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People
of the First Light
The Vikings
Other Early Explorers
The Pilgrims
Upper CapeBourne Sandwich Falmouth Mashpee
Mid-CapeBarnstable Yarmouth Dennis
Lower CapeBrewster Harwich Chatham Orleans Eastham Wellfleet Truro Provincetown
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Cape Cod has come to occupy a unique niche in our nation's consciousness. The Cape's harbors resonate with salty tales of sea captains and whaling merchants, pirates and moon-cussers. Well-known nature writers such as Henry David Thoreau, John Hay, and Henry Beston have described the wonder and mystery of the Cape's natural beauty and its changing seasons. And the glamour and controversy of the Kennedy era, of Hyannis Port and Chappaquiddick, have added to its allure. The old times may have gone but the legacy of Cape Cod remains and is visible no matter where you turn. Stop by any town meeting and you will see that the Cape's history is of paramount important to the Cape Codders who continue to fight for their identity, their independence, and the preservation of the Cape's natural environment and recognition of its unique heritage. |
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Continue to People
of the First Light |
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Open
the pages of any American history book and you will read about the Cape's
story, from the Viking explorations on these shores nearly one thousand
years ago to the landing of the Pilgrims in Provincetown in 1620. We read
of the first Thanksgiving when a peace treaty was signed between the
Wampanoag tribe and the Plymouth Governor, John Carver and the Pilgrims
gave thanks for their first year in the New World. Here, on this curved
sandbar, the seeds of democracy were sown when the Pilgrims, anchored in
Provincetown Harbor, signed a precursor to the Constitution, the Mayflower
Compact.