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This article is about the area of Massachusetts known as "Cape Cod". For other uses, see Cape Cod (disambiguation).

Cape Cod (or simply the Cape) is an arm-shaped peninsula nearly coextensive with Barnstable County, Massachusetts[1] and forming the easternmost portion of the state of Massachusetts, in the Northeastern United States. A peninsula is a piece of land that is nearly surrounded by Water but connected to Mainland via an Isthmus. Barnstable County is a County located in the US state of Massachusetts, consisting of Cape Cod and associated islands The Commonwealth of Massachusetts ( is a state located in the New England region of the northeastern United States. The Northeast is a region of the United States. As defined by the U The Cape's small town character and beachfront brings heavy tourism during the summer months.

Although the Cape was originally connected to the mainland, the Cape Cod Canal, which opened in 1914, technically transformed Cape Cod into a large island (though it is not normally referred to as such). The Cape Cod Canal is a man-made waterway traversing the narrow neck of land that joins Cape Cod to mainland Massachusetts. Three bridges span the canal from the Massachusetts mainland to the Cape. Vehicles can cross onto the Cape via the Sagamore Bridge and the Bourne Bridge; the other is the Cape Cod Canal Railroad Bridge. The Sagamore Bridge in Sagamore Massachusetts carries US Route 6 across the Cape Cod Canal, connecting Cape Cod with the rest of The Bourne Bridge in Bourne Massachusetts carries Route 28 across the Cape Cod Canal, connecting Cape Cod with the rest of Massachusetts The Cape Cod Canal Railroad Bridge, a vertical Lift bridge in Bourne Massachusetts near Buzzards Bay, carries Railroad traffic across the

Contents

Geographic and political divisions

Cape Cod and Cape Cod Bay from space.
Cape Cod and Cape Cod Bay from space. [2]

Cape Cod comprises almost all of Barnstable County. Barnstable County is a County located in the US state of Massachusetts, consisting of Cape Cod and associated islands Two of the county's fifteen towns (Bourne and Sandwich) include land on the mainland, "off-Cape", side of the canal. The towns of Plymouth and Wareham, in adjacent Plymouth County, are geologically part of Cape Cod but not located on the peninsula, and the 1914 completion of the Cape Cod Canal separated them from the towns on the Cape proper. Wareham (Typically pronounced Wear-ham is a town located in Plymouth County Massachusetts. Plymouth County is a County located in the US state of Massachusetts. "Cape Codders," or people who live "on Cape," generally refer to all land on the mainland side of the canal as "off-Cape. "

Cape Cod consists of four portions:

Stage Harbor lighthouse, Chatham, MA.
Stage Harbor lighthouse, Chatham, MA.

The large area of water spanning from Plymouth to Provincetown, bordered to the north by Massachusetts Bay and enclosed by Cape Cod, is Cape Cod Bay; west of Cape Cod is Buzzards Bay. Massachusetts Bay is one of the large bays of the Atlantic Ocean that form the distinctive shape of the coastline of the U Cape Cod Bay is a large bay of the Atlantic Ocean adjacent to the U Buzzards Bay is a bay of the Atlantic Ocean adjacent to the state of Massachusetts. To the south lie Nantucket Sound; Nantucket and Martha's Vineyard (both large islands); and the mostly privately owned Elizabeth Islands in the town of Gosnold, of which the most populated is Cuttyhunk. Nantucket Sound is a roughly triangular area of the Atlantic Ocean offshore from the U Martha's Vineyard (adjoining the smaller Chappaquiddick Island) is an Island off the US east coast to the south of Cape Cod, both The Elizabeth Islands are a chain of small Islands extending southwest from the southern coast of Cape Cod, Massachusetts in the United States Gosnold is a town that encompasses the Elizabeth Islands in Dukes County, Massachusetts, United States. Cuttyhunk Island is the outermost of the Elizabeth Islands in Massachusetts, located between Buzzards Bay to the north and Vineyard Sound

Geology

"East of America, there stands in the open Atlantic the last fragment of an ancient and vanished land. Worn by the breakers and the rains, and disintegrated by the wind, it still stands bold. " - Henry Beston, from his book The Outermost House

Cape Cod National Seashore
Cape Cod National Seashore
Dunes on Sandy Neck, forming part of the Cape's barrier beach, helping to prevent erosion
Dunes on Sandy Neck, forming part of the Cape's barrier beach, helping to prevent erosion

