Cape Cod History

1888: Water spout seen off Cape. 1989 Beach drivers claim a victory in Cape Cod battle

1989: Sudden transfer of park superintendent hailed by Off-Road-Vehicle owners

   A police ORV roars along Nauset Beach looking for miscreants. cc2day photo

On this day in 1989, beach drivers claimed a victory in a Cape Cod Battle with the National Seashore.  The users of off-road vehicles claimed victory here after the disclosure of the sudden transfer of the superintendent of the Cape Cod National Seashore.

The report went on to state that environmental groups have deplored the reassignment of the superintendent, Herbert Olsen. National Park Service officials in Washington insisted the transfer was in no way connected with a long controversy over driving off-road vehicles on the seashore's beaches, a practice that environmentalists see as a cause of beach erosion and a threat to wildlife.  Sport fishermen on Cape Cod, who have been demanding for four years that more of the national seashore's beach be opened to their four-wheel-drive trucks, vans, station wagons and cars, were jubilant over the news that Mr. Olsen, who drafted the current rules on the vehicles, is scheduled to leave Aug. 13 to take charge of Valley Forge National Historical Park in Pennsylvania.

   1888: Water spout spotted off Cape Cod

They link the transfer of Mr. Olsen, who has many supporters among Cape Cod residents, with recent high-level Interior Department proposals to double the amount of beaches open to vehicles.

Mr. Olsen denounced his transfer as ''punishment'' when he announced it to his staff last Monday. Sources in Washington said Andrew Ringgold, a career officer now serving in the Washington headquarters, would be his successor at Cape Cod.

Revenge Motive Is Seen

Sherrill B. Smith of Orleans, Mass., a longtime member of the local National Seashore Advisory Commission, said there was ''no question'' that the sport fishermen who head the off-road vehicle organizations had ''sought revenge'' against Mr. Olsen.

''They are certainly taking credit for his transfer,'' he said, ''whether or not it may be entirely coincidental.''

National Park officials in Washington said Friday that Allan Fitzsimmons, an assistant to Interior Secretary Manuel Lujan Jr. had been urging ''for some time'' a return to the old regulations that allowed the use of vehicles along 17 of the 50 miles of Cape Cod beach that the National Park Service controls.

These officials conceded that the timing of Mr. Olsen's transfer was ''unfortunate'' because it comes in mid-season and follows several boisterous demonstrations on the Fourth of July holiday by owners of off-road vehicle.

In informing his staff of the transfer, Mr. Olson said it was ''unreasonable, unacceptable and unwarranted,'' according to The Cape Cod Times in Hyannis.

Mr. Olsen could not be reached for an interview, but he was quoted in the Cape Cod Times as saying: ''If a man continues to do an outstanding job, why move him, especially when a number of critical issues here need resolution in the next few months or years?'' He added, ''The reassignment amounts to punishment,'' the paper reported.

George Berklacy, chief of public affairs for the Park Service, said: ''Herb Olsen's transfer was not a punitive measure. It follows our plan, instituted two years ago, to move park superintendents around after they have served 10 years in a park. Herb Olsen has been in charge of the Cape Cod National Seashore for 11 years, serving with distinction during that time.''

In the past three years, Mr. Berklacy said, Mr. Olsen had been offered two other Park Service posts of equal or higher rank than the Cape Cod job and had refused them. Now there was an opening at Valley Forge, he said, and the Park Service's mid-Atlantic regional supervisor had personally asked that Mr. Olsen fill it.

Susan Nickerson, executive director of the Association for the Preservation of Cape Cod, said the transfer sent the message that a small special-interest group like the vehicle users could influence park policy. ''It is very disconcerting when a group that is often in conflict with conservation interests can orchestrate that kind of change of personnel.''

Mr. Fitzsimmons and Mr. Ringgold could not be reached for comment.

Most of the Cape Cod National Seashore lies along the eastern side of the Cape, stretching from Chatham past Provincetown. Nearly 5 million people visit its clean, wide beaches and enjoy the big surf each year. Some of the best striped bass fishing in the world is off these beaches.

