Harwich: MHC Reconnaissance Survey Town Report
I. TOPOGRAPHY
Harwich is located near the elbow of the Cape Cod peninsula. It bounded to the north by Brewster, to the east by Orleans and Chatham, to the west by Dennis, and to the south by Nantucket Sound. The town is situated about 88 miles from Boston by land. Topographically, the town is covered by a gently undulating landscape with elevations approaching 100 feet in the northern portion of the township, but usually averaging less and sloping downward to sea level on the Nantucket Sound shoreline.
Geologically, virtually the entire town is covered by Harwich Outwash Plain deposits. Swamp and marsh deposits are also present throughout much of the southern area of town. Beach and dune deposits are also present along the southern shore. Cranberry
bogs are now present throughout much of the town.
Soils in the town of Harwich are generally characterized by medium to very fine sands containing scattered pebbles and cobbles. In general, the soils are free of large rocks and boulders. Soils in most areas of town are better for agricultural purposes following the addition of fertilizer. Vegetation in the town is characterized predominantly by stands of secondary oak and pine growth.
Considerable surface drainage is present in Harwich through the town's numerous freshwater ponds, wetlands, streams, and coastal estuaries. Many freshwater ponds are now cranberry bogs. Sandy soils also permit considerable subsurface drainage. Some of the larger ponds in Harwich include Long and Seymour's ponds which are shared with Brewster, Hinckley's Pond, Walker's Pond, Goose Pond, and Robbins Pond. Major rivers and creeks include Herring River (the largest), Muddy Creek, which is shared with Chatham, and the Red River. With the exception of Muddy Creek, most drainage is southerly following the general slope of the outwash plain.
Several large freshwater wetlands and salt marshes are present in
the southern portion of the township and along the coast.
Present-day coastal harbors include the Herring River area, Wychmere and Allen Harbors.
II. POLITICAL BOUNDARIES
The "Purchasers Lands" territory between old Yarmouth and old Eastham had original western bounds with Yarmouth south of Bound Brook established in 1641, and subsequently shifted west of Herring River in 1681 to form the present western boundary (with
Dennis). Lands south of Queen Anne Road and east of Herring Brook
were annexed to Monomoy (later Chatham) in 1691. These were then
included in the town of Harwich, incorporated in 1694, with lands
extending across the peninsula, and eastern Red River-Muddy Creek bounds. South Precinct Harwich was established in 1747. The northern boundary was formed with the separation of North Parish as Brewster in 1803.
III. HISTORIC OVERVIEW
Harwich is a resort and residential community located on the south side of the Cape Cod peninsula near the elbow, extending from just west of Herring River east to Red River, Muddy Creek, and Pleasant Bay. The town has an extensive Nantucket Sound shoreline, and is crossed by several history east-west corridors of the Cape's south side. Native sites are known or likely along the coast (with possible plantation site at Allen's Harbor), at Herring River, at Muddy Creek/Pleasant Bay, and at other pond and estuarine locations. Early 17th century European exploration was likely.
The town's territory was included in the 1641 "Purchasers or Old Corners" grant east of Yarmouth. Permanent colonial settlement probably occurred after ca. 1665 at the southern periphery of the original north side (now Brewster) focus. Dispersed 18th century colonial settlement was sufficient by 1747 for separation of South Parish Harwich, with central meetinghouse site (later Harwich Village), and early 18th century Herring River mill site (North Harwich). Development of fishing industry and salt manufacturing in the early 19th century stimulated south shore settlement along the County Road corridor, with mid 19th century focus at Harwich Port. Harwich Center, however, remained the primary civic and commercial focus. Attempts at small-scale industrial development occurred at North Harwich and later at South Harwich. The decline of the local fishing economy was partly offset by extensive late
19th century development of cranberry cultivation, with an influx of a Portuguese agricultural population. The late 19th century also saw the opening of south shore resort hotels. Both cranberry cultivation and tourism have continued as important activities to the present. Harwich Center retains significant components of its mid to late 19th century character, and secondary settlements at North Harwich and East Harwich retain much of their 19th century fabric. Small clusters of late 19th century Portuguese farmhouses also survive on Queen Anne Road and Main Street north of the railroad depot. While West Harwich, Harwich Port, and South Harwich retain numerous 19th century structures, commercial,
motel, and more recently, condominium development has been
intensive along the Route 28 corridor, threatening in particular the intact concentration of buildings at West Harwich. Modern development has been most intensive south of Route 28, but continued interior suburban development threatens surviving 19th century agricultural landscape components, particularly in the Route 6 interchange areas.
