Orleans, Brewster, and Chatham
Chatham fishing wharf Brewster house
Jonathan Young Windmill
On the Outer Cape in the summer, the towns of Orleans, Brewster, and Chatham provide a full range of food, lodging, and other services and facilities for vacationers. Some facilities remain open year round.
The National Seashore’s authorized boundaries encompass parts of Orleans and Chatham, primarily on the relatively remote Nauset Beach sandspit.
Orleans
The town is named for Louis-Philippe de Bourbon, Duke of Orleans, who later was the King of France; he supposedly visited this area while exiled during the French Revolution. In the War of 1812 residents claimed to have driven off attacking British ships.
Major industries in the late 1800s were commercial fishing, shipbuilding, and saltmaking. Today, Orleans offers a variety of restaurants, lodging facilities, shops, and travel-related services with ready access to the National Seashore.
The Nauset (Orleans) Beach is within the National Seashore but is town-owned and operated; fees are charged in spring and summer. A surfing area is provided.
Boating opportunities abound with 20 town landings providing access to Cape Cod Bay and to Pleasant Bay, which in turn leads to the Atlantic and Nantucket Sound. Several boatyards offer boat and equipment rentals.
Other places of interest: Orleans Historical Society, French Cable Station Museum, Jonathan Young Windmill.
Brewster
The town of Brewster is on the sheltered Cape Cod Bay side of the upper arm where the trees grow taller and the grass thicker than they do between Eastham and Provincetown. Old ship captains’ houses and giant elms line Mass. 6A, which meanders through town. Numerous antiques shops, restaurants, and other travel facilities also line the highway.
The Cape Cod Museum of Natural History, a nonprofit organization on Mass. 6A, preserves in conjunction with a town-owned reserve an ancient herring run between Cape Cod Bay and freshwater ponds. The museum, open year round, offers ecology exhibits, nature trails, films, lectures, and, in the spring, opportunities to watch alewives run on Stony Brook. For further information, write: P.O. Box 1710, Brewster, MA 02631-0016; telephone 508-896-3867.
At Stony Brook Mill, on Stony Brook Road off Mass. 6A, you can see corn ground at a water-powered gristmill and tour a miller’s museum.
The Brewster Historical Society Museum, on Mass. 6A in East Brewster, exhibits local history.
Roland C. Nickerson State Park, on the eastern edge of Brewster, is an excellent place to camp if you plan to spend much time in the National Seashore. The park has 1,955 acres with more than 400 campsites available on a first-come, first-served basis. Recreational activities include freshwater swimming, boating, bicycling, and hiking. For bicyclists the Cape Cod Rail Trail links the state park with the National Seashore 8 miles away. For further information, write: Roland C. Nickerson State Park, Main Street, Brewster, MA 02631-0003; telephone 518-896-3491.
For more information about the town, call the Brewster Board of Trade: 508-896-5713.
Chatham
Chatham sits at the Cape’s elbow, facing both the Atlantic and Nantucket Sound. As a result, the morning fog seems to stay a little longer in Chatham than elsewhere on the Cape.
Commercial fishing boats still work out of Chatham harbors, but the main activity in the summer is tending to vacationers’ needs. Main Street, Mass. 28, is a beehive of shops, motels, and restaurants. The Fourth of July parade and Friday evening summer band concerts are longtime Chatham traditions.
An overlook near the Coast Guard lighthouse on Main Street provides excellent views of the Atlantic and of the massive swath cut through the Nauset (North) Beach spit in a storm in 1987.
Just south of the lighthouse, on Morris Island, is the Monomoy National Wildlife Refuge, a difficult place to access but a great place for birdwatching. Guided natural history tours on the island are available through the Cape Cod Museum of Natural History and the Wellfleet Bay Audubon Sanctuary.
Chatham has a few small public beaches and a large one, Harding Beach on Nantucket Sound. Remember, the waters of Nantucket Sound are usually calmer and about 5 degrees warmer than those of the Atlantic.
Diligent history buffs can locate a marker at Stage Harbor commemorating Samuel de Champlain’s visit in 1606.
Other places of interest: Old Atwood House, built in 1752, on Stage Harbor Road; Chatham Railroad Museum; Old Gristmill; fishing boats unloading at Chatham Fish Pier.