Cape Cod forms a continuous archipelagic region with a thin line of islands stretching toward New York, historically known by naturalists as the Outer Lands. Henry Beston ( June 1, 1888 in Boston – April 15, 1968 in Nobleboro Maine) was an American writer and naturalist The Outermost House by naturalist writer Henry Beston is a book published in 1928 by Doubleday and Doran and is now published by Henry Holt and Company The Cape Cod National Seashore (CCNS created on August 7, 1961 by President John F An archipelago (ɑrkəˈpɛləgoʊ is a chain or cluster of Islands The word archipelago literally means "chief Sea " from Italian The Outer Lands is a term denoting the prominent Terminal moraine archipelagic region off the southern coast of New England in the United States This continuity is due to the fact that the islands and Cape are all terminal glacial moraines laid down some 16,000 to 20,000 years ago. Moraine refers to any glacially formed accumulation of unconsolidated glacial debris (soil and rock which can occur in currently glaciated and formerly glaciated regions such as those Most of Cape Cod's geological history involves the advance and retreat of the Laurentide ice sheet in the late Pleistocene geological era and the subsequent changes in sea level. The Laurentide Ice Sheet was a massive sheet of ice that covered hundreds of thousands of square miles including most of Canada and a large portion of the northern The Pleistocene ('plaɪstəsin is the epoch from 18 million to 10000 years BP covering the world's recent period Using radiocarbon dating techniques, researchers have determined that around 23,000 years ago, the ice sheet reached its maximum southward advance over North America, and then started to retreat. Radiocarbon dating is a Radiometric dating method that uses the naturally occurring Radioisotope Carbon-14 (14C to determine the age of By about 18,000 years ago, the ice sheet had retreated past Cape Cod. By roughly 15,000 years ago, it had retreated past southern New England. When so much of Earth's water was locked up in massive ice sheets, the sea level was lower.

As the ice began to melt, the sea began to rise. Initially, sea level rose quickly, about 15 meters (50 feet) per 1,000 years, but then the rate declined. On Cape Cod, sea level rose roughly 3 meters (11 feet) per millennium between 6,000 and 2,000 years ago. After that, it continued to rise at about 1 meter (3 feet) per millennium. By 6,000 years ago, the sea level was high enough to start eroding the glacial deposits that the vanished continental ice sheet had left on Cape Cod. The water transported the eroded deposits north and south along the outer Cape's shoreline. Those reworked sediments that moved north went to the tip of Cape Cod.

Provincetown Spit, at the northern end of the Cape, consists largely of marine deposits, transported from farther up the shore. Sediments that moved south created the islands and shoals of Monomoy. So while other parts of the Cape have dwindled from the action of the waves, these parts of the Cape have grown. Also, many "kettle ponds" — clear, cold lakes — were formed on Cape Cod as a result of the receding glacier. A kettle (or kettle hole) is a shallow sediment-filled body of water formed by retreating glaciers or draining floodwaters

This process continues today. Due to its position jutting out into the Atlantic Ocean, the Cape and islands are subject to massive erosion. Geologists say that, due to erosion, the Cape will be completely submerged by the sea in thousands of years. [6] This erosion causes the washout of beaches and the destruction of the barrier islands; for example, the ocean broke through the barrier island at Chatham during Hurricane Bob in 1991, allowing waves and storm surges to hit the coast with no obstruction. Hurricane Bob was the second named storm first hurricane and first major hurricane of the 1991 Atlantic hurricane season. Consequently, the sediment and sand from the beaches is being washed away and deposited elsewhere. While this destroys land in some places, it creates land elsewhere, most noticeably in marshes where sediment is deposited by waters running through them.

Climate

Cape Cod has a temperate marine climate. Although Cape Cod's Weather[1] is typically more moderate than inland locations, there have been occasions where Cape Cod has dealt with the brunt of extreme weather situations (such as the Blizzard of 2005 and Hurricane Bob). The North American blizzard of 2005 was a three-day Storm that affected large areas of the northern United States, dropping more than 3 feet (0 Hurricane Bob was the second named storm first hurricane and first major hurricane of the 1991 Atlantic hurricane season. Because of the influence of the Atlantic Ocean, temperatures are typically a few degrees cooler in the summer and a few degrees warmer in the winter. A common misconception is the climate is influenced largely by the warm Gulf Stream current, however that current turns eastward off the coast of Virginia and the waters off the Cape are more influenced by the cold Canadian Labrador Current. The Gulf Stream, together with its northern extension towards Europe the North Atlantic Drift, is a powerful warm and swift Atlantic Ocean current that The Commonwealth of Virginia ( is an American state Country to "Dominion of Canada" or "Canadian Federation" or anything else please read the Talk Page The Labrador Current is a cold current in the north Atlantic Ocean which flows from the Arctic Ocean south along the coast of Labrador and passes around The Cape's climate is also notorious for a delayed spring season, being surrounded by an ocean which is still cold from the winter; however, it is also known for an exceptionally mild fall season (Indian Summer), thanks to the ocean remaining warm from the summer. Indian summer is a name given to a period of sunny warm weather in Autumn, not long before Winter. The highest temperature ever recorded on Cape Cod was 104 °F (40 °C) in Provincetown[2], and the lowest temperature ever was -12 °F (-24 °C) in Barnstable. [3]

The water surrounding Cape Cod moderates winter temperatures enough to extend the USDA hardiness zone 7 to its northernmost limit in eastern North America. A hardiness zone is a geographically-defined zone in which a specific category of Plant life is capable of growing as defined by Temperature hardiness or ability [4] Consequently, many plant species typically found in more southerly latitudes grow there, including Camellias, Ilex opaca, Albizia julibrissin, and Araucaria araucana. Camellia ( ( Japanese: 椿 Tsubaki) is a Genus of Flowering plants in the family Theaceae, native to eastern and southern Ilex opaca ( American Holly) is a species of Holly, native to the eastern United States, from coastal Massachusetts south to central This page is about the tree described by Antonio Durazzini. John Gilbert Baker used the same scientific name to refer to Prain's Albizia kalkora Araucaria araucana ( Pehuén or Monkey-puzzle) is the hardiest species in the conifer genus Araucaria.