IV. CONTACT PERIOD (1500-1620) A. Transportation Routes
Exact locations of Contact period native American trails are unknown for Harwich during this period. However, several trails
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are conjectured on the basis of earlier period site locations, later period known trails, the distribution of environmental resources, and the sightings of natives and explorations by early European travelers. Several major trails likely traversed the Harwich area. For example, one or more trails likely passed through the southern portion of town in an east/west direction
near the coast. This trail probably skirted the northern boundary of coastal marshes and ponds crossing tidal rivers at convenient fording places. The trail likely connected similar native trails in Yarmouth and Dennis with the Chatham area. Major trails from the north existed as well. At least three and possibly four
trails were present. In East Harwich, a trail existed along the
western shoreline of Pleasant Bay connecting the South Orleans and
Chatham area. A fording point has been reported at the mouth of Muddy Creek (Deyo 1890: 829). Additional north/south trails may have also existed in the areas of Routes 124, 137, and 39. A separate or connecting trail also likely existed connecting the West Brewster/Stony Brook area with one of the reported trails noted above. In addition to land trails, a water route may also have been present along the Herring River connecting the North Harwich area with the Nantucket Sound.
B. Population
Little direct evidence exists from which accurate population estimates can be made regarding native populations in the Outer Cape area. Furthermore, while individual accounts often subdivide Outer Cape native populations into subgroups such as Nauset,
Pamet, Sauguatucketts, Monomoyicks, etc., the term Nauset Indian at times applies throughout the Outer Cape area. Mooney (1928:4) lists 1,200 Nauset natives before the 1617-19 epidemics. This number was reduced to ca. 500 by 1621 (Mooney and Thomas
1910:40-41). As indicated above, these statistics probably refer
to the entire native population of the Outer Cape area.
Furthermore, it is doubtful whether or not those estimates are entirely accurate.
Locally, in the Harwich area, native populations are frequently referred to as the Sawkatuketts or Sauguatucketts and the Potonumecots, of which the latter group was more numerous. The Potonumecots also reportedly contained the surviving members of the Nauset tribe (of which they may have been a part). Little if any evidence is present on which population estimates can be made for these groups during the Contact period. However, by the end of the period their numbers were rapidly declining, probably not leaving more than 100 to 200 individuals in the Harwich area.
C. Settlement Pattern
European settlements did not exist in Harwich during this period. However, some contact between Indians and Europeans in the Harwich area undoubtedly took place as European explorers and fishermen frequented the area long before settlement. For example, Gosnold may have visited the area as early as 1602, followed by Champlain in 1605. Later, in 1620, explorers from the Mayflower may also
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have explored the area, particularly in the northern portion of town.
Native Americans had settled the Harwich area for some time prior to European contact. Known Late Woodland period sites are present throughout much of the town, particularly in southern and eastern coastal areas bordering the Nantucket Sound, Herring River, and Pleasant Bay areas. Late Woodland period artifact listings with general town provenience also indicate the extent to which this area was settled during that period. All known sites and artifact listings generally exhibit site locational preferences for various coastal estuarine areas such as marshes, rivers, and ponds.
