What future does Cassandra see for herself in the winter reflection of a Wellfleet kettle pond? Probably one that involves rain or snow. Or ducks. The ericaceous shrub Chamaedaphne calyculata, […]
Visual Stories
THE PLUNGE
Polar Bears Go All In for Sharks
230 swimmers raise $25K for Coastal Studies shark research
PROVINCETOWN — Thick fog and relatively balmy 47-degree air greeted the brave participants lined up at Provincetown Harbor for the Polar Bear Plunge on New Year’s Day. The water was […]
ROCK ON
Curling Glides Into a New Season
Beginners are welcome when the Lower Cape Curling Club takes the ice
ORLEANS — The third part of the answer to the Sphinx’s riddle for Oedipus was on view, with a twist, at Charles Moore Arena in Orleans on Jan. 5, where […]
IN VIEW THIS WEEK
RED SKY AT NIGHT
RED SKY AT NIGHT HOME FOR CHRISTMAS
RARA AVIS
This Week’s Bird Sightings
Confirmed bird sightings on the Outer Cape in the week preceding the Independent’s deadline on Tuesday, Jan. 7 included the following, based on a report prepared by Mass Audubon’s Wellfleet […]
ASTRAL PROJECTIONS
This Is No Time for Resolutions
The stars and nature suggest rest and recovery
Every year it’s the same song and dance: we emphasize resolutions, as if we’re going to completely change our lives the minute the calendar rolls over. We’re a week into […]
1951
The Washashore Fabulist
Peter Hunt was an evangelist for the decorative arts. He was also a delightful liar.
One of Provincetown’s most sought-after mid-century tastemakers, Peter Hunt seemed to leave town as mysteriously as he had appeared. At least that’s what the Oct. 18, 1951 installment of the […]
QUIRKS AND CRACKS
That’ll Be ‘Mrs. Jazz Garters’ to You
A collection of nicknames is its own kind of history
Lisa King, a local Provincetown historian who describes herself as a “West-End girl,” grew up hearing stories full of townspeople remembered by their nicknames. Some were straightforward references to people’s […]
1986
In Search of The Rushes
A gay travel time capsule from the pre-internet era
Is it possible to feel nostalgia for a place you’ve never been? Last year, my husband found a poster for a long-shuttered Provincetown guesthouse called The Rushes in an online […]
1960
Coffee Sodas, Condoms, and Coping With the Summer People
At work at the Murray’s Pharmacy soda fountain
The central aisle of a drugstore might seem like a strange place to learn how to strut like a stripper with certain exaggerated shoulder and hip moves. But learn — […]
GRIST FOR THE MILL
A Relic of a Bygone Age
The windmill on Eastham’s Town Green is Cape Cod’s only functional and original gristmill
EASTHAM — Sailors approaching Cape Cod’s ports in the 18th and 19th centuries would have seen the windmills first. They stood like sentinels over the bay, with an astonishing 67 […]
NIGHTLIFE
Even on a Tuesday in Winter, Piggy’s Was Packed
Gay and straight, rich and poor: everyone danced together
Ask people who lived in Provincetown in the 1970s about Piggy’s — a modest bar filled with salvaged wood on Shank Painter Road — and you’re practically certain to see […]
HEART BEAT
The Good Doctor of Provincetown
Dr. Daniel Hiebert was famous in a small town
One December evening in 1971, a masked man knocked on the side door of Dr. Daniel H. Hiebert’s home in Provincetown. “Turn around, I want to see your back,” the […]
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 […]
MALVACEAE
Down the Garden Path
Once known as Hollyhock Lane, the narrow pathway between 271 and 273 Commercial St. was a frequent postcard subject and tourist attraction as Provincetown became more of a vacation destination […]