Precipitation on Cape Cod and the islands of Martha's Vineyard and Nantucket is the lowest in New England region, averaging slightly less than 40 inches a year (most parts of New England average 42-46 inches). Martha's Vineyard (adjoining the smaller Chappaquiddick Island) is an Island off the US east coast to the south of Cape Cod, both History See also History of New England New England's earliest inhabitants were Algonquian -speaking Native Americans including the This is due to storm systems which move across western areas, building up in mountainous regions, and dissipating before reaching the coast where the land has leveled out. The region does not experience a greater number of sunny days however, as the number of cloudy days is the same as inland locales, in addition to increased fog. Fog is a cloud that is in contact with the ground Stratus clouds are usually the only clouds that touch the ground

Month Jan Feb Mar Apr May Jun Jul Aug Sep Oct Nov Dec Year
Avg high °F
(°C)		 35. 7
(2. 1)		 36. 5
(2. 5)		 43. 2
(6. 2)		 53. 1
(11. 7)		 62. 5
(16. 9)		 74. 3
(23. 5)		 79. 5
(26. 3)		 80. 0
(26. 7)		 77. 1
(25. 2)		 65. 1
(18. 4)		 54. 6
(12. 6)		 41. 8
(5. 4)		 58. 5
(14. 7)
Avg low °F
(°C)		 22. 4
(-5. 3)		 23. 0
(-5. 0)		 29. 6
(-1. 3)		 36. 9
(2. 7)		 47. 7
(8. 7)		 58. 3
(14. 6)		 66. 6
(19. 2)		 68. 5
(20. 3)		 60. 0
(15. 5)		 49. 9
(9. 9)		 39. 1
(3. 9)		 28. 0
(-2. 2)		 44. 1
(6. 7)
Rainfall in inches
(millimeters)		 3. 86
(98. 0)		 2. 97
(75. 4)		 3. 74
(95. 8)		 3. 62
(90. 4)		 3. 29
(80. 3)		 3. 02
(74. 2)		 2. 45
(62. 2)		 2. 56
(67. 6)		 2. 94
(75. 9)		 3. 34
(81. 3)		 3. 57
(90. 7)		 3. 65
(92. 7)		 39. 01
(990. 85)

Native population

Cape Cod has been the home of the Wampanoag tribe of Native American people for many centuries. A tribe, viewed historically or developmentally consists of a Social group existing before the development of or outside of States Many anthropologists use Native Americans in the United States are the indigenous peoples from the regions of North America now encompassed by the continental United States They survived off the sea and were accomplished farmers. They understood the principles of sustainable forest management, and were known to light controlled fires to keep the underbrush in check. Sustainable forest management ( SFM) is the management of Forests according to the principles of Sustainable development. They helped the Pilgrims who arrived in Fall 1620, to survive at their new Plymouth Colony. Pilgrims, or Pilgrim Fathers (or Pilgrim Mothers) is a name commonly applied to the early settlers of the Plymouth Colony in present-day Plymouth Plymouth Colony (sometimes New Plymouth or The Old Colony) was an English colonial venture in North America from 1620 until 1691

The Natives eventually lost their lands through purchase and expropriation by the British colonists. Currently, there are no Indian reservations on Cape Cod. An Indian reservation is an area of land managed by a Native American Tribe under the United States Department of the Interior's Bureau The documentary Natives of the Narrowland (1993, narrated by actress Julie Harris) shows the history of the Wampanoag peoples through the lens of Cape Cod archaeological sites. This article is about the American actress For the Academy Award-winning costume designer see Julie Harris Julie Harris (born December In 1974, the Mashpee Wampanoag Tribal Council Inc. was formed to articulate the concerns of those with Native American ancestry. The federal government was petitioned in 1975 and again in 1990 for official recognition of the Mashpee Wampanoag as a "tribe". In May 2007, the Wampanoag tribe was finally federally recognized as a tribe. [7]