While Contact period sites are known for the Harwich area, village type sites are unknown but expected to exist. For example,
Contact period burials and shell middens as well as multicomponent sites with Contact period components are present in East Harwich, particularly in the Muddy Creek area. However, none of these
sites represent habitation type villages. Instead they represent more special purpose sites. Contact period sites are also expected for the South Harwich area, particularly in the vicinity of the Herring River and Allens Harbor, where native settlements were reported at the time of settlement. Thus, while physical evidence of Contact period villages is not present, other information does suggest these villages should exist.
Native place names also survive for many geographical features in Harwich. While many of these names are not now in common use, they do provide indications of the extent to which natives either inhabited and/or used the Harwich area. For example, Weguasett refers to the land area north of Muddy Creek on Pleasant Bay, Schecheconet Neck refers to the neck of land on the east side of the Herring River at its mouth, and Maspoxitt Neck is located on the west side of the Red River. Native names also survive for ponds and rivers. They include: Skinequit Pond (Skinecot's
Pond), Wooncepitt Pond (Grass Pond), Maspatucke River (Red River),
and others.
Thus, known Late Woodland and Contact period sites, artifact listings with general town provenience and native place names all provide evidence of settlement in the Harwich area during the Contact period. These sources of evidence also provide corroboration of regional and Cape settlement preferences for coastal areas such as necks, estuaries, tidal rivers, and ponds.
V. PLANTATION PERIOD (1620-1675) A. Transportation Routes
Major transportation routes in the present Harwich area continued to be native trails throughout this period. Few Europeans were settled within the present limits of Harwich at this time. Thus, an extensive road network was not needed for settlement areas. Some developments were, however, made. Queen Anne's Road, or the Old Monomoy Road (also called the Barnstable Road), was
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established during this period, when the Monomoy area was settled. The roadway is reportedly the oldest road in Harwich, apparently developed from an older native trail. Other possible native trails may also have been upgraded or used as roadways during this period. They include the Chatham Road, the South County Road, the route to Chatham (Route 137), and the South Parish Road (Route 124). As settled areas began to develop, secondary roads or trails to farmsteads were also likely constructed.
B. Population
Native American populations were in constant decline throughout this period. In fact, by the end of the Plantation period it is unlikely 100 natives remained in the present limits of the township. In 1674 Richard Bourne, in a report to Major Daniel Gookin of Cambridge, lists 172 Praying Indians at five Indian villages in the mid to Outer Cape areas. One of these villages was Sawkattucket, which may have been in either the present-day Harwich or Brewster area. In any case, the number of Praying Indians in the Harwich area would have been quite small.
European populations in Harwich were also small during this period. Actual population statistics are difficult to determine, since an official census was not made until 1765 and a church congregation was not established until the following Colonial period. Furthermore, the town was not incorporated until 1694. Thus, lists of inhabitants are difficult to obtain.
C. Settlement Pattern
While the actual location of specific settlements is unknown, the Harwich area was occupied throughout the Plantation period by natives known locally as the Sawkattuketts or Sauguatuckett and Potonumecot Indians. The Sauguatucketts were reportedly centered to the north in the Mill Pond area of Brewster, while the Potonumecots were said to be based predominantly in the South Orleans area. In Harwich proper, natives were reportedly living on Nohants or Nohorns Neck on Allens Harbor when the first
settlers arrived. Cleared native fields were reported on the east
side of this harbor as well. Native settlements may also have been present in the Herring River area.
Most of Harwich and Brewster was included in a tract of land known as Satuckett, granted to the (Puritan) "Purchasers or Old Comers" (Deyo 1890: 830) in an original grant of 1640-41. This territory included all lands extending across the Cape from sea to sea from the bounds of Yarmouth three miles eastward of Namshaket. Only a large tract of land in the southwestern portion of town on both sides of the Herring River was not included in the grant.
However, this area also was yielded by Yarmouth when a new
boundary line was established in 1681.
