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SPOTLIGHT:
Guidebook Cape Cod ~ Orleans
Museum of Orleans Historical Society, River Road at Main Street. This
1833 meetinghouse cum museum exhibits sea, farm and Native American
artifacts and Orleans memorabilia.
Goose Hummock Shop, Route 6A: For centuries the shifting, grass topped
dunes of Nauset Beach have formed the only barrier between the windswept
North Atlantic and the narrow arm of Outer Cape Cod. The only opening in
miles of unbroken surf between Provincetown and Chatham is the narrow
cut known as Nauset Inlet at Orleans.
Here, winter and summer, the ever moving tides ebb and flow between the
sea and Orleans Town Cove and Eastham Salt Pond, flowing through winding
channels and narrow creeks, draining and flooding the vast salt meadows
of Nauset Marsh. Since the days of the early tribes of Cape Cod Indians,
the wide expanse of Nauset Marsh has been the winter refuge of great
flights of migrating Ducks and Geese. In this same marsh, the Indian
hunter of the Nauset Tribe. the early white settler, the market gunner,
and today the sportsman hunter have all sought the wary waterfowl.
Over the years, the largest most prized of these birds has been the
Canada Goose.
A small outcropping of marsh grass, forming a tiny island scarcely
twenty yards in diameter backed by a broad salt meadow and surrounded by
a tidal channel near the southerly end of Nauset Marsh, has for
generations been called Goose Hummock by the hunters of Cape Cod. Goose
Hummock has created a favored resting and feeding location for countless
flights of geese winging their weary way in over the dunes of Nauset. It
was at Goose Hummock that the market hunter crouched shivering behind
cakes of ice, not many years ago, waiting for a sight of these great
water fowl, outlined before a bright full moon. Goose Hummock has seen
teams of young geese, reared in captivity and trained as live decoys,
released as flyers to lure the flights of wild geese within range of the
hunter's gun.
It was in the creek and water holes around Goose Hummock that Willis
Gould, formerly a market hunter, experimented with and perfected his now
famous floating cork decoys.
And it was at this same spot, sheltered behind a high dune, that there
stood a small gunning stand which bore a weathered sign, "Goose Hummock
Camp". The camp had cost but $105 to build as a good part of the
building was fashioned from driftwood found along the outer beach.
Winter seas pounded and washed away at the high dune so that the camp
had to be moved several times over the years. Finally, in a great winter
blizzard several years ago, mountainous seas broke through the dune and
destroyed "Goose Hummock Camp". Later storms have washed sand clear
around the little grass island, and Goose Hummock may in time be
completely covered.
Willis Gould, his son Bill, and Sarge Sargent, could foresee the day
when the relentless tides and surf might finally win the battle against
the little island, leaving nothing of it but a memory. So, when these
three built the first sporting goods store on the Outer Cape in 1946,
they named it Goose Hummock Shop. Goose Hummock Shop soon outgrew it's
original building in East Orleans. The shop moved to the center of
Orleans, and in 1950, it's present home was built on Orleans Town Cove
near the Eastham town line. In the winter of 1953, Goose Hummock Shop
was doubled in size. So, as the original and far-famed little grass
island in Nauset Marsh is being sanded into nostalgic memories, the
proud bearer of its name, the "Goose Hummock Shop" continues to grow in
size and service.
French Cable Station Museum, 41 South Orleans Road between Cove Road and
Route 28). International communications center from 1890-1959 this was
the key communications link between Europe and America. Messages were
sent, via a 4,000-mile heavy underwater cable, directly from Orleans to
Doelen, France. This only remaining underwater cable station in the
country was the country’s only source for daily stock transactions and
news from Europe for 50 years, until the wireless radio made it
obsolete. Original equipment is on display. Among the messages relayed
this way were Lindbergh’s 1927 successful trans-Atlantic flight and
arrival in Paris and Germany’s 1940 invasion of France. Built in 1890,
this is the U.S. terminal for the first trans-Atlantic cable laid
between the United States and France via Newfoundland. The cable was
3,000 miles long and was used to transmit news of such important events.
Many of the original French cable operators immigrated to this country
and settled in the area. The cable station was guarded by Marines during
World War II because it provided an important link with U.S. operations
in Europe. The station was closed in 1959, but all the original cables,
instruments, and other equipment are still in place. It is open during
July and August, Tuesday through Saturday from 2 to 4 PM and at other
times by special request. No admission fee though donations are
accepted. (508) 240-1735
Academy Playhouse, 120 Main Street. When the town outgrew its circa 1873
town hall in 1949, the space was converted to use as an arena stage. The
Academy of Performing Arts stages performances here all year—primarily
musicals in summer and dramatic performances during the non-summer
months in addition to poetry readings, concerts and dance.
Jonathan Young Windmill. This fine windmill was built in 1720 in South
Orleans and moved in the mid-1800s to Orleans Center. It was then bought
by private interests in 1897 and relocated again, this time to
Hyannisport. In 1983 the windmill was donated to the Orleans Historical
Society and moved back to Orleans and placed at Town Cove Park, where it
was restored. The windmill is open to the public weekends from 11 AM to
4 PM during the Route 28, Orleans (508) 240-3775
Namskaket Sea Path: Visitors to the Namskaket Sea Path can experience
both land and sea along this link in the Cape Cod Pathways network. This
five-mile trail loop traverses a long stretch of Cape Cod Bay shoreline,
crosses seaside outposts of Nickerson State Park, coincides with the
Cape Cod Rail Trail bicycle path and hugs some scenic historic roads.
All of the Cape’s defining elements can be found in this short
walks—dunes, bogs, scrubby coastal woodlands shorn back by the
sale-laden winds, historic homes, bicycle paths and winding roadways
lined with native wildflowers. The past and the future are alive and
well here. Designated in 1994, the Namskaket Sea Path was the first
official intertidal walking trail in the state. The Sea Path is overseen
by Cape Cod Pathways, a growing network of walking trails linking open
space in all 15 Cape Cod towns and is sponsored by Barnstable County.
Orleans Historical Society Museum and Meeting House. Opposite Orleans
Town Hall, this Greek Revival-style meetinghouse is a former
Universalist church built in 1834. Acquired by the Orleans Historical
Society in 1971, it now houses collections of historic photographs,
paintings, toys, costumes, china, and farm implements. It also has
displays of Native American artifacts and Coast Guard lifesaving
equipment, as well as items salvaged from one of the most infamous New
England shipwrecks, the November 1898 wreck of the Portland, which
resulted in the loss of all 176 people aboard. One of the many
interesting items here is a letter from Capt. Richard Raggot of the
British Navy dated September 30, 1814, containing the British demand for
$1,000 to protect the town's saltworks from destruction. The museum is
open in July and August, Tuesday through Saturday from 10 AM to 1 PM and
Thursday evenings from 6:30 PM to 8:30 PM. Admission is free. 3 River
Road, Orleans (508) 240-1329
Cape Cod Chamber of Commerce
Routes 6 & 132, PO Box 790
Hyannis, MA 02601
508-362-3225 |
Website
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