History Archives

Provincetown History Snippet: Early Provincetown Whalers

November 8, 2019

History

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

History

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...

Provincetown History Snippet: What is The Beachcombers’ Club?

October 18, 2019

History

The Beachcombers’ Club was founded two years in 1916 as a place for men to exhibit work seriously and fraternize privately. Its 1916 constitution said its purpose was “to promote good fellowship among men sojourning or resident in or about Provincetown...

Provincetown History Snippet: From Whaling to Whale-Watching

October 11, 2019

History

Provincetown, along with New Bedford and Nantucket, was once one of the hubs for hunting whales. By the 1850s, the schooners of enterprising Yankee families were sailing from Provincetown to the rich whaling grounds of the Azore islands to hunt sperm...

Provincetown History Snippet: The Moors Motel & Restaurant

September 27, 2019

History

Today it’s AWOL, part of the chain of Lark Hotels, but in the 1950s at the end of Bradford Street Extension you’d have found The Moors Motel and The Moors Restaurant. The promotional postcard for the motel noted it was “Provincetown’s nicest,...

Provincetown History Snippet: Tennessee Williams in Provincetown

September 20, 2019

History

With the Tennessee Williams Festival right around the corner, it’s a good time to turn to festival curator David Kaplan’s book and remind ourselves of how Williams contributed to the town—and the town to him. In Provincetown Williams fell in love...

Provincetown History Snippet: The Sea is Good to Eugene O’Neill

September 13, 2019

History

American drama was born in Provincetown. It happened on Lewis Wharf on Friday, June 18th, 1916 at the première of Eugene O’Neill’s play Bound East for Cardiff. The play (O’Neill’s first produced work) heralded an outstanding career that would...

Provincetown History Snippet: What is The Somerset?

September 6, 2019

History

Provincetown was largely deserted during the Revolution, as many of its men enlisted to fight. Yet together with Truro, Provincetown made one of the war’s biggest captures. The 64-gun British man-of-war Somerset had blockaded Boston and bombarded...

Provincetown History Snippet: Early Provincetown Homes

August 30, 2019

History

The earliest homes in Provincetown were reminiscent of the cottages the early settler left behind, yet adapted to life on a sand bar. They were shingled, built close to the ground with small circular cellars that could withstand the pressure of the...

Small Shacks, Big History: The Story Behind Provincetown’s Dune Shacks

August 30, 2019

History

Tucked into the dunes of Provincetown are a number of small shacks with a rich history. WGBH Morning Edition Host Joe Mathieu spoke with WGBH Managing Editor Sean Corcoran about the shacks, and how they seem to have outlasted the test of time. The transcript...