The Harwich area itself was sparsely settled throughout the
Plantation period. While Freeman (1869: 491) notes some
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settlement as early as 1647, most land purchases from the natives and settlement did not occur until ca. 1665. At this time, numerous purchases and settlements were made throughout the southern and eastern areas of town. These areas included areas on the east and west sides of the Herring River, the Bell's Neck
area, the present town of Harwich and areas in East Harwich in the
Potonumecot lands. No purchases of land were made in the southeastern portion of town until after 1678. A congregation or
meetinghouse was not established during this period.
D. Economic Base
The present-day Harwich area was inhabited by both Europeans and natives during this period. Pokamoket natives, locally known as the Sawkattuketts or Sauguatucketts, and Potonumecots continued to combine wild and domesticate food resources as their subsistence base. Corn agriculture was important and was probably centered in the southern portion of town, particularly in the Allens Harbor
and Herring River areas. Hunting and fishing were also likely
important. Shellfish, whales, seals, and fish were probably
exploited along the Nantucket Sound shoreline. At least the
Herring River and Red River areas had alewife runs.
Agricultural pursuits characterized all of the early settlements in the Harwich area. Corn was the major agricultural crop grown with other cereals as well as rye and wheat. Vegetables and
fruits such as apples and pears were also grown. Some English hay may have been grown. Some English hay may have been grown. However, most hay was the product of salt hay cut from the marshes in southern coastal areas. Cattle, pigs, sheep, horses, and oxen were also present. Domesticate fowl such as chickens, ducks and geese were also present.
In addition to agriculture and husbandry, European settlers also probably hunted, fished, and gathered wild plants and shellfish to supplement their agricultural subsistence base. Some commercial fishing may also have been pursued at this time. However, most fishing at this early stage was probably for subsistence. The Herring River, Allens Harbor, and Wychmere Harbor areas may have harbored small vessels. Europeans may also have exploited drift whales at an early date. Mills are not reported in Harwich during this period. However, mills were present in Brewster to the
north, then part of Harwich.
VI. COLONIAL PERIOD (1675-1775) A. Transportation Routes
While some native trails were still in use during this period, most had been upgraded to roadways sufficient to handle cart and some coach travel. Queen Anne's Road or the Old Monomoy Road was developed as a highway as early as 1678. Other roads now commonly used included the route to Chatham, the South County Road, the Chatham Road, and the south Parish Road. As settlement was now
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developing at a faster rate, so were secondary roads as local extensions of the roads noted above.
B. Population
Native American populations continued to decline throughout this period. In fact, by the end of the Colonial period, it is
unlikely that SO to 100 natives remained within the present limits of the township. Most natives were probably Christianized, living on isolated farmsteads. Some natives may have remained in the Praying Village of Sawkattucket. However, the exact location and composition of the village is unknown.
European populations grew considerably faster during the colonial period than during the previous Plantation period. However,
actual population statistics for present-day Harwich are difficult to determine. Although an official census was first made in 1765, it included populations in Brewster as well. It was not until the
1810 census that Harwich and Brewster populations were listed
separately. Deyo (1890: 835-37) lists several settlers before
1750. In all, by that date, 42 male settlers are listed as
residing within the limits of the present town. It is unlikely
this list represents the total number of inhabitants within the
town as it exists today. However, even if Deyo's list were correct, at least 210 persons may have been present (assuming a
family of five for each male). The number was probably larger.
The census of 1765 lists 1,681 individuals in Harwich (Harwich and
Brewster); in 1776, 1,865 persons are listed.
C. Settlement Pattern
The pace of European settlement increased at a rapid rate during the Colonial period. While some settlement and purchases of native lands had occurred during the Plantation period, the bulk
of Harwich lands were not purchased and parceled out until the ca.
