Provincetown News

Provincetown History Snippets: What is The “Great Dying”?

May 11, 2018

History

Between 1616 and 1619, a plague struck native villages of coastal New England from Maine to Cape Cod. It killed tens of thousands of people, among them hundreds of men, women, and children from the Wampanoag Nation. The exact nature of the “Great Dying,”...

Provincetown History Snippets: What is The Mayflower Compact?

May 4, 2018

History

The Mayflower Compact was a set of rules for self-governance established by English settlers on the Mayflower on November 11, 1620. London stockholders had financed the Pilgrims’ voyage with the understanding they’d be repaid in profits from the new...

Provincetown History Snippets: Moby-Dick and Other Whales

April 27, 2018

History

While the home port of the Pequod was Nantucket, as we celebrate the annual reading and celebration of Moby-Dick here in Provincetown this weekend, we can remember the novel—and the whaling tradition that Ptown shares. Written in 1851, Moby-Dick recounts...

Provincetown History Snippets: What is The Portland Gale?

April 20, 2018

History

On Saturday, November 26, 1898, New England was struck by a gale that killed over 200 persons and wrecked or sank at least 140 major vessels. The best-known victim of the gale was the coastal steamer Portland that gave the storm its name, lost off Cape Cod...

Provincetown History Snippets: How’d the Revolutionary War Affect Provincetown?

April 13, 2018

History

Several Provincetown men served during the Revolutionary War, and you can see their graves in the Winthrop Street cemetery. Most Cape-based Revolutionary soldiers didn’t go far—they were involved in seacoast defense on the Cape. Six granite stones with...

Provincetown History Snippets: When Did The Provincetown Inn Open its Doors?

April 6, 2018

History

The Provincetown Inn opened its doors in 1925, with twenty-eight guest rooms and a formal dining room. In 1942 it began to be used by the Coast Guard as a training station, but resumed regular operations after the war. By the 1950s the inn had added a new...

Provincetown History Snippets: What are the Dune Shacks?

March 30, 2018

History

Comprising nearly two thousand acres of shoreline in Provincetown and Truro, the Peaked Hill Bars Historic District is home to a number of dune shacks, some of them repurposed from the old lifesaving station, others that were cobbled together with the help of...

Provincetown History Snippets: How Long is Route 6?

March 23, 2018

History

Route 6 was once the longest highway in the US, running 3,652 miles to Long Beach until California renumbered its roads. Now with its terminus in Bishop, CA, and at 3,205 miles, US Route 6 is still the longest contiguous highway in the nation, jutting...

Provincetown History Snippets: Edwin Rosskam Photography

March 16, 2018

History

Edwin Rosskam took this photo of Provincetown in August of 1940, as part of his series chronicling American life during the Great Depression for the Farm Security Administration. The caption on this photo reads, “Tourists fresh off the boat from...

Provincetown History Snippets: Where were the Lifesaving Stations on Cape Cod?

March 9, 2018

History

The Outer Cape was long known as the grave of the Atlantic due to the number of shipwrecks along the treacherous coast. The winter of 1870-71 was especially disastrous and in response the United States Lifesaving Service was set up, replacing the...