WELLFLEET — Deep in the woods of Wellfleet’s Bound Brook Island, a path padded with pine needles and slashed with filtered sunlight rises and dips, showing the way to a […]
GRAVEYARD SHIFT
The Brothers Dyer: A Provincetown Family of Captains
Lives lived and lost by the sea
PROVINCETOWN — In January 1868, during the heyday of Provincetown’s whaling era, the Barnstable Patriot noted in a small item, halfway down column two on page two, that four whaling […]
GRAVEYARD SHIFT
Turnip Time in Eastham
The lowly crucifer and its legendary local growers
EASTHAM — As the nights chill, the leaves fall, and the holidays approach, our thoughts turn to, yes, the turnip — that ancient crucifer that has, for too long, been […]
GRAVEYARD SHIFT
A Gathering of Riches
The Rich Family Association, with Truro origins, numbers in the tens of thousands
TRURO — In June 1872, John Fairfield Rich, a journalist living in Ware, in central Mass., realized the fulfillment of a dream he had had a decade earlier, when he […]
GRAVEYARD SHIFT
John Y. Newcomb, Wellfleet’s Most Famous Oysterman
Thoreau’s visit with the Rabelaisian resident of Williams Pond
Even before there was a written Wellfleet history, there were Wellfleet oysters. We know that indigenous peoples savored them raw, smoked, roasted, steamed, and dried, because of the massive shell […]
GRAVEYARD SHIFT
‘White Bronze’ Monuments Speak of a Forgotten Fashion
Made of cast zinc, they adorn the graves of Victorian-era notables
When the sun is shining, they glow with a bluish hue, standing out from the luminous white marbles, polished granites, and matte-black slates. There are not many of them in […]
GRAVEYARD SHIFT
Remembering Rosilla: The Pilgrim Monument’s Sole Victim
The freak accident that killed the Widow Bangs on Bradford Street
PROVINCETOWN — On Aug. 5, 1910, after three years of construction, Provincetown’s Pilgrim Monument, commemorating the first landing place of the Mayflower Pilgrims, was dedicated by President William Howard Taft […]
GRAVEYARD SHIFT
The Lost Crew: A Truro Mystery
Secluded Pine Grove Cemetery and its haunting secrets
Residents of and longtime visitors to Truro are surely familiar with a grisly, dark chapter of the town’s recent past involving Pine Grove Cemetery. Even now, decades later, just reading […]
GRAVEYARD SHIFT
Dissent, Disorder, and a Whiff of Witchcraft in Wellfleet
A secluded cemetery holds relics of an ancient drama
WELLFLEET — In a pretty little corner of town, there is a small, ancient burial ground, its scattering of headstones nestled amid the scrub oak leaves and pine needles. In […]
MEMORIAL DAY
With Poppies, We Remember
How a wildflower came to evoke lives lost in war
Even in our current predicament, there’s no stopping nature. The daffodils have come and gone, and now the beach plum is fully abloom. The lilacs have begun to release their […]
GRAVEYARD SHIFT
The Mysterious Cape Cod Epidemic of 1816
Eastham, the epicenter, lost 10 percent of its people
If town records offer little detail about the “fearful and fatal sickness” on Cape Cod during the late winter and early spring of 1816, the cemeteries are a melancholy testament […]
HISTORY
Remembering the Young Family’s Service to Town and Country
A young sailor’s sacrifice was honored by Provincetown V.F.W.
PROVINCETOWN — In the 60 years since the Lewis A. Young V.F.W. Post 3152 was constructed on Jerome Smith Road, how many visitors to Provincetown have turned off Route 6 […]
GRAVEYARD SHIFT
Take a Walk on the Other Side of Town
Provincetown’s cemeteries are an en plein air art gallery
Until summer returns, the art galleries in Provincetown are mostly quiet, though surely planning for next season’s traditional Friday evening strolls. That’s when everyone takes to the streets, zigging and […]
GRAVEYARD SHIFT
Three Pastors on a Hill of Storms
From 1711 to 1828, Truro was served by three notable ministers
TRURO — Everyone who drives to Provincetown along Route 6 in North Truro travels across one of the town’s highest elevations, called in the old custom the “Hill of Storms.” […]
GRAVEYARD SHIFT
In a Truro Grove, Dead Artists Are Gathered
Snow Cemetery’s unconventional occupants and markers
In life, they (the men, at least) enjoyed a raucous, bawdy bonhomie every Saturday night at the Beachcombers Club in Provincetown. In death, many are still together, resting peacefully with […]