History

Cranberry picking in 1906
Cranberry picking in 1906

Cape Cod was a landmark for early explorers, possibly the "Promontory of Vinland" mentioned by the Norse voyagers (985-1025). Cranberries are a group of Evergreen dwarf Shrubs or trailing vines in the genus Vaccinium subgenus Oxycoccos Vinland was the name given to an area of North America by the Norseman Leifr Eiríksson, about the year A Giovanni da Verrazzano in 1524 approached it from the south, and Esteban Gómez the next year called it Cape St. Giovanni da Verrazzano (c 1485 &ndash c 1528 was an Italian Explorer of North America, in the service of the French crown. Esteban Gómez, also known as Estevan Gómez and Estêvão Gomes (c James. Bartholomew Gosnold in 1602 gave it the name that survives. Bartholomew Gosnold (1572&ndash August 22, 1607) was an English lawyer explorer and Privateer, instrumental in founding the Virginia Samuel de Champlain charted its sand-silted harbors in 1606 and Henry Hudson landed there in 1609. Samuel de Champlain (c 1575 - 25 December 1635) "The Father of New France " was a French navigator geographer cartographer Henry Hudson' (1570 &ndash 1611 was an English Sea explorer and Navigator in the early 17th century Captain John Smith noted it on his map of 1614 and at last the Pilgrims entered the "Cape Harbor" and--contrary to the popular myth of Plymouth Rock--made their first landing near present-day Provincetown on November 11, 1620. Captain Sir John Smith (c January 1580– June 21 1631) Admiral of New England was an English Soldier, Sailor Pilgrims, or Pilgrim Fathers (or Pilgrim Mothers) is a name commonly applied to the early settlers of the Plymouth Colony in present-day Plymouth Plymouth Rock is the traditional site of disembarkation of William Bradford and the Mayflower Pilgrims who founded Plymouth Colony Provincetown is a town located at the extreme tip of Cape Cod in Barnstable County, Massachusetts, United States. Nearby, in what is now Eastham, they had their first encounter with Native Americans. Eastham is a town in Barnstable County, Massachusetts, United States, Barnstable County being coextensive with Cape Cod.

Cape Cod was among the first places settled by Europeans in North America. Aside from Barnstable (1638), Sandwich (1636) and Yarmouth (1639) the Cape's fifteen towns developed slowly. Barnstable is a city referred to as the Town of Barnstable, in the U Sandwich is a town in Barnstable County, Massachusetts, United States. There are other places named Yarmouth. Yarmouth is a town in Barnstable County, Massachusetts, The final town to be established on the Cape was Mashpee in 1880. Mashpee is a town in Barnstable County, Massachusetts, United States. Year 1880 ( MDCCCLXXX) was a Leap year starting on Thursday (link will display the full calendar of the Gregorian calendar (or a Leap year Provincetown was a group of huts until the 18th century. Provincetown is a town located at the extreme tip of Cape Cod in Barnstable County, Massachusetts, United States. A channel from Massachusetts Bay to Buzzards Bay is shown on Southack's map of 1717, but the present Cape Cod Canal had a troubled development from 1870 to 1914. Massachusetts Bay is one of the large bays of the Atlantic Ocean that form the distinctive shape of the coastline of the U Buzzards Bay is a bay of the Atlantic Ocean adjacent to the state of Massachusetts. The Cape Cod Canal is a man-made waterway traversing the narrow neck of land that joins Cape Cod to mainland Massachusetts. The Federal government purchased it in 1928.

Thanks to its early settlement and intensive land use, by the time Henry Thoreau saw Cape Cod during his four visits over 1849 to 1857, its vegetation was depauperate and trees were scarce. As all heating was by wood, and it took 10 to 20 cords (40 to 80 m³) of wood to heat a home, most of Cape Cod was cleared early on. Other areas were planted to crops familiar to the English but unsuited to Cape Cod's thin, glacially derived soils. For instance, much of Eastham was planted to wheat. Burning of woodlands was common to release nutrients into the soil. Improper and intensive farming led to erosion and the loss of topsoil. Dunes on the outer Cape became more common and many harbors filled in with eroded soils. By 1800, most of Cape Cod's firewood came by boat from Maine. The State of Maine ( is a state in the New England region of the northeastern United States of America, bordering the Atlantic Ocean The paucity of vegetation was worsened by the Merino sheep and wool "mania" that reached its peak in New England around 1840. The Merino is the most economically influential breed of sheep in the world prized for its Wool. History See also History of New England New England's earliest inhabitants were Algonquian -speaking Native Americans including the The early industrial revolution, which occurred through much of Massachusetts and Rhode Island, bypassed Cape Cod due to a lack of significant water power in the area, and as a result, combined with its geographic position, the Cape developed as a large fishing and whaling center. The Industrial Revolution was a period in the late 18th and early 19th centuries when major changes in agriculture manufacturing and transportation had a profound effect on the Rhode Island ( officially named the State of Rhode Island and Providence Plantations, is a state in the New England region of the United States After 1860 and the opening of the West, agricultural abandonment began on the Cape so that by 1950 it had more forests than at any time since the 18th century.

