Sandy Neck Beach is a barrier beach (sandstone) that stretches 6.5 miles (10.6 kilometers) long and one half mile (800 m) wide.[1] along Cape Cod Bay, backed along its entire length by undulating dunes and a picturesque salt marsh. It is a destination for all leisure activities: summer swimming, year-round hiking, and saltwater fishing. The dunes, which reach 100ft. hight, are a habitat for Red foxes, Deers,[2]shorebirds and wildflowers. From four points along the coast, walking paths cross the dunes inland to a path that bypasses the salt marsh.[3] The beach access road is halfway between Sandwich and Barnstable on MA 6A.[4] Near the eastern end of the shoal, on the low and eastern point of Sandy Neck, at the entrance to Barnstable Harbor, stands the Sandy Neck Lighthouse(n), which is more than a 150 years old, and next to it is the six-room keeper's house.[1][5] In the Nineteenth Century, Barnstable was an essential port for fishing, whaling, and coastal trade, and Sandy Neck was home to the laborers who tried to turn the port into oil drilling.[1] On May 18, 1826, the congress authorized $3,500 for a lighthouse at the east end of Sandy Neck, at a point known as Beach Point. In a show of support, Barnstable sold a two-acre parcel of real estate for just one dollar to construct the lighthouse. On October 1, 1826, the Sandy Neck Lighthouse, which cost $2,911 then, went into service.[1] In 1857, The current brick lighthouse 48 foot tall (14.5 meters) was built, just north of the original house.[1] In 1887, two iron hoops and six vertical bars were placed around the central part of the "heavily cracked" tower to strengthen it and prevent further decay. These hoops and poles remained, giving the Sandy Neck Lighthouse its unique appearance.[1] The history of the lighthouse is recorded until the 1950s. In 2003, the committee for the restoration of the Sandy Neck Lighthouse was established to restore the tower to its proper appearance, with the assistance of the Cape Cod branch of the American Lighthouse Foundation.[1]
On October 20, 2007, the 150th anniversary of the current tower built in 1857, a group of supporters aboard a "Hyannis Whale Watch"[6] vessel was seen removing the cover from the lighthouse's searchlight room, allowing the Sandy Point Beacon to shine again. Fireworks display behind the lighthouse concluded the evening. The station's oil house, built in 1905, was restored in 2008, and in 2010 a light emitting diode (LED) beacon was installed in the searchlight room, increasing the range of the light from 4.2 to 10.4 nautical miles.[1]
Sandy Neck Colony still sits near the edge of Sandy Neck, with about two dozen cottages, many of which are more than a century old. One of the first cottages was used as a restaurant. The beach itself is public and it is one of the most popular locations on Cape Cod.[7] Every year an average of 120,000 to 150,000 visitors flock to Sandy Neck, many via all-terrain vehicles.[8]
↑ A tourist cruise shipcompany for watching whales and dolphins, located at a point on the southern shore of the bay that forms the Sandy Neck shale, and is listed on the photo map that the previou footnote refers to.
Cape Cod is a peninsula extending into the Atlantic Ocean from the southeastern corner of Massachusetts, in the northeastern United States. Its historic, maritime character and ample beaches attract heavy tourism during the summer months. The name Cape Cod, coined in 1602 by Bartholomew Gosnold, is the ninth oldest English place-name in the U.S.
The Cape Cod Canal is an artificial waterway in Massachusetts connecting Cape Cod Bay in the north to Buzzards Bay in the south, and is part of the Atlantic Intracoastal Waterway. The approximately 7.4-mile-long (11.9 km) canal traverses the neck of land joining Cape Cod to the state's mainland. It mostly follows tidal rivers widened to 480 feet (150 m) and deepened to 32 feet (9.8 m) at mean low water, shaving up to 135 miles (217 km) off the journey around the cape for its approximately 14,000 annual users.
Barnstable County is a county in the U.S. state of Massachusetts. At the 2020 census, the population was 228,996. The county seat is Barnstable. The county consists of Cape Cod and associated islands.
The village of Pocasset is a census-designated place (CDP) in the town of Bourne in Barnstable County, Massachusetts, United States, located on Buzzards Bay. The population was 2,851 at the 2010 census.
Truro is a town in Barnstable County, Massachusetts, United States, comprising two villages: Truro and North Truro. Located slightly more than 100 miles (160 km) by road from Boston, it is a summer vacation community just south of the northern tip of Cape Cod, in an area known as the "Outer Cape". English colonists named it after Truro in Cornwall, United Kingdom.
Bourne is a town in Barnstable County, Massachusetts, United States. The population was 20,452 at the 2020 census.
Chatham is a town in Barnstable County, Massachusetts, United States. Chatham is located at the southeastern tip of Cape Cod and has historically been a fishing community. First settled by the English in 1664, the township was originally called Monomoit based on the indigenous population's term for the region. Chatham was incorporated as a town on June 11, 1712, and has become a summer resort area. The population was 6,594 at the 2020 census and can swell to 25,000 during the summer months. There are four villages that comprise the town, those being Chatham (CDP), South Chatham, North Chatham, and West Chatham. Chatham is home to the Monomoy National Wildlife Refuge and the decommissioned Monomoy Point Light, both located on Monomoy Island. A popular attraction is the Chatham Light, which is an operational lighthouse that is operated by the United States Coast Guard.
