CapeLinks Cape Cod Massachusetts
articles & blogs
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Where Orchards Once Bloomed
The Cape was at one time full of orchards of almost every description which bore luscious and beautiful fruits. Most of these old orchards are dying now, and few remain to be seen. -
More Youngsters Then
In colonial times, four of every ten persons in what is now the United States were under fifteen years of age, or forty percent of the population. -
Long Lick
No grocer but one on “old-time” Cape Cod would know that “Porty Reek long lick” meant Puerto Rico molasses; and no cook, except one on Cape Cod would know that “Hog’s… -
Colonial Perfumes
The colonial settlers were very fond of home-made perfumes. -
Fall Butterflies
The great southward migration of the monarch butterfly along the dunes in September and October is the butterfly event of the year on Cape Cod. -
Cape Cod’s Old-time Ministers
Palmer Street in Falmouth is named after one of the town’s most illustrious Puritan ministers, the Rev. Samuel Palmer. He served there for forty-three years, (1731-1774), succeeding a minister… -
Plymouth Rock Goes to Nevada
Plymouth Rock as a whole will probably never be allowed to leave Plymouth, for Plymouth without its Rock would be like Boston without its -
Mashpee in 1837
John Hayward, in his New England Gazetteer; published 1839, had this to say about Mashpee, which he spelled “Marshpee”: -
Call Them Lucky
The following words appreciative of the Cape came from man “marooned” in the city of Boston during a hot spell of weather one summer many years ago: -
On Her Beam’s End
This nautical term occurs frequently in accounts of sailing and adventures at sea, and even in accounts of such experiences right in our local Cape Cod waters. And it’s a puzzler to the landsman.… -
Cold Friday
The name Snow is a notable one on Cape Cod and the South Shore. It goes ‘way back to the early settlers’ time, and it has always been an honorable one born by honorable Cape Codders and… -
A Jolly Inscription
The following inscription appeared over a chimney piece in a 17th century gentleman’s dining room: -
Barnstable Bay Rises 29 Feet
The sea level in Barnstable Bay during the past five thousand years has experienced a 29-foot rise. The record is written plainly for the eyes of scientists who delve into such subjects. -
By Guess and By God
Whaling was hard under any conditions, but doubly hard in the frozen north. There were no charts of these waters then, the gyro compass had not been invented, so they sailed blind, or “by guess… -
Gosnold First?
View the map of Cape Cod, and you will see a group or chain of small islands running southwesterly from Falmouth. This island… -
Yarmouth’s Boast
The widespread interest that people have in the style of dwelling known as the Cape Cod house affords… -
Cape Cod Canal Vision
Miles Standish saw the Cape Cod Canal in his mind’s eye. He was the first person, so rumor has it, to propose that a canal should or could some day be dug from one side of the Cape to the other.… -
First Massachusetts Resident
Not the Pilgrims, not the Vikings,… -
The Pilgrims and the Whales
The Pilgrim’s first recorded attempt at whaling was while the good ship Mayflower lay at anchor in what was later to be called Provincetown Harbor. It happened in this manner: -
The Tea That Truro Detested
At the same time that patriotic Bostonians were upset mentally and physically over British importation of tea heavily taxed into the young American colonies, Truro on Cape Cod, small as the town was,… -
Who? Who? Hoo!
