Cape Cod History

1602: Gosnold leaves the old sod for Cape Cod and history

 Gosnold departs from England en route to New World

 And makes a landfall on Cuttyhunk south of Cape Cod

On this day in 1602, explorer Bartholomew Gosnold left Falmouth, England bound for Northern Virginia, as New England was then known, intent on establishing the first permanent British colony in North America.

This is Cuttyhunk from the air. Read about this "ot island" in Wikipedia here.

Forty-nine days later, Gosnold and his 32-sailor crew landed at the island at the foot of what eventually became known as the Elizabeth Islands. Whether Gosnold named the site Elizabeth Island after his wife or the queen of England is uncertain; we know it today as Cuttyhunk.

By then Gosnold and his crew had already stopped at present-day Provincetown and gone ashore, becoming the first English explorers to set foot in New England. Codfish was so plentiful in the harbor where his vessel, the Concord, was anchored that Gosnold decided against his original name for the peninsula - Shoal Hope - and named it Cape Cod instead. The name stuck.

After leaving Provincetown, Gosnold skirted the coast to the south, turning west after Monomoy Island south of Chatham and sailing across the body of water eventually known as Nantucket Sound. Another trip ashore to one of the islands resulted in it being named "Martha's Vineyard" for the bountiful grapes found there and, it is believed, his deceased daughter.

Read about the day he called "Cape Cod" here.

After exploring Elizabeth Island and building a small fort, Gosnold and his men decided against remaining for fear of insufficient provisions to last them the winter. They stayed for only a month on Cuttyhunk before returning home.

Five years later, Gosnold served as commander of one of three vessels to land at Jamestown, Virginia, where the first permanent British colony in North American was established. His presence there was short-lived, however; Gosnold died only three months after the colony was founded.

Read about Gosnold in Wikipedia here.