Category Archives: Provincetown

The Smells of Cape Cod and Provincetown

Color version of the dunes

Color version of the dunes

Cape Cod Sand Dunes

Cape Cod Sand Dunes

Provinetown Sand Dunes 100 years ago

Provinetown Sand Dunes 100 years ago

New state road

“Cape Cod has a fragrance all its own”, writes Wainwright J. Wainwright in his book “Cape Cod in Picture and Story” published in 1954,  “characteristic, delightful, hard to describe. It is composed of the salt tang of the sea, the odor of the marshland, the redolence of pines on hot summer afternoons, the scent of sweet fern and bayberry and the sweetness of many flowers.”  Scents help to evoke the feeling of being in a place.  Remaining in Provincetown is about a place, a town– Provincetown, Cape Cod. The new murder mystery is available online, at bookstores, and at Amazon.com. Like us on Facebook.

 

 

The Indian trail road to Race Point Light

The Indian trail road to Race Point Light

Provincetown Cape Cod Commercial Street

downtownThe title of this vintage postcard from approximately 1910 says Commercial Street. Do you recognize those buildings? What are they like today? Not so totally different, than today and just as crowded, just with different people. They are all on there way somewhere. Perhaps to the theater, a bar, a restaurant? There were always plenty of businesses to choose from, even 100 years ago. What’s the town like  when it’s not so busy? Take a look at Remaining in Provincetown. Now available at bookstores, online, and at Amazon.com. Like us on Facebook.

St. Peters Church in Provincetown

St Peter's Church in Provincetown

Visit St. Peter’s Church today, and you’ll be visiting the new church dedicated in July 2008. The original church was destroyed by fire in January 2005 and only one stained glass window was saved. But the church, dedicated in October 1874 is very much integral to the Provincetown community. Initially when the church was opened,  the majority of the parishioners were Portuguese fishermen and their families, according to the church’s website, they comprised well over 50 percent of the town’s population. The church figures into the storyline of the new murder mystery released in April, Remaining in Provincetown. Many of the characters are parishioners. Want to read more? Now on sale online and at bookstores as well as at Amazon.com. Like us on Facebook.

Provincetown’s Oldest House, a full cape

Built in approximately 1746 Provincetown's Oldest House

Built in approximately 1746 Provincetown’s Oldest House

Located on Commercial Street on the West End of Provincetown, the house purported to be the oldest house was once open to tourists but now is privately owned. As you can see in this antique postcard, the house was once a shop.  Artists Elizabeth and Coulton Waugh ran the Ship Model Shop and Hooked Rug Shop in the Cape Cod cottage built in approximately 1746.  In the front of the house was an arch made of a whale’s jawbone.

Architecturally a full Cape, said to have been built by Seth Nickerson, a ship’s carpenter. Two front windows flank a central doorway and  the windows abut the eaves.  Inside are wide-board floors. It is said that Nickerson built the house from wood salvage from shipwrecks.

Painter and photographer John Gregory, and Adelaide Gregory, a concert pianist, bought the house in 1944. They opened the house to the public, on occasion, but today you’ll just have to imagine its interior as you walk past. Just as you’ll have to imagine just what happens behind closed doors, unless you read Remaining in Provincetown, the new murder mystery released this month, available at stores, online and at Amazon.com. Like us on Facebook.

Like our facebook fan page and you may be selected to receive a FREE advance cppy!

Like our facebook fan page and you may be selected to receive a FREE advance cppy!

 

 

Mayflower Heights and Horses in Provincetown

Mayflower heightsThe geography of Mayflower Heights in Provincetown certainly looks different in this antique postcard when you are approaching by horse and carriage!  Not that many people living in Provincetown, on the tip of Cape Cod actually owned horses. A boat was a more practical means of transportation, for this small town overlooking the Cape Cod Bay. As written  in The Log of Provincetown and Truro on Cape Cod Massachusetts by M.C.M. Hatch, published in 1939:

“In 1829, a Provincetown minister could write to a friend: –“would you believe that there is a town in the United States with eighteen hundred inhabitants and only one horse with one eye? Well that town is Provincetown and I am the only man in it that owns a horse, and he is an old white one with only one eye.”

There’s all different sorts of interesting things you can read about Provincetown written in the past. Or you can read a brand new murder mystery, Remaining in Provincetown by S.N. Cook now available in bookstores, online, and at Amazon.com. Like us on Facebook. Thank you!

 

Provincetown Cape Cod, where did the name come from?