Cape Cod became a summer haven for harried urbanites beginning at the end of the nineteenth century as improved rail transportation made the towns of the Upper Cape, like Bourne and Falmouth, accessible to Bostonians. Bourne is a town in Barnstable County, Massachusetts, United States. Falmouth is a town in Barnstable County, Massachusetts, United States; Barnstable County is coextensive with Cape Cod. At the beginning of the twentieth century many large, shingled "cottages" were built along Buzzards Bay for the Northeastern mercantile elite. Buzzards Bay is a bay of the Atlantic Ocean adjacent to the state of Massachusetts. The relaxed summer environment offered by Cape Cod was brought to the attention of the whole nation by writers including Joseph C. Lincoln, who published countless short stories about Cape Cod folks in popular magazines such as the Saturday Evening Post and the Delineator. Joseph Crosby Lincoln, (born February 13 1870 in Brewster Massachusetts died March 10 1944 in Winter Park Florida) was an American author of novels poems and The Saturday Evening Post was a weekly Magazine published in the United States from August 4, 1821 to February 8,

Hyannis Harbor on Nantucket Sound.
Hyannis Harbor on Nantucket Sound.

Guglielmo Marconi made the first transatlantic wireless transmission originating in the United States from Cape Cod, at Wellfleet. Marchese Guglielmo Marconi mar'koni (25 April 1874 – 20 July 1937 was an Italian inventor best known for his development of a Radiotelegraph system The beach he made the first wireless transmission from is now known as Marconi Beach. He then built upon this success in 1914 by opening the maritime wireless station WCC in Chatham, which had a hand in the communications of Amelia Earhart, Howard Hughes, Admiral Byrd, and the Hindenburg. WCC was the busiest ship to shore Radio station for most of the 20th century WikipediaWikiProject Aircraft. Please see WikipediaWikiProject Aircraft/page content for recommended layout Howard Robard Hughes Jr (December 24 1905 – April 5 1976 was an American Aviator, Industrialist, Film producer / director, Philanthropist Rear Admiral Richard Evelyn Byrd, USN ( October 25, 1888 &ndash March 11, 1957) was a pioneering American polar He chose this site due to Chatham's vantage point on the Atlantic Ocean, surrounded on three sides by water. Walter Cronkite narrated a 17 minute documentary in 2005 about the history of the Chatham Station. Walter Leland Cronkite Jr (born November 4 1916) is a retired American broadcast journalist, best known as Anchorman for the

Much of the East-facing Atlantic seacoast of Cape Cod consists of wide, sandy beaches. In 1961, a significant portion of this coastline—already slated for housing subdivisions—was made a part of the Cape Cod National Seashore by President John F. Kennedy, and thus is protected from development. The Cape Cod National Seashore (CCNS created on August 7, 1961 by President John F John Fitzgerald "Jack" Kennedy (May 29 1917&ndashNovember 22 1963 often referred to by his initials JFK, was the thirty-fifth President of Large portions are open to the public, including the "Marconi Site" in Wellfleet, a park built around the site of the first two-way transoceanic radio transmission (by Theodore Roosevelt using Guglielmo Marconi's equipment). Wellfleet is a town in Barnstable County, Massachusetts, United States. Theodore Roosevelt (ˈroʊzəvɛlt October 27 1858 January 6 1919 also known as T Marchese Guglielmo Marconi mar'koni (25 April 1874 – 20 July 1937 was an Italian inventor best known for his development of a Radiotelegraph system

Lighthouses of Cape Cod

"Lighthouses, from ancient times, have fascinated members of the human race. There is something about a lighted beacon that suggests hope and trust and appeals to the better instincts of mankind. " - Edward Rowe Snow

Due to its constantly moving and dangerous shoals, since very early in its history Cape Cod's shores have featured beacons which warn ships of the danger. Edward Rowe Snow (1902-1982 was an American Author and Historian from Winthrop Massachusetts. There are numerous working lighthouses on Cape Cod and the Islands, including Highland Light, Nauset Light, Chatham Light, Race Point Light, and Nobska Light, operated by the U. A lighthouse is a Tower, building or framework designed to emit light from a system of lamps and lenses or in older times from a fire and used as an The Cape Cod Highland Lighthouse is situated on the Cape Cod National Seashore near the town of Truro, Massachusetts Nauset Light, also known as Nauset Beach Light, is a Lighthouse located in Eastham, Massachusetts. Chatham Lighthouse is a lighthouse in Chatham Massachusetts, near the "elbow" of Cape Cod. Race Point Light is a Lighthouse on Cape Cod, Massachusetts. See also Cape Cod National Seashore Nobska Light, or Nobsque Light also known as Nobska Point Light is a Lighthouse located at the division between Buzzards Bay and Vineyard Sound S. Coast Guard, which are frequently photographed symbols of Cape Cod. Others include:

Upper Cape: Wings Neck

Mid Cape: Sandy Neck, South Hyannis, Lewis Bay, Bishop and Clerks, Monomoy, Bass River, Stage Harbor

Outer Cape: Wood End, Long Point, Pamet, Mayo Beach, Billingsgate, Three Sisters, Nauset

Transportation

Cape Cod is connected to the mainland by a pair of canal-spanning highway bridges from Bourne and Sagamore that were constructed in the 1930s, and a vertical-lift railroad bridge. Bourne is a town in Barnstable County, Massachusetts, United States. Sagamore is a Census-designated place (CDP in the town of Bourne in Barnstable County, Massachusetts, United States.

