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PROVINCETOWN GUIDE
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| DIRECTORY |
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Provincetown :: Saturday, October 11th 2008
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Photo by J. Santy.
The Towering Past of Provincetown
At the Pilgrim Monument and Provincetown Museum
By Kahrin Deines
May 9th, 2006
No one who spends a day in Provincetown can fail to notice the Pilgrim Monument. A granite tower of 252-feet that juts proudly upwards into the sky, the Pilgrim Monument can be seen from almost every spot in town. The sight of its ascent quickly becomes, in a word, ubiquitous.
| With exhibits that illustrate the full arc of Provincetown's history, the museum does circles around the centuries. |
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And a good thing too. It is easy to forget, especially since it is not mentioned in many basic history texts, that the Mayflower Pilgrims’ first landing place in the new land was not in Plymouth, but rather, in Provincetown.
Of course, after determining that the area of the Outer Cape was too severe, the Pilgrims did eventually make their way to Plymouth.
Before they did so, however, they spent 5 weeks exploring the area around Provincetown and, most notable for the annals of history, drew up and signed the social contract that would govern their life in the new land, the famous Mayflower Compact.
With all this in mind, the Cape Cod Pilgrim Memorial Association was formed in 1892 to lobby the federal government to help build a monument commemorating the Pilgrims’ landing in Provincetown. The association was soon successful and in 1907, after President Theodore Roosevelt traveled to Provincetown on a ship aptly named the "Mayflower" to lay its cornerstone, the building of the Pilgrim Monument began.
The construction of the monument, the tallest granite structure in the United States then and today, took close to 3 years. Upon its completion, another American president, President William Howard Taft, journeyed to Provincetown to lead the new monument’s dedication ceremony.
Thanks to the efforts of the Cape Cod Pilgrim Memorial Association, today it is possible to climb up the monument’s 116 steps and 60 ramps to its apex, a journey that takes about 10 minutes at an ambler’s pace, and look outwards from its apex towards the nation’s east coast, taking in a sight that likely bears some resemblance to the Pilgrims’ first glimpses of the new land.
A full circle affair, this vista from the top of the monument includes a bird’s eye view of Provincetown and a vision of the Cape’s abutment with the Atlantic.
The sweeping views that are to be had from the crown of the monument also have a historical counterpart on the grounds below inside the Provincetown Museum. Dedicated to the collection and exhibition of materials that illustrate the full arc of the history of Provincetown, the Provincetown Museum is filled with sights and artifacts from periods across a sweeping range of time.
From exhibits about the Pilgrim’s first landing and the Mayflower Compact to artifacts that were used by the Wampanoag tribe that was native to the region, and onwards in time to displays about the town’s maritime background and Portuguese culture, its rich heritage as an arts colony, and its involvement in the birth of modern American theater, the museum does circles around the centuries.
In addition to its permanent exhibits, the Provincetown Museum also organizes special supplementary exhibits each year.
The Provincetown Museum is open from April 15 to October 31. The museum is located at the top of High Pole Hill Road.
For more information call 508.487.1310 or visit www.pilgrim-monument.org.
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