For nearly 20 years after the Cape Cod National Seashore was created, surf-casting fishermen were free to roam most of its shore in beach vehicles.

But in 1981, as popularity put more pressures on the park, the Park Service, through Mr. Olsen, ordered vehicles restricted to a 17-mile stretch in Truro and Provincetown. The sports fisherman protested immediately, while environmental groups, who had been critical of Mr. Olsen for not acting sooner, cheered.

In 1985, after a suit by environmental protection groups, a Federal judge ruled that more should be done to prevent erosion and protect birds' nesting areas. As a result, the Park Service, again through Mr. Olsen, reduced the vehicle access to eight miles in warm months and banned it entirely in the winter.

Since then, the sports fishing and vehicle organizations have been demanding Mr. Olsen's transfer and a return to the 17-mile limit.

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1912: Cape Cod folks noted for intimacy and hospitality

1912: A century ago Cape Cod was praised for its "Four Seasons in One"
Newspapers ran a long list of the exciting things to do here

In 1912 Cape Cod folk were widely noted for two things, intimacy and hospitality; the former, because they don't stop for introduction. They say it is only a foolish form of custom to have some mutual acquaintance present his friend to you.

They are noted for hospitality because Cape Cod folk are overanxious to do anything possible for a Summer resident even to supplying one with garden vegetables free of charge... (read the rest below)

At least that's what the newspaper story below claimed a century ago.

Population was then 10% of today's

Visitors to these shores today must assume our forebears were on drugs, or simply desperate for new faces after the long, empty winter. The 1910 census listed our county population at 27,542, and a decade later is was a thousand LESS. The Cape's population today is approaching a quarter-million.

CAPE COD QUAINT AND INTERESTING
Native Folk Noted for Hospitality and a Charming Informality of Their Own
Four Seasons in One Summer
Features of a Region That Is Always Attractive to Visitors

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1959: Two freighters collide in Buzzards Bay; 1958: A summer sail around Cape Cod

1959: Crippled Freighter Francisville reaches New York;
2 Freighters Collided Near Cape Cod Canal

On this day in 1959, the NY Times reported that the Norwegian freighter Francisville had reached Brooklyn for repairs after its collision with another freighter in Buzzards Bay the day before as described in the story below on left.

The story began;
Saturday Section: BUSINESS FINANCIAL

The crippled Norwegian freighter Francisville arrived here early yesterday morning under tow of two Moran Towing and Transportation Company tugs... 

Read the rest below.

The US Coast Guard decision on the collision read in part:

In this case, I think that it is a reasonable inference, based on all the surrounding facts and circumstances, to conclude that there was some relationship between the excessive speed and the collision. This casual connection is established predominantly by the facts that the speed of the FRANCISVILLE placed her in the danger zone (beyond one-half the distance of visibility ahead) where the collision occurred and that she had not stopped when the two ships came together.

It is my opinion that the most logical conclusion or inference, based on experience and probabilities, is that the established fact of the immoderate speed of the FRANCISVILLE did, to some extent, contribute to the casualty. As stated in Appeal No. 586, this is not an attempt to forecast the outcome of civil litigation resulting from the collision...

1958: Summer Cruise to Cape Cod Is Rewarding for Any Old Salt

   This Friendship Sloop passing through the canal is typical of the sailboats of a century ago.

Cape Cod is meant for seagoers first and landlubbers thereafter

I n August of 1958, the New York Times was touting a sail through the canal to Provincetown or a cruise along Nantucket Sound to Chatham. The travel yarn began;

Other areas have ambitions for the honor but Cape Cod can prove beyond much doubt it is the pleasure boatman's perfect North Atlantic waterway vacation spot. It would be hard to swing a dock line without hitting one of what must be hundreds, if not thousands, of harbors, anchorages, bights, bays. Cape Cod is meant for seagoers first and landlubbers thereafter... read the rest below.

