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 At First Encounter Beach in Eastham in 1620, a Pilgrim troupe led by Myles Standish met Nauset Indians, who attacked the explorers with bows and arrows. Today’s visitors take Samoset Road to the same spot, imagining what may have transpired during the legendary first meeting between Pilgrims and Native Americans. Arrows and musket fire were exchanged but the English gathered up all of the arrows, sending these back to England as curiosities. This event made such an impression on the Pilgrims that they did not return to the area for two dozen years. Making this pilgrimage towards sunset means that today’s pilgrims will be rewarded with a truly dazzling sunset on Cape Cod Bay. In 1644, Eastham (originally named Nauset) was settled by malcontented Pilgrims from Plymouth Colony seeking larger land grants and more fertile soil. The original crops which were tremendously successful were turnips and asparagus. In fact, from the late 1800s until 1920, Eastham was the “asparagus capital of the world.” Even today, the mild, white-fleshed Eastham turnip is highly prized. Eastham was the only Cape town founded entirely by settlers of Plymouth Colony and originally encompassed the present towns of Orleans, Eastham, Wellfleet, Truro, Provincetown and part of Chatham. These lands were purchased from the local tribes for hatchets and, subsequently, these same hatchets were likely used against colonists during King Phillip’s War. The settlement at Eastham was limited, by government decree, to those who came to the New World aboard the first three ships—Mayflower, Fortune and Anne. Thomas Prence was the first leader of Eastham, which was designated an official township in 1646 and later formally took Eastham as its name in 1651. During the 18th century, various Eastham parishes became the towns of Orleans, Truro, Provincetown and Wellfleet. Eastham, once one of the colony’s largest towns, was diminished so much by the “birth” of these other towns that it now became one of the smallest, and, along with this shrinkage, so diminished its power and influence. During the 19th century, Eastham was home to many sea captains. One, Freeman Hatch, sailed his famous clipper ship, Northern Light, from Boston to San Francisco in 76¼ days, almost unfathomable at that time. The windmill which graces town—the Cape’s oldest—was built in Plymouth in 1688, re-built in Truro and ultimately moved to its present location in 1808. During the early 19th century, Eastham became a Mecca of revivalist fervor, with thousands of devout Methodists gathering here in summer to listen to sermons by more than 100 local ministers. Today’s Eastham—a compact town three miles wide from Bay to ocean and six miles long—comprises Eastham and North Eastham. Along the Atlantic coast, Nauset Light and Coast Guard Beaches dominate Eastham’s shoreline. Cape Cod National Seashore’s Salt Pond Visitors’ Center, just off Route 6 at Salt Pond, welcomes five million visitors annually, partially preparing them for what they will experience within the Seashore—superb beaches, great dunes, swamps and marshes, wetlands, grasslands and a tremendous diversity of flora and fauna. For many, the experience is intensely personal—some look inward to reflect, some take to canvases, some honor JFK, the slain president whose foresight placed this blessed land under dominion of the National Park Service. No one leaves the National Seashore unmoved. Author Henry Beston perhaps best described the beauty and pageantry of Eastham, where he lived for one year, in his renowned book The Outermost House—required reading for Cape lovers. His observation about Eastham sand was “It is no easy task to find a name or phrase for the color of Eastham sand. Its tone varies with the hour and the seasons. One friend says yellow on its way to brown, another speaks of the color of raw silk.” Such observations of the changeability of varying colors and hues within Eastham are repeated again and again, from one end of town to the other. Whether it’s the color of sand, the sunsets, the moors and heath or the personality of the town itself, the changeable nature of the land in Eastham is truly the only certainty. Main Beaches Swift-Daley House, Route 6. Nathaniel Swift (of Swift meat-packing company) lived in this circa 1741 residence. The bow-roofed building, furnished with antiques, is a restoration of a full Cape with a central chimney, pumpkin pine floors and borning and mourning rooms. Its second floor contains an exhibit of wedding gowns and trousseaus from the 1800s and 1900s. The parlor has a rosewood melodeon, a unique double oil lamp and old photographs of the Eastham of 100 years ago. Be certain not to miss the adjacent Tool Museum which exhibits tools and implements collected in the area including remnants of saltwork and cranberry-growing operations. Open July & August with limited hours. Captain Edward Penniman House, Fort Hill Road. This whimsical yellow and red Victorian French Second Empire house, set on a knoll overlooking the Atlantic, was built circa 1868 by a rather eccentric whaling captain. Visitors are welcomed by an enormous archway of whale jaw bones at its gate. Open summer with limited hours. Eastham Windmill, Route 6 and Samoset Road. This smock mill, with its original hand-hewn machinery still operative, was built in the early 1680s and was moved to this site in 1808. It is the only Cape windmill on its original commercial site. Open summers. Salt Pond Visitor Center, Route 6. This interpretive center features a museum with displays of whaling and salt works industries, exhibits of early Cape artifacts (including scrimshaw). There is also a bookstore, an auditorium which shows films on geology, sea rescues, whaling, Thoreau and Marconi. A large showroom features exhibits on Cape Cod’s history, geography, natural history and architecture. During summer evenings, there is always something happening at the outdoor amphitheater, from slide-show talks to military band performances. Open year round (January and February weekends only). Nature Trails: There are five nature trails within this portion of the Cape Cod National Seashore: Fort Hill Trail (1½ miles), off Fort Hill Road. Following trail markers, visitors will pass Indian Rock, where telltale marks on the rock itself disclose that untold generations of Native Americans sharpened their tools here. Scenic vantage points disclose incredible vistas of marsh and ocean. Sharp-eyed hikers will thrill to egrets and blue heron who inhabit this area. The Trail links up with Red Cedar Swamp Trail (½ mile), which offers boardwalk views of an ecology otherwise unavailable for viewing. From Salt Pond Visitor Center, three shorter trails fan out. Buttonbush Trail (¼ mile), specially adapted for the sight-impaired with a guide rope, features descriptive plaques in both oversized type and Braille. Doane Loop Trail (½ mile) is a half-mile wooded circuit about 1 mile east of the Visitor Center. The trail is graded to permit access by wheelchairs and baby strollers. The Nauset Marsh Trail (1 mile) skirts Salt Pond and crosses the marsh via a boardwalk and open fields before returning through a recovering forest. Old Cove Cemetery, Route 6 (opposite Hay Road). This was the site of Eastham’s first meetinghouse shortly after 1644. Mayflower passengers are buried in its graveyard. Eastham 1869 Schoolhouse Museum, Nauset Road. This one-room schoolhouse was used by the town until 1905 but also displays whale jaw bones, an old tool shed, U.S. Life Saving records and memorabilia from the school itself. Open summers. Nauset Lighthouse, Cable Road. One of an original trio of Cape lighthouses known as the “Three Sisters.” Its tower is 114 feet high, its beacon—brought from Chatham in 1923—is 25,000 candlepower. |