1675-1730 period. For example, most of the lands along the coast
in the Harwich Port and South Harwich areas was not parceled out
and settled until ca. 1680-90. Lands in the Herring River area
were also settled during this period. More land was also settled
when the Yarmouth boundary was adjusted in 1681. From 1708 to
1730, Wing's Purchase in West Harwich resulted in the bulk of lands west of the Herring River and lands in the northwestern portion of town being parceled out. The central portion of Harwich was not parceled out until 1713-14. At that time, Quason Purchase lands were divided. These lands included a large tract of land north and south of Queen Anne Road south of Long Pond. Lands in the East Harwich area were parceled out in 1730 with the Little Division of the Quason Purchase.
Harwich was incorporated as a township in 1694. The first church
(eight male members) in the town was gathered in 1700 (Freeman
1869: 494). In 1747 the present Harwich area was set off and
incorporated as the South Precinct or Second Parish of the town. Harwich's first selectmen were elected in 1701. While Freeman (1869: 494) notes 1700 as the first gathering of a church in
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Harwich, Deyo (1890: 839) notes that the oldest church in the town was the Congregational church constituted on November 12, 1747 and indicates the first meetinghouse was also built around this time. The second Harwich church constituted was the Separate or New
Light Church in ca. 1751. A Baptist church was first organized in
ca. 1757 with the Arminian or Free Will Baptist Church constituted in 1779. A Methodist Episcopal Society was organized in 1797 in East Harwich.
While natives were present in Harwich throughout the Colonial period, their numbers were constantly declining. In addition, it is unknown whether or not remaining natives were settled in groups or as isolated residents. The latter possibility seems probable, since several farmsteads owned by individual natives can be documented. However, Praying Indians may have been living as a group as wel 1.
D. Economic Base
As settlement expanded in Harwich during the Colonial period, so did the town's economic base. Agriculture and husbandry continued to be important. However, fisheries and maritime related trades developed as the principal business of the town. The North Precinct of Harwich (Brewster) was the center of early whaling businesses. Some whaling and codfishing were also done in the south in the present Harwich area, but present-day Brewster was clearly the center of early fishery activities. As the Revolutionary War approached, fisheries in the south developed,
but it was not until after the war and the collapse of the whale fishery that fishing along Harwich's southern coast was clearly important. At this time, it was not whaling but codfishing that developed.
As fishing businesses developed along Harwich's Nantucket Sound shoreline, so did shipbuilding and other maritime related trades. Vessels of various sizes were probably built along Harwich's entire coastline, as vessels could be built long distances from the water and towed by oxen in water to the coast. However, it was the Herring River that eventually developed as a major shipbuilding center.
Mills were also resent in Harwich during the Colonial period. Samuel Hall erected the first water mill on Herring River, probably during this period, as he died in 1729 (Deyo 1890: 836). Other mills may also have existed; however, the center of early
mill activity was in the North Precinct in present Brewster. Salt
works by solar heat were not popular until after the Revolutionary
War. Until that time, salt was produced in the home by boiling
sea water.
E. Architecture
Residential: Few houses in the town are reliably dated; they include primarily story-and-a-half, double-pile houses with interior chimneys, primarily five bays in width. Two examples of
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the 2 1/2-story version of this form of center chimney house are also known, one of six and one of five bays.
Institutional: When the town of Harwich was divided into two parishes, the South Precinct built a house (1747) conjectured as a squarish gable roof structure with entries on three sides and of two stories. The town's several Separate groups also built
houses, but of unknown appearance; ca. 1749 the first in an
unknown location, ca. 1751 the second in West Harwich, ca. 1757 in
North Harwich as Baptist.
VII. FEDERAL PERIOD (1775-1830) A. Transportation Routes
The 18th century highways remain in use, including the east-west Queen Anne Road through North Harwich and East Harwich, and the southeast Chatham Road Branch (Old Chatham Road-Main
Street-Chatham Road) from North Harwich through Harwich Center and South Harwich. South Parish Harwich was connected to North Parish (Brewster after 1803) by Pleasant Lake road. From Harwich Center roads led southwest to West Harwich (Sisson Road-Main Street) and Harwich Port (South Street and Bank Street). In the early 19th century, a southern, east-west route was established through South Harwich, Harwich Port, and West Harwich (Main Street/Route 28).
