Provincetown
The town has been a prominent port and fishing community since colonial days when wharves lined the shores and hundreds of sailing ships filled the harbor. Today Provincetown is still a major port, but cod, mackerel, and hake have long since replaced whales as the major catch. And today, the town is full of art galleries, theaters, sidewalk cafes, restaurants, and shops that come alive in the summer when the population jumps from about 3,000 to 30,000.
Symbolic of Provincetown’s long history connected with the sea is the town’s Blessing of the Fleet festival on the last weekend in June. In the harbor, colorfully decorated fishing boats pass before a Roman Catholic bishop to receive his blessing for a successful season, and paraders wander through the narrow streets to honor Saint Peter, the patron saint of fishermen.
Whereas the center of town is located on the Cape Cod Bay side of the Cape, another center of interest, Race Point, is on the Atlantic side. The National Seashore’s Province Lands Visitor Center on Race Point Road has exhibits and films about the area’s natural and human history and is the starting point for a bicycle trail (see [page 96]). The center offers a variety of guided walks and talks and, from the observation deck, views over the dunes of the ocean—and possibly of whales.
In the summer, the Old Harbor Life Saving Museum at Race Point Beach presents interpretive talks and displays about the Cape’s early lifesaving activities. The station, on the National Register of Historic Places, was moved to Race Point from Chatham in 1978.
For swimming and sunbathing, the National Park Service manages beaches at Race Point and Herring Cove.
Back in town, the Pilgrim Monument rises 255 feet, a prominent reminder that the Pilgrims landed here before heading to Plymouth. Climb to the top of this granite tower and you are rewarded with wonderful views of the Atlantic and of Cape Cod Bay with the Manomet bluffs near Plymouth on the horizon. The ground-level museum houses memorabilia of the town.
The Provincetown Heritage Museum at 356 Commercial Street has a number of maritime paintings, a half-size model of the schooner Rose Dorothea, the fishing boat Charlotte, and other memorabilia.
Other points of interest: the Seth Nickerson House, circa 1746, at 72 Commercial Street; Provincetown Art Association and Museum; Center for Coastal Studies; whale-watching excursions starting at the MacMillan Wharf.