West

How did Provincetown, Massacusetts get its name?
According to Agnes Edwards book, “Cape Cod New and Old”  published in 1918, after the union of the Plymouth and Massachusetts Bay colonies in 1692 Provincetown, then a part of Truro. became a fishing hamlet.  In 1741 it was set off as a precinct of the Province of the Massachusetts Bay Colony  Initially the lands retained, were owned by the colony.  Province of the Massachusetts Colony became Provincetown. Sounds logical to me. What may not be logical to someone who doesn’t live in Provincetown, why sewage and water usage are such hot button issues. When it comes to real estate use and development, these things are very much on the minds of the characters in the new murder mystery novel, Remaining in Provincetown by S.N.Cook. Now available online and in bookstores, including Amazon.com. Like us on Facebook.

 

Provincetown’s first Italian restaurant a gay love story

Cesco's Italian Restaurant opened in 1916

Cesco’s Italian Restaurant
opened in 1916

Going up Bradford Street in Provincetown, just beyond the Milldred Greenfelter East End Playground on the corner of Howland Street, there used to be a very popular Italian Restaurant. Called Cesco’s, as you can see above, it had its own postcard printed, the name comes from an abbreviated version of its chef and owner Francesco “Cesco” Ronga,  known fondly as the “Spaghetti King of Cape Cod.” Francesco met and fell in love with artist Fred Marvin, the half brother of Mary Heaton Vorse,  in Naples and followed Fred to Provincetown. The two men were devoted to one another for 50 years. Located in an extension of their home, the restaurant drew clientele from all over New England and was in operation from approximately 1916 to 1934. One of the characters, Frank Chambers, in the new murder mystery novel Remaining in Provincetown, has his own restaurant, “The Indigo Inn. ” Creating new recipes for Frank is a passion, almost an obsession. Want to read more about Frank and the other characters in the new novel everyone’s talking about. Pick up a copy, now available online and a bookstores including Amazon.com. Like us on Facebook.

Hollyhocks a Provincetown Cape Cod favorite flower

Hollyhock Lane glimpse of the harbor

Hollyhock Lane glimpse of the Provincetown harbor

Admiring the gardens as you walk downtown  is part of the summer experience when you visit Provincetown and hollyhocks are a favorite flower. Their height and various colors makes a nice contrast to other blossoms. According to English botantist Wedgewood, The name holly came from  “holy” because the first of the plants brought to southern Europe came from the Holy Land, having been transplanted there from the orient.  It does well in  all climates and soils. During  the Middle Ages, and it is mentioned as “holy-hoke”, an adaptation of the Welsh name, in a British horticultural treatise of 1548. Here is another lovely antique postcard.

Holly Hock Lane with the Provincetown monument in the background.

Holly Hock Lane with the Provincetown monument in the background.

If you enjoy reading about Provincetown, you should enjoy the murder mystery just published this month, Remaining in Provincetown by S.N. Cook, available online, at bookstores and at Amazon.Com. Like us on facebook.

Like our facebook fan page and you may be selected to receive a FREE advance cppy!

Like our facebook fan page and you may be selected to receive a FREE advance cppy!

 

 

Destination Provincetown Cape Cod Beaches

Parking space, Race Point Coast Guard Station, Provioncetown, Cape Cod, Massachusetts

Parking space, Race Point Coast Guard Station, Provincetown, Cape Cod, Massachusetts

In 1910, the automobile was still a relatively new luxury form of transportation. If you owned one, it was a treat to take a driving tour out to the very end of Cape Cod and visit the beaches, sand dunes, and town of Provincetown. This antique postcard shows the parking lot of the Race Point Coast Guard Station (now part of the National Seashore) on a clear sunny day with all of its original buildings. It’s still a great place to visit today, and summer is almost here. Want to get in the mood for your visit? Read the new novel, Remaining in Provincetown by S.N. Cook now available online and in bookstores and at Amazon.com in trade paperback and on kindle. Like us on Facebook.

Provincetown Cape Cod setting for mystery and love

Fishing Boats at Provinetown, Cape Cod Mass. circa 1900

Fishing Boats at Provincetown, Cape Cod Mass. circa 1900

The above antique postcard shows the beauty of the Provincetown shoreline, viewing it from the harbor. While fishing boats are fewer, the beauty of the Cape Cod town known for its art galleries, bars, restaurants, and shops has gone through many evolutions through the decades, but is still a compelling place.  As described in the new murder mystery Remaining in Provincetown by S.N. Cook, “Whatever their disagreements, members of the Provincetown community were united in their love of the sea and sand dunes, along with the winding, narrow streets and nineteenth century architecture that dominated this small New England town.” Want to read more? The 306 page paperback is available at a number of online sites and at bookstores including Amazon.com and is also available as an ebook on kindle. Don’t forget to like us on facebook. We’ll be giving away one more FREE book this week to a facebook fan.

Like our facebook fan page and you may be selected to receive a FREE advance cppy!

Like our facebook fan page and you may be selected to receive a FREE advance cppy!