In the northeast, roads extended from Chatham to Brewster, and
from East Harwich to Orleans (Church Street-Harwich Road).
B. Population
By the beginning of this period, the Separatists and the Baptists outnumbered the Orthodox Congregationalists and refused to support a minister of the Standing Order for eighteen years. A Baptist is called, but when scandal arises, is replaced by an elder. In 1792 the town again calls a Congregationalist to serve in the town meetinghouse and the Baptists return to their own house. During the 1790s they are involved in a long struggle with the town's assessors until incorporation in 1798 frees them from ministerial taxation. Some Separatists became involved as Free Will Baptists between 1779 and 1789. Methodists found followers in the town as early as 1797 and incorporated in 1809. With this "defection"
from orthodoxy, the Congregational society temporarily dissolved in 1819. The town built district schools in 1789.
Prior to the separation of Harwich and Brewster, the old town of Harwich had a total population in 1800 of 2,857, second largest town on the Cape after Barnstable. Based on the populations of
the two towns a decade later, Brewster separated from Harwich with
about 36% of the old town's population, leaving Harwich with 1,942
persons in 1810. Between 1810 and 1820, Harwich grew by an average of only 3.8 persons per year--much the lowest rate of any of the towns around her (Chatham, 29.6; Brewster, 17.3; Dennis,
25.8). Harwich's real growth occurred in the two decades
1820-1840, when its rate of 47.3 and 47.7 in successive decades outstripped the same towns (with the exception of Dennis's 62.5 in
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the latter decade). By 1830, Harwich's population had reached
2,453, making it then the fourth largest town on the Cape.
C. Settlement Pattern
After 1803, South Parish Harwich was incorporated as the town of Harwich. While growth continued at the several inland hamlets, new settlement developments in the early 19th century were increasingly located in proximity to the south shore. At the South Parish meetinghouse center, the first Congregational church was removed and replaced in 1792. Harwich Center remained the civic focus through the period. Several stores located here, and by 1830 about 10 houses were clustered near the church. To the west, the Herring River mill focus at North Harwich on Chatham Road continued as a secondary center. A Baptist meetinghouse was located here in 1804. By 1825 a textile factory was in operation (Factory Road at Herring River), and a cluster of residences extended west of the river on Old Chatham Road. In the east, a Methodist church was built at the Chatham border on Queen Anne Road in 1799. This was replaced in 1811, and by period's end a small cluster of dwellings had developed nearby.
In the south, new development focused along the County Road (Main Street) corridor. Saltworks were built along the entire length of the south shore from Herring River to the Red River. In 1828, the North Harwich Baptist Church was relocated to West Harwich in the southwest, west of Herring River. Linear residential development along County Road was greatest from here east to Harwich Port, and growth extended northeast toward Harwich Center along Sisson
Road. Elsewhere, dispersed settlement continued, primarily along the main highways such as Chatham Road and Queen Anne Road.
D. Economic Base
As it had in the 18th century, the fishing industry dominated Harwich in the early 19th century, locally credited with being "one of the three largest fishing centers on the Cape" (275th
Anniversarr, p. 17). In 1802 there were between 15 and 20 vessels
1n shore fishing, while four others (100 tons each) were engaged
in cod fishing at Newfoundland and Labrador. Associated
industries included boat building, barrel making, and limited salt
manufacture. Local histories credit Reuben Sears of Harwich with the invention of an important rolling roof for the salt vats in
1793, and the 1797 organization of the Massachusetts Salt Works Company in Harwich. However, both Reuben Sears and the salt works company were probably located in old Harwich's north precinct (close to East Dennis, the center of the salt manufacture), now
the town of Brewster. The 1809 statistics for salt manufacture gave Brewster salt works a capacity over ten times that of Harwich, whose capacity was the smallest of the eleven towns reporting.