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1929: Jackie O's birthday; 1914: Cape Cod Canal opens today

1929: Jackie Kennedy's Birthday

On this day in 1929 Jacqueline Lee Bouvier, daughter of Janet Lee and John “Black Jack” Bouvier, a handsome stockbroker was born in Southampton, N.Y. Jackie had one younger sister, Caroline Lee. In boarding school, Jackie won Vogue’s Prix de Paris essay contest, but declined the prize trip to New York and Paris. But while attending George Washington University, Jacqueline Bouvier studied abroad in France, strengthening her love for art, literature and fashion. After college, she worked as a photographer/reporter. She met John F. Kennedy, the capital’s most eligible bachelor in 1951, and after a quiet two-year courtship, married him.

After a miscarriage and the stillbirth of a baby girl, Mrs. Kennedy gave birth to Caroline in 1957, and John Jr. in 1960. In 1961, Senator John F. Kennedy became president. Her New York Times obituary notes that the new First Lady brought class and charm to the Kennedy presidency, with “the whispering, intimate quality of her voice … the bouffant hair and formal smile for the Rose Garden and the barefoot romp with her children on a Cape Cod beach.”

1914: OPEN CANAL TODAY CUTTING CAPE COD;
Steady Work of Five Years Robs Sea "Graveyard" of Terrors.
Boston 66 miles nearer to New York,

On this day in 1914, the world was told about the opening of our canal which would save hundreds, if not thousands, of ships from peril.

One of the first ships allowed through the canal during the opening ceremonies was the steamer Rose Standish which carried the canal company executives and government officials. You can see some of the onlookers waving in the old sepia print on the right. The story in the New York Times began:

NEW BEDFORD, Mass., July 28. -- The hotels are crowded tonight with steamship men and railroad officials waiting to board the fleet of private yachts and other vessels at anchor in the harbor which will start for Buzzards Bay at 11 o'clock tomorrow morning to sail in procession through the Cape Cod Canal, which cuts Cape Cod from the mainland of Massachusetts and shortens the sea route from Boston to New York by sixty-six miles...

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1925: Yachts race around the Cape; 1981: Oil drilling begins off Cape Cod

1925: Twenty-five yachts race around Cape Cod

On this day in 1925, the newspapers were reporting a yacht race around Cape Cod The headlines and first paragraph are below and the text on the right.

NOKOMIS OFF FIRST FOR CHALLENGE CUP;
Gets Away in Lead in Race of 256 Miles From American Y.C. to Gloucester.
IN SOUTHWESTERLY BREEZE
25 Sailing and 3 Power Boats Are Competing for Brooklyn Trophy and Cruising Club Prizes.

A fleet of twenty-five sailing yachts and three power boats crossed the line in the races started today off the American Yacht Club for the Brooklyn Yacht Club Challenge Cup and the prizes offered by the Cruising Club of America for the long run to Eastern Point, Gloucester, from the Scotch Caps Buoy in Long Island Sound, a distance of 256 nautical miles...

1981: George I vs. George II on Georges Bank
Eight oil wells dug off Cape Cod a quarter-century ago

On this day in 1981, the NY Times reported on the start of drilling for oil in Georges Bank. It was not to be, however, as the first President George Bush later proclaimed a federal edict which prohibited all offshore oil exploration, at least until today when his son has rescinded that presidential edict. Eight exploratory wells were dug to average depths of 16,000 feet about 125 miles east of Cape Cod through early 1982.  The story from a quarter century ago is below.

OIL DRILLING IN GEORGES BANK

At 4:57 P.M., Wes Campbell, a driller working for the Shell Oil Company, lowered a column of steel pipe deep into the Atlantic, 200 miles off the coast of Massachusetts. The drilling column stiffened slightly as it hit bottom and then punched a 17 1/2-inch hole in the sandy face of Georges Bank.

''Thank goodness we finally got it started. 'It's only a matter of time before the fishermen get used to having us out here. We can have a very compatible relationship.''
       - O.J. Shirley of Shell OilFifty miles to the west, the Exxon Corporation sent its drill bit spiraling into the layers of sedimentary rock in search of oil and gas.

