The photographs, thousands of them, all make the same assertion: It was better back then. The young were younger, happiness was happier, beauty more beautiful. The best of times. “If […]
History
1937
Women’s Day
No photographer is identified in connection with this Associated Press photo of Mary Heaton Vorse, bloodied after a bullet grazed her head during the “Women’s Day Massacre” in Youngstown, […]
1920
Betsey Moehlich’s Cabinet of Historical Wonders
Betsey Snow Horton Moehlich, 80, lives in Eastham, in the house on Pilgrims Path her mother built. She is the caretaker of her family’s history on the Cape, stockpiling photographs […]
1904
When the Finns Brought the Heat
Wellfleet’s sauna diplomacy years
Saima Tuominen arrived on Ellis Island in 1904, when she was six, accompanied by her mother and her younger brother. They had left Finland in the twilight of the Russian […]
1956
From ‘The Moors’
The Moors holds a hallowed place in the history of Provincetown restaurants, even though it has been gone long enough (it closed in 1998) that many latecomers may not know […]
THE MAP
Long Story Short
1975
From ‘Midnights’
Cars were sometimes stolen in Provincetown, reported missing, and spotted in Wellfleet, and chases ensued. They were very stimulating affairs. Speaking of a highspeed chase, Paul said, “If it’s a […]
POETRY
Tea Dance, Provincetown, 1982
2000
From ‘A Walk on Cape Cod’
Around the time of the millennium I lived on Cape Cod in Provincetown, in my girlfriend’s house, and I was glad to be back in my native state after twenty […]
HISTORY
An Online Archive of Provincetown’s Past — and Future
Stefan Anikewich’s Instagram account holds a trove of historical images
The black-and-white footage zooms in on an elderly woman, her white hair tied back and a soft smile on her face, as she prunes an explosion of flowers beside her […]
HISTORY
An Online Archive of Provincetown’s Past — and Future
Stefan Anikewich’s Instagram account holds a trove of historical images
The black-and-white footage zooms in on an elderly woman, her white hair tied back and a soft smile on her face, as she prunes an explosion of flowers beside her […]
HISTORY
Scrimshaw Was the Whalemen’s Art
A pastime for the homeward voyage
For much of Provincetown’s history, whales have been central to its economy and identity. The Wampanoag people used every part of the whale. The first entry made in Mourt’s Relation, […]
HISTORY
In the Lodge at Provincetown’s Oldest Boys’ Club
The Masons have been meeting here since 1795
PROVINCETOWN — It is not meant to be a secret that the world’s most ubiquitous secret society — or rather “society of secrets,” as described to the Independent by one […]
HISTORIC PRESERVATION
On Locust Road, a 17th-Century House Is Lived In, Gently
Lucy and Tom Ott receive the Abbott Award for the Atwood-Knowles house
EASTHAM — Situated in the “Old Town Centre” historic district, the Atwood-Knowles house is actually two distinct dwellings — the second much older than the first. The first, a one-and-a-half-story […]
GADGETRY
Local History, Told Through Tools
Cranberry rakes, asparagus bunchers, and ice tongs tell of a town’s practical past
EASTHAM — As shops and galleries all around scramble to greet the first wave of the summer season, volunteers inside the Chester Ranlett Tool Museum here are doing their part […]