The entire Cape is roughly bisected lengthwise by U.S. Route 6, locally known as the Mid-Cape Highway and officially as the Grand Army of the Republic Highway. US Route 6, also called the Grand Army of the Republic Highway, is a main route of the U

Commercial air service to Cape Cod operates out of Barnstable Municipal Airport and Provincetown Municipal Airport. Barnstable Municipal Airport, also known as Boardman/Polando Field, is a public Airport located on Cape Cod, one mile (2 km) north of the Provincetown Municipal Airport is a public Airport located at the end of Cape Cod, two miles (3 km) northwest of the Central business district Several bus lines service the Cape. There are ferry connections from Boston to Provincetown, as well as from Hyannis to the islands.

Cape Cod has a public transportation network comprising buses operated by three different companies, a rail line, taxis and paratransit services. Paratransit is an alternative mode of flexible passenger transportation that does not follow fixed routes or schedules

Bus

Cape Cod Regional Transit Authority(CCRTA operates a public bus system called the Breeze, which covers almost the entire Cape. Cape Cod Regional Transit Authority (CCRTA operates a bus transit system of fixed and flexible routes as well as a paratransit service in the Cape Cod region of Massachusetts They have three year-round long distance route, The Sealine which runs on the Western half of Cape Cod between Hyannis and Falmouth, The H20, which runs on the Eastern half of Cape Cod, from Hyannis to Orleans, and the Flex, which traverses the Outer Cape, from Orleans to Provincetown. The Flex permits off route dropoffs and pickups of up to 3/4 miles for an increased fare. Additionally there are two Barnstable/ Hyannis local routes that also run year round. In the Summer, there are additional local routes that run in Falmouth/Woods Hole (WOOSH), Provincetown, and Yarmouth, as well as a free beach shuttle in Hyannis. CCRTA also operates the B-Bus paratransit service.

Long distance bus service is operated by Plymouth and Brockton Street Railway, with regular service to Boston and Logan Airport, as well as less frequent service to Provincetown. Bonanza Bus Lines also runs a long distance service to Providence, T.F. Green Airport, and New York City. Peter Pan Bus Lines is a long-distance Bus carrier that operates in the northeastern states of the United States. T F Green International Airport, also known as Theodore Francis Green State Airport, is a public Airport located in Warwick, six miles (10 The City of New York

Rail

Regular passenger rail service through Cape Cod ended in 1959. In 1978, the tracks east of South Dennis were abandoned and replaced with the very popular bicycle trail, known as the Cape Cod Rail Trail. Another bike trail, the Shining Sea Bikeway, was built over tracks between Woods Hole and Falmouth in 1975; construction to extend this path to North Falmouth over 6. 3 miles of inactive rail bed began in April 2008[8]. Active freight service remains in the Upper Cape area in Sandwich in Bourne, largely due to a trash transfer station located at Massachusetts Military Reservation. In 1986, Amtrak ran a seasonal service in the summer from New York City to Hyannis called the Cape Codder. The National Railroad Passenger Corporation, Doing business as Amtrak, is a Government-owned corporation that was organized on May 1, 1971 The Cape Codder was a Passenger train operated by Amtrak between New York City and Hyannis Massachusetts on Cape Cod. Since its demise in 1996, there have been periodic discussions about reinstating passenger rail service from Boston to reduce car traffic to and from the Cape, with officials in Bourne seeking to extend MBTA's commuter service from Middleboro to Buzzards Bay[9]. The Massachusetts Bay Transportation Authority ( MBTA) is "a body politic and corporate and a political subdivision" of the Commonwealth of Massachusetts

Cape Cod Central Railroad operates passenger train service on Cape Cod. The Cape Cod Central Railroad is a heritage railroad located in Cape Cod, Massachusetts. The service is primarily tourist oriented and includes a dinner train. The scenic route between Downtown Hyannis and the Cape Cod Canal is about 2½ hours round trip. The Cape Cod Canal is a man-made waterway traversing the narrow neck of land that joins Cape Cod to mainland Massachusetts.

Taxi

Taxicabs are plentiful, with several different companies operating out of different parts of the Cape. Fares for a trip between Downtown Hyannis and Barnstable Village can be as high as $20-$25. In Provincetown, the taxi companies charge per person rather than by distance. Mercedes Cab 508-487-TAXI charges $4 per person in town and slightly more for trips to the Provincetown Airport.

Tourism

Artists often refer to a special quality in the light on Cape Cod.
Artists often refer to a special quality in the light on Cape Cod.

