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Bananas Came First To Cape

Once upon a time every man and boy in Wellfleet was a whaler. Boys as young as ten began going to sea on the old whaling vessels with their fathers. Both whales and oysters made Wellfleet prosper.

Once a part of Eastham, Wellfleet was called Pool, and then Billingsgate. The Town was incorporated in 1763.

The visitor to Wellfleet will see an amazing variety of scenery. There is the broad saltwater marsh at the entrance to the Town, the Great Beach with its sand dunes, the high cliffs of the shore, and the pine forests. The Town itself is typically New England with narrow, winding roads, white churches and Cape Cod houses.

Besides oysters, Wellfleet waters produce delicately flavored bay scallops and quahogs. Bananas were introduced to the Cape in 1870 when some bunches were brought back from Jamaica by Captain Lorenzo Dow Baker.

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