After six years of bitter legal wrangles between fishermen and oil companies, exploration began today on Georges Bank - one of America's richest fisheries. At the Zapata Saratoga rig were a knot of Shell Oil officials, nine journalists and a group of curious finback whales who poked their heads through the distant waves, sending up fountains of spray.

''Thank goodness we finally got it started,'' said O.J. Shirley, manager of government and industry affairs for Shell. ''It's only a matter of time before the fishermen get used to having us out here. We can have a very compatible relationship.''

Their relationship thus far has been anything but compatible. Starting in the mid-1970's, New England fishermen, state governments and environmentalists brought various suits to block oil exploration on Georges Bank, or at least delay it until tighter safeguards were enacted. The Departments of Interior and Commerce and 22 oil companies argued that the need for domestic oil supplies outweighed the ''small'' risk to fishing. The existing environmental safeguards, they said, were sufficient to protect the fish and their habitat from oil pollution. Drilling Finally Approved

Drilling was finally approved by the courts last year on the condition that the Government and the oil companies take additional environmental precautions. But these fell far short of what the fishermen had been seeking.

Standing beneath the red, white and blue derrick of the Zapata rig, Mr. Shirley argued that oil exploration posed no serious threat to the marine life of Georges Bank.

''We recognize Georges Bank is important, but its value as a fishery has been greatly overstated.'' he said. ''There are 20,000 square miles out here and I don't see any kind of event that could wipe out this fishing ground.''

The New England fishermen see it otherwise. Since the 17th century they have made a living off the haddock, cod, halibut, lobster, flounder and scallops of Georges Bank. Its waters provide some 14 percent of America's food fish and serve as the basis of the $1 billion-a-year New England fishing industry. It was to preserve the treasures of Georges Bank from foreign fleets that the United States decided to enforce a 200-mile coastal limit.

"When the oil companies first discovered oil, it put the whalers here out of business, because people didn't need the whale oil anymore. Their drilling in Georges Bank could well put the fishermen out of business again.'' - Harry SwainHarry Swain, president of a New Bedford, Mass., boat owners association, has not been out to view the Zapata Saratoga yet, but the 70-year-old fisherman has a sense of foreboding.

''You know it's ironic,'' he mused from his office in the cobblestoned New Bedford pier district, where Herman Melville set off to write Moby Dick, ''when the oil companies first discovered oil, it put the whalers here out of business, because people didn't need the whale oil anymore. Their drilling in Georges Bank could well put the fishermen out of business again.''

''We're not talking about protecting the snail darter out there,'' said Douglas Foy, director of the Conservation Law Foundation of New England, which aided the fishermen in their legal fight. ''We're talking about a whole industry and fish that people eat every day. Whatever oil they find will last only a few weeks, but the fish will be there for a lifetime - if you take care of them.'' 'The Iron Bottom'

The fishermen's main fear is what they call ''the Iron Bottom.'' The drill bits, cable, pipe, and other equipment oil companies might lose, or dump overboard, can easily slice or snare fishermen's costly nets and lines. Mr. Swain said Norwegian fisherman claimed their catch dropped by one-third as a result of the debris left on the bottom of the North Sea from oil drilling. The companies are bound by anti-dumping regulations, but the fishermen are pessimistic about their enforcement under the Reagan Administration.

''Oh, the companies came up here and promised lots of things,'' said Mr. Swain, who fished Georges Bank for nearly 50 years, ''and they showed us movies of colorful fish caught around the oil rigs in the Gulf of Mexico, but in the end they really didn't give us anything.''

Mr. Swain had some unflattering things to say about James G. Watt, the Secretary of the Interior, in whose reign ''the oilmen have gotten real cocky.''

The fisherman had also asked the companies to alter their shipping routes so they would not pass through key fishing grounds, and to tow away the tons of chemically treated ''mud'' used in the drilling process instead of dumping it into Georges Bank. The muds are deployed to cool the drill bit and equalize pressure in the hole.