Sandwich is a town in Barnstable County, Massachusetts, United States and is the oldest town on Cape Cod. The town motto is Post tot Naufracia Portus, "after so many shipwrecks, a haven". The population was 20,259 at the 2020 census.
Dennis is a town in Barnstable County, Massachusetts, United States, near the center of the Cape Cod peninsula. It is a seaside resort town with colonial mansions along the northern Cape Cod Bay coastline and beaches along the southern Nantucket Sound. As of the 2020 census, its population was 14,674.
West Barnstable is a seaside village in the northwestern part of the town of Barnstable, Barnstable County, Massachusetts, United States. Once devoted to agricultural pursuits, West Barnstable now is largely residential and historic. Originally founded in 1639 as part of its neighboring village Barnstable, West Barnstable separated in 1717 with the split into two parishes of the local congregational church.
Cape Cod Bay is a large bay of the Atlantic Ocean adjacent to the U.S. state of Massachusetts. Measuring 604 square miles (1,560 km2) below a line drawn from Brant Rock in Marshfield to Race Point in Provincetown, Massachusetts, it is enclosed by Cape Cod to the south and east, and Plymouth County, Massachusetts, to the west. To the north of Cape Cod Bay lie Massachusetts Bay and the Atlantic Ocean. Cape Cod Bay is the southernmost extremity of the Gulf of Maine. Cape Cod Bay is one of the bays adjacent to Massachusetts that give it the name Bay State. The others are Narragansett Bay, Buzzards Bay, and Massachusetts Bay.
Cape Poge Wildlife Refuge is a wildlife refuge on Chappaquiddick Island owned and managed by The Trustees of Reservations. The refuge consists of 516 acres (2.09 km2) and includes the 1893 Cape Poge Lighthouse.
The Cape Cod Rail Trail (CCRT) is a 25.5-mile (41.0 km) paved rail trail located on Cape Cod in Massachusetts. The trail route passes through the towns of Yarmouth, Dennis, Harwich, Brewster, Orleans, Eastham, and Wellfleet. It connects to the 6-plus mile (10 km) Old Colony Rail Trail leading to Chatham, the 2 mile Yarmouth multi-use trail, and 8 miles (13 km) of trails within Nickerson State Park. Short side trips on roads lead to national seashore beaches including Coast Guard Beach at the end of the Nauset Bike Trail in Cape Cod National Seashore. The trail is part of the Claire Saltonstall Bikeway.
The Pamet River is a 4.2-mile-long (6.8 km) river in Truro, Massachusetts on Cape Cod. It is named for the Paomet tribe.
The Highland Light is an active lighthouse on the Cape Cod National Seashore in North Truro, Massachusetts. The current tower was erected in 1857, replacing two earlier towers that had been built in 1797 and 1831. It is the oldest and tallest lighthouse on Cape Cod.
The Three Sisters of Nauset are a trio of historic lighthouses off Cable Road in Eastham, Massachusetts. The original three brick towers fell into the sea due to erosion in 1890 and were replaced with wooden towers on brick foundations in 1892. The Sisters were decommissioned in 1911 but one of them, the Beacon, was moved back from the shoreline and attached to the keeper's house. It continued to operate but was replaced by a new steel tower, the Nauset Light, in 1923.
Scusset Beach State Reservation is a state-operated, public recreation area located in the town of Sandwich in Barnstable County, Massachusetts, at the east end of the Cape Cod Canal on land formerly part of Sagamore Hill Military Reservation. In addition to its beach and campgrounds, prominent features of the park include Sagamore Hill, a one-time Native American meeting ground and site of World War II coastal fortifications, and a 3,000-foot (910 m) stone jetty that separates the canal and beach. Unlike most of Sandwich, this section of the town is on the mainland side of the Cape Cod Canal. The state park is managed by the Massachusetts Department of Conservation and Recreation under a lease agreement with the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers.
Barnstable is a town in the U.S. state of Massachusetts and the county seat of Barnstable County. Barnstable is the largest community, both in land area and population, on Cape Cod, and is one of thirteen Massachusetts municipalities that have been granted city forms of government by the Commonwealth of Massachusetts but wish to retain "the town of" in their official names. At the 2020 census it had a population of 48,916. The town contains several villages within its boundaries. Its largest village, Hyannis, is the central business district of the county and home to Barnstable Municipal Airport, the airline hub of Cape Cod and the islands of Martha's Vineyard and Nantucket. Additionally, Barnstable is a 2007 winner of the All-America City Award.
Long Point is a peninsula located in Provincetown, Massachusetts, United States, at the extreme tip of Cape Cod, as it curls back in on itself to create Provincetown Harbor. The Long Point Light was built on this point in 1827. The lighthouse once shared this peninsula with a settlement of fishermen that came to be known as Long Point, Massachusetts. This Provincetown village grew and thrived from 1818 until the late 1850s. When the settlers decided to leave Long Point, they took most of their houses with them – about 30 structures in all – by floating them across the harbor.
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