Both the Andrews River and the Herring River remained important sources of alewives.
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The small cotton mill of the Chatham & Harwich Mfg. Company was established in 1827 on the Herring River at North Harwich. The company does not appear to have been successful, though the mill remained in use for some time. As yet unexplained is the presence of four small lamp black makers by 1832.
E. Architecture
Residential: The vast majority of surv1v1ng houses dated to this period are 1 1/2-story, gable roof, double pile, interior chimney forms. In contrast to other area towns there are nearly equal numbers (ca. 15 each) of five- , four- , and three-bay examples (the latter most numerous with over 20 examples). Most of these employ extended stud height, increasing room in the attic story. One example survives of two joined four-bay houses with uneven ridge lines, and another of two joined three-bay houses under a uniform ridgeline. Most examples have little ornament beyond pilasters and entablature at the entry, though two have quoins. Still only ;small numbers of 2 1/2-story houses survive, including a four-bay gable roof form and three hip roof, five-bay forms, one with center chimney and two with double interior chimneys.
Institutional: The South Parish built its second meetinghouse in
1792, with a porch entry and no spire, two stories in height. The
Baptists also built a second house in 1804, of unknown
appearance. The Methodists built their first house in East
Harwich in 1799, their second in 1811; this was, apparently, a square, gable front structure with pilasters and wide cornice, but
it was altered in 1905. The town's first schoolhouse "red top" was constructed in 1775, and additional district schools were added in 1789.
VIII. EARLY INDUSTRIAL PERIOD (1830-1870) A. Transportation Routes
In the 1840s, dock facilities were improved at Harwich Port, and wharves were extended into Nantucket Sound at Sea Street (Marsh Bank Wharf, 1841), Bank Street (Union Wharf, 1849), and Snow Inn road (Long Wharf). By the mid 19th century a new, Lower County Road extended west from Harwich Port, Forest Road stretched directly north to Harwich Center, and Miles Street was established north of Harwich Port's Main Street. To the east, Deep Hole Road and Uncle Venies Road were extended from South Harwich to a wharf at the shore, and in the west a wharf was located at West Harwich in 1848. A new east-west route was established through Harwich Center (Great Western Road, Orleans-Harwich Road) in the mid 19th century, but a more significant addition was the opening of the Cape Cod Central Railroad in 1865. The line entered the town in the west from Dennis, with a depot west of Harwich Center. It
then turned north, passing between Hinckley's, Seymour, and Long
ponds into Brewster.
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B. Population
The number of religious societies in the town continued to increase rapidly. The Congregational First Church reorganized early in the period and promptly constructed a new house; the denomination added a second society in Harwich Port in 1855. The Baptists relocated from North to West Harwich in 1828. The Methodists, however, expanded most rapidly, adding a society in South Harwich in 1836, North Harwich in 1842, and Bethel in 1853. South and North were founded as Reformed Methodist Society (antiepiscopal) and became Wesleyan during the 1840s; by the 1850s they returned to the Methodist Episcopal fold, which may have been the cause of the founding of Bethel. In 1865 the Roman Catholics were sufficiently numerous to warrant the construction of a
church. The Pine Grove Seminary operated in the town from 1844
until sold to the town in 1869. The revived Masons formed a lodge here in 1860.
Harwich in the Early Industrial period grew by 25.5%--the third fastest growing community in the study unit after Provincetown and Dennis. Its greatest growth period was in the 1830s, when the
town grew by over 47 persons per year on average. In the 1840s this growth slowed (to 32.8) and between 1850 and 1855 it remained stationary. Between 1855 and 1865, the town again expanded by
32.4 and 23.4 persons annually in the successive five-year
periods. Harwich's decline set in after 1875. In its peak year,
1865, with 3,540 persons, Harwich was still the fourth largest
town in the county, after Barnstable, Sandwich, and Dennis. It
was a population figure the town would not see again until the late 1950s.
