ruin. The structure was a prominent pier from the...
    Provincetown History Snippet: The KKK in Provincetown
    November 22, 2019
    Ku Klux Klan Provincetown
    The first Catholics in Provincetown were Irish, and had come here to work in fish-related industries such as salt works and flake yards. There were only 70 of them in 1851, but with the influx of Portuguese families, by 1887 there were 1,730 Catholics in...
    Provincetown History Snippet: The Lost Tea Party Ship
    November 15, 2019
    Boston Tea Party
    In December of 1773 the Boston Sons of Liberty destroyed three shiploads of tea in Boston Harbor, setting the fuse for the American Revolution. But did you know there were supposed to be four ships there? The William was wrecked off Provincetown on its way to...
    Provincetown History Snippet: Early Provincetown Whalers
    November 8, 2019
    Whaling Provincetown
    The Pilgrims were landlubbers. When they arrived in Provincetown and then in Plymouth, whales were still plentiful and close to shore; native tribes hunted the whales in canoes, forcing them to beach themselves. The white settlers soon followed their example,...
    Provincetown History Snippet: Holy Mackerel!
    October 24, 2019
    Provincetown History Mackerel
    In 1851, there were 60 Provincetown-owned vessels weighing a total of 4,332 tons pursuing mackerel; the fishery employed 688 men and boys. In 1864 the catch was so great, the year was referred to as the Boon Island Year.   It didn’t last. By 1871, the...
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