Rooms

Vacation Rentals

Homes

Apartments

Art

Entertainment & Events

Always An Extraordinary Place

From a Whaling and Fishing Center to an Arts Colony and Tourist Destination

The spit of land that is Provincetown tapers and curls upon itself in a spiral. East, West, North and South seem to pivot as one walks the length of the town. Provincetown is one of only a few places on the East coast where the sun sets over water (Massachusetts Bay), an occurance usually thought of as a West coast phenomenon.

'Cape Cods girls, they have no combs... They comb their hair with codfish bones...'

One's orientation can become sorely challenged. Perhaps that's why Provincetown has always attracted folks who were bold, adventurous and independent-minded.

The Pilgrims dropped anchor here in 1620. Before moving on to Plymouth where fresh water was more plentiful, they drew up the New World's first document of self-governance, The Mayflower Compact - sowing the seeds of self-determination and radical thought that still characterizes the people of Provincetown.

The Bas relief, across from Town Hall on Bradford Street, commemorates the signing of the Mayflower Compact in Provincetown harbor.

As far as we know, the true natives of Cape Cod, the Wampanoag Indians, never established permanent settlements here at the tip of the Cape although members of individual bands did venture out to fish and hunt in the summer months.

Early European explorers, the adventurous Scandinavian Vikings and the ambitious scouts sent forth by England's Kings, came and went without finding the sea passages or the plunder they sought. Pirates in raiding ships like the Whydah (whose remains were found in shallow waters off Wellfleet in 1984) had hideouts along the coves but never stayed for very long.

Eventually good fishing on the Grand, Stellwagen and Georges Banks brought a hardy race of predominantly Portuguese fishermen to the Province Lands. Summer camps were established to come ashore, mend nets and salt the catch. Eventually some stout-hearted souls took to wintering over and a small community of 'year-rounders' began to form in Provincetown.

This cultural phenomenon - a diverse, fluid, transient population that bulges in the warmer weather, continues today.

FISHING VILLAGE

Used to be that in any trinket shop on Commercial street you could find a souvenir comb shaped like a fish skeleton - done in hot pink or lime green plastic - that had a card attached:
'Cape Cods girls, they have no combs... They comb their hair with codfish bones...'

That little ditty pretty much personified life in Provincetown back in the early 1800s. The beach itself was the main thoroughfare for horse-drawn carts loaded with fish and salt and the tools of the fisherman's trade. Most of the houses faced the bay. Side streets ran inland. Travel to the mainland was accomplished by stagecoaches which plied The Old King's Highway, portions of which still run through Truro and Wellfleet. Life was simple, rural and homespun.

As whaling came of age in New England, Provincetown's transition from a quiet fishing village to a bustling seaport was sudden. By the mid 1800s Provincetown, with the largest and safest natural harbor on the New England coast, had become one of the greatest and busiest sea ports in the country.

Boasting a fishing fleet of more than 700 vessels, Provincetown had become wealthy - and crowded, with more than 5,000 residents by mid-century. Fifty-six wharves jutted out into the bay. There were buildings for smoking and canning herring, and fish-flaking racks for curing codfish.

Salt was supplied by 70 local salt works - windmills along the waterfront that pumped sea water into vats to be evaporated by the sun. With wealth came culture and refinements. Successful sea captains and merchants built exquisite Victorian, Second Empire, Gothic, and Greek Revival homes. (Today many have been restored as Guest Houses and Bed and Breakfasts).

A railroad line was extended all the way to the beach front at the Old Colony Railroad Wharf to bring the daily catch to the city. The Pilgrim Monument was built between 1907 and 1910 and dedicated by President Teddy Roosevelt, giving Provincetown its first flash of media glamour and national attention.

Whaling declined after the turn of the century and a storm known in local legends as The Portland Gale destroyed most of the town's packing wharves, windmills and salt works. The era of Provincetown's fame as a seaport had ended but by then Provincetown had become known to many of the wealthier residents of Boston and New York. The railroad now brought an entirely new type of visitor to Provincetown - the upper class tourist, eager to escape the heat and grime of the industrial cities.

ARTS HERITAGE

The Portland Gale, and competition from the fisheries of Nova Scotia, brought Provincetown's grand era of whaling and fishing to a close in the late 1800s. By then the railroads were bringing the wealthy tourists to Provincetown and with them, the intellectual elite, including many of the noted artists of the day. With its beautiful scenery, refreshing salt breezes and (thanks to the influence of the Portuguese fishing community) its European mood, Provincetown was a treasure ripe for discovering.

In the late 1800s Romanticism and Impressionism, and their fascinations with light and landscape, dominated the international art scene. American Impressionists, like Charles Hawthorne, were captivated by the ever-changing interplay of light and water that they found here at the narrow tip of Cape Cod. They quickly embraced Provincetown and its splendid environs as their own.

Hawthorne established The Cape Cod School of Art in 1899. A 'plein air' (open air or outdoor) school of painting, Hawthorne led his students out to the high hills, the low tidal flats and the dunes, stalking the essence of Provincetown's incomparable light in all its changing moods. Artists, out in every sort of weather and season, easels and paints in tow, have been a familiar sight in Provincetown ever since.

In 1914, Hawthorne and others founded The Provincetown Art Association and Museum, whose first exhibition, featuring works by 44 artists, was held in the Town Hall. By 1915, the Art Association had grown to 147 members.

Poets, novelists, journalists, socialists, radicals, entrepreneurs and dilettantes flocked to Provincetown.

Abandoned wharves, barns, sail lofts and fish sheds were quickly converted to studios, galleries and little shops. Many especially hardy (and solitude-loving) artists built tiny shacks on the unclaimed land of the high ocean dunes in Provincetown and North Truro (some are still standing).

