PROVINCETOWN — Francis “Flyer” Santos thought every kid should know how to swim and sail. And he had the chance to teach many of them in his day. Starting in […]
GRAVEYARD SHIFT
In Praise of Old Cemeteries
An invitation into hallowed spaces for quiet, art, and stories from the past
It will come as no surprise to readers that for this “Graveyard Shift” column and for other research, I spend considerable time in old cemeteries. They have much to recommend […]
GRAVEYARD SHIFT
Forts Useless and Ridiculous
Life was tedious at the Civil War fortifications on Long Point
On March 5, 1864, Massachusetts ceded jurisdiction of Provincetown’s Long Point to the United States for a military reservation. People in town didn’t like the idea much, although they did […]
GRAVEYARD SHIFT
Frederick Hammett and His Truro Cancer Research Lab
In a cottage on the bay, marine life offered far-reaching findings on cell growth
TRURO — Few took notice of the unimposing whitewashed cottage with a red roof and green shutters when it was completed in May 1930. The one-room structure, built on land […]
GRAVEYARD SHIFT
The Ordinary 19th-Century Adventures of the Petersons of Truro
Encounters with Thoreau, gales, rescues, consumption, ‘elopement,’ and war
Henry David Thoreau arrived in Provincetown on his third visit to Cape Cod on July 5, 1855. He had sailed from Boston on the schooner Melrose, and the next morning […]
GRAVEYARD SHIFT
The Little-Known Origins of Wellfleet’s French Cemetery
Acadian and Portuguese immigrants built the town’s first Catholic chapel
When Father Joseph M. Finotti arrived in Provincetown from Boston in 1852, he was the first priest assigned to minister to the town’s small Catholic population, most of whom were […]
GRAVEYARD SHIFT
The Little-Known Origins of Wellfleet’s French Cemetery
Acadian and Portuguese immigrants built the town’s first Catholic chapel
When Father Joseph M. Finotti arrived in Provincetown from Boston in 1852, he was the first priest assigned to minister to the town’s small Catholic population, most of whom were […]
GRAVEYARD SHIFT
Rye and Ransoms and Eastham Mariners in the War of 1812
A stirring tale of the time Captains Mayo and Knowles ran the blockade
Twenty years after the Revolutionary War had crippled Cape Cod’s economy, as prosperity was slowly returning, another hardship befell its residents. The U.S. was neutral in the Napoleonic Wars, but […]
GRAVEYARD SHIFT
Icebound, in Stereoscope
The Arctic freeze of 1875 and G.H. Nickerson’s ‘views’
The oldest of Cape Cod’s old-timers could not remember when it had been colder or when more ice had piled up in the harbors. January 1875 had begun seasonably enough. […]
GRAVEYARD SHIFT
The Ice Farmers of Provincetown
A hundred years ago, the clamor of the first harvest of the year intruded on the winter stillness of the ponds
The Shank Painter Pond Wildlife Sanctuary, part of Provincetown’s freshwater ecosystem, is, in a sense, a way back in time. As the heart of winter takes hold, a stillness envelops […]
GRAVEYARD SHIFT
The Ice Farmers of Provincetown
A hundred years ago, the clamor of the first harvest of the year intruded on the winter stillness of the ponds
The Shank Painter Pond Wildlife Sanctuary, part of Provincetown’s freshwater ecosystem, is, in a sense, a way back in time. As the heart of winter takes hold, a stillness envelops […]
1927
The Magic of the Attic
In my genealogical pursuits, countless hours have been spent trying to break down a few “brick walls” — those questions one cannot find definitive answers to — in my great-grandmother […]
GRAVEYARD SHIFT
A Tree Grows in Truro. But Who Planted It?
The legend of the Chinese mulberry might have to be enough
TRURO — Planting a tree is an act of hope, a belief in tomorrow, a promise to future generations one will never have the chance to meet. It makes sense, […]
GRAVEYARD SHIFT
A Tree Grows in Truro. But Who Planted It?
The legend of the Chinese mulberry might have to be enough
TRURO — Planting a tree is an act of hope, a belief in tomorrow, a promise to future generations one will never have the chance to meet. It makes sense, […]
GRAVEYARD SHIFT
The Sea Captain’s Daughter Who Sang Puccini
A once-famous Wellfleetian didn’t seem to merit a grave marker
Many might remember the anxious feeling of being urged by a well-intentioned parent to perform for relatives at a family gathering. For Martha Atwood of Wellfleet, the family gathering was […]