''They argued that it would cost too much money,'' said Jay Lanzillo, a fisherman-activist with the Chatham, Mass., Seafood Coop, ''and the Government backed them up. What can I say? We lost. All we can do now is hope they don't find any oil.'' An Estimated 123 Million Barrels

The Government estimates that the area being explored in Georges Bank contains at most 123 million barrels of oil - about two weeks of current United States consumption. Then again, it may contain no crude at all, as was the case in the Baltimore Canyon off the New Jersey coast. Mr. Shirley argues that it is still worth the risk.

''The total domestic oil supply comes from a large number of small fields all over the country,'' he said. Even if Secretary Watt carries out his pledge to lease one billion offshore acres during the next five years, he added, ''there are only limited areas we would like to drill - sedimentary basins like Georges Bank.''

Guiding visitors through the beehive of pipes, tanks and catwalks that make up the six decks of the floating Zapata rig, Mr. Shirley showed off the myriad of safeguards being taken by the oil companies: blowout prevention measures, constant inspection, dillution of drilling muds and environmental impact studies.

''Shell has drilled 4,000 offshore wells around the world and has never once had a blowout or a spill,'' he said. Pat Doody, senior vice president for the Zapata Off-Shore Company, which leases the rig to Shell, predicted that after a few months the fishermen would be seeking out the oil platforms, which he said act as artificial reefs and attract fish. This is what fisherman in the oil-rich Gulf of Mexico do, he said.

Poring over a wall-size contour map of Georges Bank, Dr. Robert Howarth, staff scientist at the Marine Biological Laboratory at Woods Hole, Mass., pointed to the spot where the Zapata Saratoa is anchored. An expert on the marine environment of Georges Bank, he knows the contours well. Rich in Nutrients

It is precisely the uniqueness of Georges Bank as a fishing ground, he argues, that makes it so susceptible to oil pollution. The waters are among the world's richest in the nutrients fish need to survive. The seas are extremely shallow and turbulent, which means the food is spread throughout as in a blender.

In addition, the waters above this sandy bank follow a circular current pattern called a ''gyre,'' which keeps helpless fish eggs and larvae trapped inside. There they can live off the nutrients until they are large enough to survive in areas with fewer sea plants and less protection.

''Georges is like a gigantic fish nursurey, and this is what must be protected from the oil drilling,'' said Dr. Howarth. ''You can't compare it to the Gulf of Mexico, which is not a nursury and produces mostly sport fish, not food fish.''

Shell Drill Is Stuck

HYANNIS, Mass., July 26 (AP) -The drill bit on Shell Oil's drilling rig Zapata Saratoga became embedded in rock at 120 feet into the ocean floor today, forcing a temporary halt to drilling in the Georges Bank, a company official said. A Shell spokesman, Norman Altstedter, said the problem was a common one in offshore oil exploration, but he said it could take hours or even several days to free the bit and resume drilling.

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1981: Extolling the National Seashore on its 20th birthday; 1928: German glider sets record in Truro

1981: 20th birthday of the National Seashore Park

On this day in 1981, summer resident and PR man Elsworth Rosen wrote in the NY Times:
There is a special beauty to Cape Cod, in its wildness and expanse, in its shimmering calmness and fragility. One of the best ways to savor this beauty and to experience the different moods and sharp contrasts of the cape is to walk the trails of the Cape Cod National Seashore. There are 10 in all between Eastham and Provincetown, each combining fascinating vistas with opportunities to expand one's knowledge of man in nature.

Generally gentle, almost gracious, the trails have been part of our family's life for almost two decades. The national seashore will mark its 20th anniversary this August, and our family has owned a beach house in the seashore from the inception. (Yes, one can own property in the 27,000-acre Cape Cod National Seashore. There are 2,000 houses, but no further building is allowed.)

