Tag Archives: old postcards

Provincetown Cape Cod view from the beach

A view from the shore of Provincetown, Cape Cod's East End

A view from the shore of Provincetown, Cape Cod’s East End

As shown in this antique postcard of Provincetown, Cape Cod, the waterfront houses were boarded up in the off-season. Primarily owned by summer residents, they offer a beautiful view of Cape Cod Bay looking out towards the Long Point Lighthouse.   Many of the buildings have retained their charm, and look similar to the way they appeared in the late 19th century when this postcard was printed in Germany. While many visitors like to walk along Commercial Street so they can poke their heads into art galleries and shops, a wonderful way to soak up the beauty of the town is to walk along the beach at low tide. (When the tide is high you may not have a place to walk.) Plus you never know what might wash ashore.

Roz SIlva, the female protagonist in the new murder mystery Remaining in Provincetown, frequently walks along the beach to clear her head and think. As publisher and editor of the town’s weekly newspaper she has a lot on her plate, particularly because she is trying to figure out who killed real estate entrepreneur Sonny Carreiro, just as spring is beginning to arrive and the town is getting ready for the summer season.  Want to find out more, check out the new novel by S.N. Cook, now available at local bookstores and online at Amazon.com in trade paperback and as  an ebook. Like us on Facebook. Keep the conversation going.

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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.

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.

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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?

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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.

 

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.

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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.

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Hanging out in Provincetown Cape Cod

New Central Hotel in Provincetown, Massachusetts now Crown & Anchor

New Central Hotel in Provincetown, Massachusetts now Crown & Anchor

The name of the Inn in Provincetown’s center may have changed from New Central Hotel to Crown & Anchor, but people still hang out and check new visitors walking by, particularly at the height of summer. This beautiful setting on the tip of Cape Cod is filled with a multitude of historic buildings,  has a view of the Bay, many art galleries, shops, and fine restaurants. Some visitors come once and never leave, Remaining in Provincetown, the name of the new murder mystery novel released just two weeks ago, everyone’s talking about. Now available at Amazon.com as a trade paperback and on kindle. Like the Facebook page.

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Provincetown Cape Cod East End Vintage Postcard

East End Cottages on Commercial Street in Provincetown, Massachusetts

East End Cottages on Commercial Street in Provincetown, Massachusetts

Provincetown’s Commercial Street is unpaved and the sidewalks are made of wood, but the houses look very much the same as they do today. in this antique postcard printed 100 years ago.

Every town has its East End and West End and Provincetown, with its  long and narrow in configuration, is no different. The East End on the waterside has traditionally been populated with seasonal summer residents.  Famous artists like Robert Motherwell and  Helen Frankenthaler constructed a grand residence on the  East End waterfront, but others of more modest means stayed in historic Cape Cod cottages.  Empty lots are few and far between, when waterfront land is so valuable, but take a walk at the start of town, at the point where Commercial Street and Bradford Street divide, and see many beautiful old homes, primarily built in the beginning of the 20th century. What kinds of houses do the characters in Remaining in Provincetown live in? Real estate speculation has played a major role in Cape Cod’s economic development and where there is money to be made there is often graft and corruption. Could that kind of corruption lead to murder? You’ll have to read the  book to find out. Now available at Amazon in trade paperback or on kindle as an ebook. Like us on Facebook and be entered to win a FREE book and thank you for all the positive feedback

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Provincetown Gay Party Central, Crown & Anchor history

Now called The Crown & Anchor, the New Central Hotel was a popular Provincetown Inn in the 19th century

Now called The Crown & Anchor, the New Central House was a popular Provincetown Inn in the 19th century and  today is a  “happening place”.

The handsome waterfront Provincetown Inn located in the center of Provincetown on Commercial Street has gone by many names. In the antique postcard shown above it is called “New Central House”. Said to have been built in 1836 as the Central Hotel by 1868 it was considered the largest hotel at the tip of Cape Cod, with 75 guest rooms.  A private beach with cabanas and long porches with rocking chairs for guests to sit out and look at the water, made this Inn a successful business that kept expanding through its many incarnations. Its been called: Ocean House, Central House, New Central House, Towne House, the Sea Horse Inn. and the Crown & Anchor as it is known today.  At the end of the 19th century it catered to prosperous guests by providing a  billiard hall, smoking rooms, gentleman’s parlor, and ladies’ reading room for a mixed clientele of families and primarily straight travelers. But as the town evolved into a mecca for gay travelers, it gradually evolved into a thriving complex of bars and restaurants that cater to gay and lesbian patrons of varying tastes.   Although the Crown & Anchor was burned to the ground in 1998 when adjacent Whaler’s Wharf burned as well, it was faithfully rebuilt in its previous architectural style. The leather bar is known as The Vault and the restaurant Central House at the Crown pays tribute to its earlier years by using the earlier name of the hotel. while  the Paramount Nightclub, Piano Bar, Wave Video Bar and more make certain there is always a party going on somewhere.   Places to have a good time are an important aspect of life in Provincetown, whether you are a tourist or a resident, and in the new mystery novel Remaining in Provincetown a popular hang-out is the fictitious “Cowboy Club”. Want to learn more about what goes on there? You’ll have to read the book now available at Amazon.com and as an ebook on Kindle. Like our Facebook page and you may win a FREE copy.