Although Cape Cod has a year-round population of about 230,000, it experiences a tourist season each summer between Memorial Day and Labor Day, as the New England cold gives way to a brief but comfortable summer. Memorial Day is a United States Federal holiday observed on the last Monday of May (on May in) Labor Day is a United States Federal holiday observed on the first Monday in September History See also History of New England New England's earliest inhabitants were Algonquian -speaking Native Americans including the Many businesses are specifically targeted to summer visitors, and close during the 8 to 9 months of the "off season. " In the late 20th century, tourists and owners of second homes began visiting the Cape more and more in the spring and fall, softening the definition of the high season and expanding it somewhat. Some particularly well-known Cape products and industries include cranberries, shellfish (particularly oysters and clams) and lobstering. Cranberries are a group of Evergreen dwarf Shrubs or trailing vines in the genus Vaccinium subgenus Oxycoccos Shellfish is a Culinary and Fisheries term for those aquatic Invertebrate animals that are used as Food: various species of molluscs The common name oyster is used for a number of different groups of Bivalve Mollusks most of which live in marine habitats or Brackish water. Lobster fishing is the commercial or recreational harvesting of marine Lobsters Spiny lobsters or Crayfish.

Provincetown, at the tip of Cape Cod, also berths several whale watching fleets who patrol the Stellwagen Bank National Marine Sanctuary. Provincetown is a town located at the extreme tip of Cape Cod in Barnstable County, Massachusetts, United States. Most fleets guarantee a whale sighting (mostly humpback, finback, and sei whales), and one is the only federally certified operation qualified to rescue whales. Whales are marine mammals which are neither Dolphins (ie members of the families Delphinidae or Platanistoidae) nor Porpoises Orcas Provincetown has also long been known as an art colony, attracting writers and artists. Many hotels and resorts are friendly to or cater to gay and lesbian tourists and it is known as a gay mecca in the summer. [10]

Cape Cod is popular for its outdoor activities like beach walking, biking, boating, fishing, go-karts, golfing, kayaking, miniature golf, and unique shopping. There are 27 public, daily-fee golf courses and 15 private courses on Cape Cod. [11] Bed and breakfasts or vacation houses are often used for lodging.

Sports

The Cape has nine amateur baseball franchises playing within Barnstable County in the Cape Cod Baseball League. Barnstable County is a County located in the US state of Massachusetts, consisting of Cape Cod and associated islands The Cape Cod Baseball League ( CCBL) is an amateur Baseball league located on Cape Cod in the U The Wareham Gatemen also play in the Cape Cod Baseball League in nearby Wareham, Massachusetts in Plymouth County. Wareham (Typically pronounced Wear-ham is a town located in Plymouth County Massachusetts. The league has been in existence since 1885. Teams in the league are the Bourne Braves, Brewster Whitecaps, Chatham Athletics, Cotuit Kettleers, Falmouth Commodores, Harwich Mariners, Hyannis Mets, Orleans Cardinals, Wareham Gatemen and the Yarmouth-Dennis Red Sox. History The Pre-Modern Era Bourne's baseball history is one of the longest of all teams on the Cape dating as far back as the 1860s when the town was still part of Sandwich History The Whitecaps first season in the Cape League was 1988 when both they and the Bourne Braves were inaugurated into the league History The Pre-Modern Era Amateur baseball in the town of Chatham dates back to the early 1900s and the old Cape Cod Twilight League. History The Pre-Modern Era The Cotuit Athletic Association began sponsoring the Cape League's Kettleers in 1947 History The Pre-Modern Era Falmouth has been a member of the Cape League since since its inception in the early 1900s History The Mariners have been a member of the Cape League since 1930 when the team first began play in Harwich History The Mets were formed in 1976 with the help of former state senator Jack Aylmer after the Bourne Canalmen ceased operations in 1972 History The Pre-Modern Era Orleans has fielded a team since the early days of the Cape League History Wareham has been a member of the Cape League since its Modern Era began in 1963 History The Pre-Modern Era Baseball in the towns of Yarmouth and Dennis dates back to the early days of the Cape League Pro ball scouts frequent the games in the summer, looking for stars of the future.

The Cape also is home to the Cape Cod Frenzy, a team in the American Basketball Association. The Cape Cod Frenzy is an American Basketball Association (ABA team based in Cape Cod Massachusetts that played from 2004 to 2006 as the

Soccer is alive on Cape Cod with the Cape Cod Crusaders playing in the Premier Development League (PDL) soccer based in Hyannis. Cape Cod Crusaders are an American Soccer team founded in 1994. In addition, a summer Cape Cod Adult Soccer League (CCASL) is active in several towns on the Cape.

The end of each summer is marked with the running of the world famous Falmouth road race which is held on the 3rd Saturday in August. It draws ~10,000 runners to the Cape and showcases the finest runners in the world (mainly for the large purse that the race is able to offer).

The race is 7. 2 miles long, which is a non standard distance in any acceptable form of measurement. The reason for the unusual distance is that the man who thought the race up (Tommy Leonard) was a bartender who wanted a race along the coast from one bar (The Cap'n Kidd in Woods Hole) to another (The Brothers Four in Falmouth Heights). While the bar in Falmouth heights is no longer there, the race still starts at the front door of the Cap'n Kidd in Woods Hole and now finishes at the beach in Falmouth Heights.