The Provincetown Players, a mixed group of writers, playwrights, actors and artists - and the first truly American theatre company - converted an abandoned fish house into The Wharf Theatre in 1915. In 1916 The Players opened with Eugene O'Neill's 'Bound East for Cardiff' and the Boston Globe ran a front page article proclaiming Provincetown the 'Biggest Art Colony in the World...'. By 1917, the Art Association had grown to over 300 members. Throughout the next several decades, Provincetown moved into prominence as one of the primary cultural centers of the country.

When Charles Hawthorne died in 1930, his student, Henry Hensche, carried on the school and its traditions. In 1934, Hans Hofmann arrived in Provincetown and established a school devoted to the principles and theories of Abstract Expressionism.

His Friday afternoon critiques were attended by overflowing crowds. The Modern School of Art, run by Bror Norfeldt, William and Marguerite Zorach, and Frederick Burt - who were all active Provincetown Players as well - was also established. Provincetown had taken its place in the center swirl of intellectual thought and controversy.

Throughout the 50s and into the 60s, Provincetown was known as an open-minded place where artists and 'beats' of every sort could mingle, hang out and find like-minded comradeship. Summers were filled with beach parties and dune treks. Provincetown's long, quiet winters brought undisturbed periods of solitude for creative work and intimate dinner parties among its close-knit, year-round community of artists and writers.

In 1968, a group of Provincetown artists and supportive art patrons joined forces to create The Fine Arts Work Center. The FAWC, conceived as a unique approach to 'creative learning', offers fellowships to emerging artists and writers and stresses the importance of creating an environment of complete intellectual freedom coupled with peer support, mentoring and feedback. During the winter months, FAWC fellows receive living and working space as well as a small stipend. Many FAWC fellows have stayed on in Provincetown and become integral members of the cultural community.

Many artists who lived and worked in Provincetown have achieved international recognition including Milton Avery, Marsden Hartley, Edward Hopper, Franz Kline, Karl Knaths, Robert Motherwell, Jackson Pollock, Mark Rothko, Myron Stout, Milton Avery, LaForce Bailey, Fritz Bultmann, George Elmer Browne, Peter Busa, Charles Demuth, Edwin Dickinson, Helen Frankenthaler, Maurice Freedman, Chaim Gross, George Grosz, Childe Hassam, Franz Kline, William and Lucy L'Engle, Phillip Malicoat, Richard Miller, Pauline Palmer, and Ben Shahn.

Writers, including Eugene O'Neill, John Dos Passos, Weldon Kees, Tennessee Williams, Truman Capote, Stanley Kunitz, Mary Oliver and Norman Mailer have found inspiration here. Actors, performers and muscians including Helen Hayes, Billie Holiday, Marlon Brando, Al Pacino, Richard Gere, Julius Monk, Jerry Herman, Eartha Kitt and Bobby Short have made appearances in Provincetown's intimate venues.

Provincetown's creative spirit and stylistic aplomb endures. The Provincetown Art Association, Hawthorne's Cape Cod School of Art and the Fine Arts Work Center continue to be well respected and vital organizations in the social and cultural context of the town.

CULTURAL DIVERSITY

Provincetown has become famous, not only for the incredible natural beauty of its location, but also for the open-mindedness of the hardy souls, creative-types, political renegades, entrepreneurs and eccentrics who have settled here. As recently as the mid-60s Provincetown retained something of the ambience of a 'frontier town.'

The hippies of the 60s discovered Provincetown and instantly embraced the open-mindedness and non-judgmental ways of this already diverse Cape tip community.

Commercial Street suddenly burst open with little cafes, leather shops, head shops - every imaginable type of hip small business blossomed and flourished. Rents, especially winter rents, were still low. Property was relatively cheap and Provincetown's Town Meeting system of government was extremely appealing to young people who felt disenfranchised and unheard in the communities from which they had come. Many of them stayed, put down roots and raised their families here.

In the mid-70s, responding to the town's long tradition of tolerant open mindedness as much as to its delightful environs and exciting summer scene, the gay community also adopted Provincetown.

Just as the artists and intellectuals had done nearly a century ago, just as the hippies of the 60s had done, many gay summer visitors eventually put down roots - buying property, opening businesses, becoming involved in local politics and community activities. The Provincetown Business Guild was formed in 1978 with the expressed mission of promoting gay tourism here.

Today more than 200 businesses belong to the PBG and Provincetown is well known as the premier gay summer resort on the east coast.

Today's Provincetown retains many elements of its interesting past and rich heritage. Because of the diversity of its population there is an extraordinary blend of small town charm and big city sophistication.

As a backdrop to this melange of fascinating people, the ocean beaches and the high dunes, incorporated into the Cape Cod National Seashore in 1961, remain preserved in their natural state - little altered since the Pilgrims first landing over 300 years ago.

The Portuguese community and its influence are still very strong. The fishing fleet, although reduced in numbers, still hauls out to sea. Every summer the Bishop blesses the fleet and the Portuguese Festival enlivens the town

Whale WATCHING has replaced whale hunting as an important source of revenue and fame for Provincetown. The Center For Coastal Studies, an independent, non-profit institution dedicated to research, conservation, and public education was founded in 1976. The Center has become internationally known for its progressive and innovative programs and scientific research.

Provincetown still boasts an elaborate gallery system and a vibrant, engaged art community. The Fine Arts Work Center, The Cape Cod School of Art and The Art Association are still extremely important institutions in the town.

Provincetown is unique in that so many diverse social elements - the Portuguese fishermen, the artists and writers, the hippies and the gays have together built a cohesive community that really supports all its members in a manner that is not only tolerant, but completely respectful of 'lifestyle preferences.'