Provincetown, Cape Cod -- Where Pilgrims First Stepped on American Soil

Provincetown is at the very tip of the Cape Cod peninsula, a 2-and-a-half-hour-drive south of Boston.

Provincetown Beaches


One of the beaches of Provincetown at the tip of Cape Cod. Beaches are part of the Cape Cod National Seashore park.

Pilgrim Monument


Pilgrim Monument in Provincetown. MA. Pilgrim Monument commemorates Provincetown as the first place where pilgrims set foot on American soil.


Pilgrim Monument


A view from the top of the Pilgrim Monument shows clearly that Cape Cod is a peninsula, surrounded by water on both sides.

Provincetown Museum


Whale jawbone in the Provincetown museum.


Cape Cod captains took their ships all over the world: "Going to Boston by land was less common than a voyage to China."


Pilgrims first landed on American Soil at Provincetown. They stayed here for 2 months until they sailed across the bay to Plymouth where they established the first permanent colony in North America.


Pilgrims museum


The three discoveries the pilgrims made after their landing.

Cape Cod National Seashore


Cape Cod National Seashore


Much of the East-facing Atlantic seacoast of Cape Cod consists of wide, sandy beaches. In 1961, a significant portion of this coastline was made a part of the Cape Cod National Seashore by President John F. Kennedy, and is thus protected from development (source: Wikipedia).


Thanks to its early settlement and intensive land use, Cape Cod vegetation was depauperate and trees were scarce. As all heating was by wood, and it took 10 to 20 cords of wood to heat a home, most of Cape Cod was cleared early on. By 1800, most of Cape Cod's firewood came by boat from Maine. 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 1700s (source: Wikipedia).


A Cape Cod house with a lobster trap on the front porch. Almost all houses on Cape Cod are colored light grey, similarly Boston is dominated by red brick houses.


A Cape Cod lighthouse. Note again the grey-colored building adjacent to the lighthouse. Grey is the preferred color for Cape Cod houses.


An Atlantic Ocean view from the hill where the lighthouse was built.


Pilgrim Monument brochure

References:
Provincetown, Mass., 36 Hours, NYTimes.

Related:
A Cape Cod Tour in Photos. Reader's Digest, 06/2008.
36 Hours in Providence, R.I. - NYTimes http://goo.gl/0RnmM

Published: 07/01/2006
Updated: 06/28/2012