Islands off Cape Cod

Like Cape Cod itself, the islands south of Cape Cod have turned from being whaling and trading areas to resort destinations for the Northeast, attracting old, wealthy families, celebrities, and prosperous tourists alike. The islands include Nantucket and Martha's Vineyard, as well as the Elizabeth Island Chain, which includes the Forbes family-owned Naushon Island, which was purchased by John Murray Forbes with profits from opium dealing in the China trade during the Opium War. Martha's Vineyard (adjoining the smaller Chappaquiddick Island) is an Island off the US east coast to the south of Cape Cod, both The Elizabeth Islands are a chain of small Islands extending southwest from the southern coast of Cape Cod, Massachusetts in the United States The Forbes family is a wealthy extended American family originating in Boston. Naushon Island, part of the Elizabeth Islands, is seven miles (11 km long just off (SW of Cape Cod, and four Statute miles (6 km NW of Martha's John Murray Forbes ( February 23 1813 &ndash October 12 1898) was an American Railroad Magnate, Merchant, Opium is a Narcotic formed from the Latex (ie sap released by lacerating (or "scoring" the immature seed pods of opium poppies ( The Opium Wars ( also known as the Anglo-Chinese Wars, lasted from 1839 to 1842 and 1856 to 1860 the climax of a trade dispute between China under the Qing The only accessible Elizabeth Island is the southernmost one in the chain, Cuttyhunk, with its humble year-round population of 52 people. Cuttyhunk Island is the outermost of the Elizabeth Islands in Massachusetts, located between Buzzards Bay to the north and Vineyard Sound Several prominent families have established compounds or estates on the larger islands, making these Cape Cod offshore islands some of the wealthiest resorts in the Northeast, yet they retain much of the early merchant trading and whaling culture.

References

  1. ^ Several islands off Cape Cod proper—Monomoy Island, Monomoscoy Island, Popponesset Island, and Seconsett Island—are also in Barnstable County, being part of municipalities with land on the Cape. Monomoy Island is an 8 mile (13 km long spit of sand extending southwest from Chatham, Cape Cod off the Massachusetts mainland Popponesset Island is a Census-designated place (CDP in the town of Mashpee in Barnstable County, Massachusetts, United States.
  2. ^ Provincetown Spit, Cape Cod, Massachusetts. NASA Earth Observatory. The NASA Earth Observatory is an online publishing organization of the National Aeronautics and Space Administration of the United States (US Retrieved on 2006-05-02. Year 2006 ( MMVI) was a Common year starting on Sunday of the Gregorian calendar. Events 1194 - King Richard I of England gives Portsmouth its first Royal Charter.
  3. ^ http://www.falmouthchamber.com/documents/FalmouthVillages.pdf?PHPSESSID=6160630e0f83d1300dfa091e432e78c8 Falmouth Chamber of Commerce (Accessed: December 21, 2006). Events 69 - The end of the Year of the four emperors: Following Galba, Otho and Vitellius, Vespasian Year 2006 ( MMVI) was a Common year starting on Sunday of the Gregorian calendar. Falmouth: A Pleasing Octet of Villages. Press kit.
  4. ^ http://www.town.barnstable.ma.us/InformationSystems/GIS/VILLAGES.PDF Barnstable, Massachusetts GIS Maps (Accessed: December 21, 2006 E911 Map - Town of Barnstable. Events 69 - The end of the Year of the four emperors: Following Galba, Otho and Vitellius, Vespasian Year 2006 ( MMVI) was a Common year starting on Sunday of the Gregorian calendar.
  5. ^ Leatherman, Stephen. DrBeach.org - America's Best Beaches 2007. Dr. Beach. Org. Retrieved on 2007-06-11. Year 2007 ( MMVII) was a Common year starting on Monday of the Gregorian calendar in the 21st century. Events 1184 BC - Trojan War: Troy is sacked and burned according to the calculations of Eratosthenes.
  6. ^ Oldale, Robert N. Coastal Erosion on Cape Cod: Some Questions and Answers. WoodsHole. er. usgs. gov. Retrieved on 2007-11-30. Year 2007 ( MMVII) was a Common year starting on Monday of the Gregorian calendar in the 21st century. Events 1700 - Battle of Narva — A Swedish army of 8500 men under Charles XII defeats
  7. ^ Stephanie Vosk. "Wampanoag tribe wins recognition", Cape Cod Times, 2007-05-25. Year 2007 ( MMVII) was a Common year starting on Monday of the Gregorian calendar in the 21st century. Events 1085 - Alfonso VI of Castile takes Toledo Spain back from the Moors. Retrieved on 2007-06-05. Year 2007 ( MMVII) was a Common year starting on Monday of the Gregorian calendar in the 21st century. Events 70 - Titus and his Roman Legions breach the middle wall of Jerusalem in the Siege of Jerusalem  
  8. ^ Reckford, Laura. Lawrence-Lynch Will Build Bike Path, Falmouth Enterprise, retrieved 2008-04-04]
  9. ^ The Cape and Islands NPR Station - Cape Cod Rail Connection
  10. ^ Provincetown- Hotels, Guest Houses, and Inns (2006) Pink Choice, retrieved 6/10/2007Provincetown lodging
  11. ^ Cape Cod Chamber of Commerce, retrieved 6/10/2007golf courses

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