Part of each year's ritual has been for my wife and me, together with whichever of our children were with us at the time, to "say hello" to the trails as well as to the ocean and to our favorite Wellfleet pond. Springtime, always slow in arriving at the cape, somehow became more official from the vantage point of the Nauset Marsh Trail with its enticing views of marsh, meadow and water. No autumn would be complete without a return visit to see how deeply the low-lying bayberry leaves had been tinted... read the rest here.

1938: A windy day at Highland Light 70 years ago today

   In 1938 the new Marconi Station wasn't the only hot news out of Truro, both Corn Hill and Highland areas were centers for record-setting motorless aircraft studies. Above are two examples of the era.

This picture shows Paul Laubenthal, Paul-Franz Röhre and Peter Hesselbach on the way to the USA.On this day in 1938, a German pilot from the Dormstadt Academic flying group came to Highland Light in Truro where he set a new world record for a motorless aircraft.

A strong easterly wind kept the 300-pound glider aloft just under one hour. Peter Hesselbach of Leipsic, Germany was the ace of the Dormstadt Academic flying group. 

He launched his craft from the then eigthy foot high bluffs at Highland Golf Club and remained aloft for fifty-eight minutes in the 300-pound motorless glider.

The glider sailed 1,500 feet out over the Atlantic thrilling the crowds gathered to witness the event. The next day he kept the glider aloft for over four hours, and there were plans laid to establish a Glider School at Corn Hill on the bayside. A few days later Peter Hesselbach set a new duration record of 4 hours 5 minutes.   Read the story below:

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1914: Cape's dunes in a strong wind; 1956: The Andrea Doria sinks off Nantucket; 1969: 400 poor children heading for a Cape Holiday

1969: 400 Poor Children Leave for Fresh Air Fund Vacations in Cape Cod Homes

The Fresh Air Fund is alive and well and still bringing city kids to Cape Cod today. Above is a city boy getting a wagon ride in Brewster. cc2day photo. Below is the group who arrived in 1969.

July 25, 1969, Friday - Four hundred disadvantaged youngsters left here this week for free summer vacations in Friendly Town communities on Cape Cod.

More than 10% of the Cape-bound kids were returning for their third or fourth visits with the same family.

The five-hour bus trip from the George Washington Bridge Bus Terminal in New York to Cape Cod in Massachusetts was "the final phase count-down of our months of work and planning for the arrival of these summertime guests," according to Mrs. Betty William, co-chairman of the Centerville-Hyannis Friendly Town Committee. Fresh Air Fund.

1956: Stockholm rams Andrea Doria off Nantucket

On this day in 1956, two ocean liners collided in thick fog, approximately 50 miles south of Nantucket. The Stockholm had just left New York City bound for Sweden. The Andrea Doria was due to arrive in New York at 9:00 o'clock the following morning. The three-year-old Italian liner was not only one of the most luxurious vessels afloat but was considered the safest. She had the latest radarscopes and was built with watertight compartments. Nevertheless, 11 hours after the Stockholm rammed her broadside, the Andrea Doria capsized and sank in 225 feet of water. Thanks to one of the most remarkable rescues ever conducted at sea, all of the 1,706 passengers and crew who survived the collision made it safely back to land.

1914: Cape Cod's Sand Dunes compared to a Desert Sand Storm

On this day in 1914, a wire service story read across America, touted the Cape's sand dunes.

Curiously, the same story goes on to tell readers about a performance of the opera Faust in Hyannis by players from the Imperial Italian Grand Opera Company. And you thought your Cape Cod great-grandparents weren't sophisticated. A copy of the wire story is on right.

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One assumes that were the performance to be held today, the music shell in the middle of the dunes above Race Point, Provinctown would be the perfect venue. cctoday photo.