Every once in a while these parts are visited by a rarely seen bird—the white Arctic owl. His coming is regarded, by those who know the signs, as a sure token of a hard, cold winter. -
How to Catch Striped Bass: The Old Way
The following passage is from the early 1950’s and describes a way to catch striped bass with a hand line using the “heave and haul” method: -
The British Threat
Jefferson’s Embargo of 1807 threw the Cape into virtual depression. Ships lay at the wharves, rotting, and the seamen remained idle. When the War of 1812 came, the British sent frigates across… -
Retro Swap Meet
These “swaps” from more than half-a-century ago are quite amusing: -
Make Your Own Bayberry Candles
How would you like to make a souvenir of Cape Cod? Anywhere on the coast, you can find the fragrant bayberry. This you will recognize by its spicy green leaf and waxy blue-gray berry. Gather all of… -
Jack of All Trades
The Cape has seen a great rise in one industry only to be followed by a decline. But with each decline there has been a new rise to replace it. -
The Flounders
Talk about “wierd fish”. One of the queerest is the flounder! It is flat, literally as flat as a pancake. It’s delicious eating, too. And it is marked so dark on its upper side and… -
Fishing: A Hard Life
Provincetown is still a fishing town although its whaling days are over. The fishing industry is carried on chiefly by the Portuguese. These men are daring and hardened to the discomforts and dangers… -
The Little Red Schoolhouse
Like ever so many other parts of New England, Cape Cod towns had their “little red schoolhouses.” Often it was a one-room or two-room affair. -
A Neat Name for Every Ship
Cape Cod’s ports and other ports on the New England seaboard sent many a whaler to sea. It is interesting to observe the kinds of names which the shipowners gave their vessels. -
Footless Fowl
Just as there are “Cape Cod Cats”, so also is there what some folks call… -
Nancy And The Savings Bank
The ship Emerald on its way to Virginia put into Hyannis Harbor to take refuge from a storm. John Munroe, watch and clock maker, a passenger aboard on his way to Virginia to set up in business,… -
Continuous Marriage
The average age of a girl to be married was, in the seventeenth century, fifteen. For a boy it was slightly higher, his promptness in the matter being assisted by the aversion of the colonists to bachelors.… -
He Taught Our Sea Captains
One of the most important books to sailors from our South Shore and Cape ports was written by Nathaniel Bowditch. This book, called The Practical Navigator, was a guide for ships. -
A Real Old-Timer
The oldest meeting house in the United States is the West Parish Meeting House in Barnstable. -
Sturdy Cape Codders
At one time during the Revolution, a fleet of British ships cruised through the waters of the Cape looking for a profitable raid. The first attack was at New Bedford. -
Housing Problem
The early Cape houses varied greatly, according to men’s means, and became more elaborate from generation… -
The First Wireless
How many Americans know that the world radio system was given rise on the Cape? Marconi, in 1903, on the oceanside of Wellfleet got through the first wireless message. It was a greeting from President… -
Provincetown Monument
High Pole Hill has been a lookout for the sailors of Provincetown for many years. From a high pole to a windmill, from a town hall to a monument, there has always been some mark there to guide the ships… -
When The Cape Salted America
During the War of the Revolution, salt for American tables was nearly as scarce as hens’ teeth. To an imaginative Cape Codder named “Sleepy” John Sears, a sea captain hailing from… -
Hard Workers
Don’t get the idea that those who lived in the early days on Cape Cod were all farmers and fishermen. There were others. -
Branded Hand of Harwich
Harwich was one of the first big fishing ports of the Cape, but as other ports lured away the fishing business, as early as 1845, she began to cultivate the lowly cranberry. -
Doubting Barnstable
Barnstable with its fine old houses and stately air has a strangely mixed history. James Otis was born here, the fiery orator… -
Aye, Remember When
A bookful—aye, dozens of bookfuls have been written and well-written about the good old days on Cape Cod. What in the world was there that so much could be written about? -
The Crew of 102
One hundred and two men, the crew of a pirate ship, were once buried on the beach at Welifleet. They were the crew of the Whydah, a ship of about 200 tons. It was armed with twenty-three guns… -
Cape Cod House Painters
Need to get your Cape Cod house painted? Finding a good house painter on Cape Cod can be tough. Cape Cod House Painting… -
Lecture Day
Not only did the colonists suffer through day-long Sunday sermons, but on Thursdays they attended a weekly lecture which was to the seventeenth century what the opera was to the nineteenth. -
Oil Clothes
Before the days of sewing machines, the fisherman’s clothes were made by outfitters. They bought the cloth, cut the pants, the jacket and the barvel (which was a large apron), and laid them out… -
Cape Cod Borgia
Near the town of Falmouth there is the little village of Cataumet. Thirty-one people were murdered in that quiet little village unbeknown to anyone. They were thought to have died natural deaths. -
Armed & Dangerous Fishing Tournament
Fish from shore or from a boat and support a great cause. The Armed & Dangerous Fishing Tournament…
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