1911: Greatest US Naval Fleet ever gathered at Provincetown; 1920: Original Ponzi scheme unravels

1920: Charles Ponzi gets nabbed in Boston

On this day in in 1920 the Boston Post ran a story that ultimately exposed one of the biggest financial swindles in history. In a series of articles that won the paper its first Pulitzer Prize, the Post questioned the financial practices of Charles Ponzi. An Italian immigrant with dreams of greatness, Ponzi created a near frenzy in Boston by promising a 50 percent return within 45 days. In seven months, 30,000 people invested more than $10,000,000 in Ponzi's scheme. His plan to pay off early investors with funds raised from later ones inevitably collapsed. He was convicted of fraud and sent to prison. On his release, he was deported to Italy. He left behind his name as the definition of a certain kind of scam.

1911: Up to seventy warships rendezvous in a single armada
War games to commence off Cape Cod next week

Twenty-four-year-old Eugene B. Ely, a civilian barnstormer, became the first pilot to fly off a ship. The takeoff of his Curtiss pusher biplane was made possible from a wooden platform erected over the bow of the cruiser USS BirminghamOn this date almost a century ago, the tip of Cape Cod was the scene of the greatest armada of warships ever assembled in one place by the United States Navy.

The armada included everything from the largest dreadnoughts of the era to the latest submarines and experimental attempts to have an airplane take off from a cruiser's deck.

The headline read by newspaper readers across the land shouted;

GREAT FLEET GATHERS.;
Osterhaus to Command Our Strongest
Armada Off Cape Cod.

PROVINCETOWN, Mass., July 24. -- The greatest naval fleet ever assembled under the American flag and under a single command is now gathering in the Atlantic off this place. There will be between sixty and seventy warships, ranging in size from Dreadnoughts of the Delaware type to the little submarines of which the Salmon is the most modern type.

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1846: Thoreau spends the night in jail; 1856: Disastrous gale destroys twenty-nine vessels

1846: Thoreau spends night in jail for not paying tax

On the day in 1846, Henry David Thoreau left his cabin at Walden Pond for a brief walk into town and ended up in the Concord jail for refusing to pay his poll tax. A fervent abolitionist, Thoreau explained, "I cannot for an instant recognize . . . as my government [that] which is the slave's government also." The next morning, he learned that someone had paid the tax. He never knew who. Although Thoreau objected, the constable insisted on releasing him. This experience led him to write a powerful lecture on the "relation of the individual to the State." The lecture was published in 1849 as "Civil Disobedience." This masterful essay has influenced generations of activists, including Mahatma Gandhi and Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr.

1856: Disastrous Gale on the Coast of Labrador
Twenty-nine out of thirty ships lost, one Provincetown ship is survivor

A small harbor 0n the rocky, inhospitable coast of Labrador in an 1856 photo

On this day over a century and a half ago, word was finally received by Cape Cod Marine telegraph about the ships lost in an enormous gale that struck the coast of Labrador earlier in the month.

Of the thirty sailing vessels along the shore that day, twenty-nine were driven ashore and destroyed including one from Provincetown, the brig Samuel Cook.

The one vessel which rode out the storm was the General Warren, also out of Provincetown.  Read the complete report below.

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1873: The train comes to Provincetown. 1911: Cottagers now settled for the summer at coast resorts

   This is the center of Provincetown in 1911, see second item below.

1873: The train comes to Provincetown

On this day in 1873, the first train arrived at the tip of Cape Cod. The streets were bedecked with flags and streamers as 13 bright yellow coach cars, filled to capacity, pulled into Provincetown. The Cape's traditional economy was in decline. Residents were counting on the railroad to bring better times. Summer visitors from Boston could now spend five hours on a comfortable train, instead of risking a choppy ride by steamer or enduring a two-day stagecoach trip. And they could stay in the large hotels that were built in towns all over the Cape. The heyday of the Cape as a railroad resort came to an end when cars became the preferred mode of transportation. In 1959 regular passenger service to Cape Cod ended.

1911: Cottagers Now Settled for the Summer at Coast Resorts.

CAPE COD, Mass., July 22, 1911. -- Numerous automobile parties have come from the many fashionable resorts along the shores of Massachusetts to view the manoeuvres of the fleet at Provincetown, causing unusual activity for Cape Cod...

Read the complete NY Times story below.

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