In 1855, foreign-born residents amounted to 1.3% of the population, well below the county average. This group consisted primarily of Irish (10) and English (9).
C. Settlement Pattern
New development continued at several locations, but growth through the period took place increasingly in the south shore villages,
and settlement began to focus in the Harwich Port area. Harwich Center remained the primary civic and commercial focus along the Chatham Road. The Congregational church was replaced in 1832 and remodelled in 1854. In 1844, Pine Grove Academy was located just to the south on Parallel Street. By 1860, the Alms House was located to the west on Main Street at South Street, while the town house stood at the eastern end of Main Street. In 1866, a Roman Catholic church was built to the north of the Congregational
church on Pleasant Lake Avenue. Commercial and bank development
focused on Main Street west of the church, and included the
massive Exchange Block (1855, destroyed 1876) and the Cape Cod
National Bank (1856). In 1865, the Cape Cod Central Railroad located a depot to the west of the center. Period residential development continued on Main Street and Parallel Street, with extensions south on Forest Street and Bank Street, and northeast on Harwich-Orleans Road. In the west, residential development
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continued at North Harwich along Depot Street and Chatham Road west of Herring River. The North Harwich Methodist Church was built east of the Depot Street intersection in 1842. A tap and
die factory was built nearby in 1867, but burned a year later. In the east, development continued along Queen Anne Road near the
East Harwich Methodist Church.
New development occurred along the County Road (Main Street) in
the southeast at South Harwich. A Methodist church was built here on Chatham Road in 1832, and linear development extended east and
west along Main Street. A Bethel Church was added near the Chatham line in 1853. Development also extended south along Deep Hole Road to a Nantucket Sound wharf. In 1860, a Masonic lodge
was located in South Harwich, and in 1865 an overall factory began
production on Main Street. In the southwest, growth continued at
West Harwich. The Baptist church was replaced in 1841, and in
1865 Ocean Hall was built on Division Street at the Yarmouth border. By period's end residential development extended along Smith Lane north of Main Street, and along Willow Street to the south. The main southern focus of development was Harwich Port.
In the 1840s, wharfs were located at the heads of Sea Street, Bank Street, and Snow Inn Road, and by period's end commercial and residential structures had been built south of Main Street along these roads. Fish stores were located along the shore to the west of the piers. Main Street remained the primary business and residential focus, and a Congregational church was built there, west of Sea Street, in 1851. New residences were also built north of Main on Miles Street, Pleasant Street, and Bank Street.
D. Economic Base
The fishing industry continued to be the chief support of the population, and unlike other towns, the industry expanded throughout the period. Twenty vessels were reported catching cod and mackerel in 1837, 22 in 1845, 28 in 1855, and 36 by 1865--in the latter year employing 419 men. Despite these state census figures, the peak year was in 1851, when Harwich had 48 vessels employing 577 men and boys.
Cod dominated the statistics in each state census year except
1855. Although the number of boats and men continued their increase that year, it appears that in the early 1850s, the Harwich fishing fleet turned to mackerel, hitherto caught in relatively small amounts. In that year, the mackerel catch was
valued at over ten times the amount a decade earlier, while the cod value had declined in the same period. A good part of the mackerel increase can probably be attributed to the development of the commercial fishing companies. The two largest--of the four reporting in 1850--were the Commercial Wharf Company (29 vessels,
385 men) and the Marsh Bank Wharf Company (27 vessels, 378 men). Both sent twice the number of vessels and men after mackerel than they did after cod. By 1865, both cod and mackerel catches were over $115,000, the Harwich cod catch ranking third in the Cape census reports.
MHC Reconnaissance Survey Town Report: Harwich
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Harwich shared the coasting business of the south shore with her neighbors to the west, Dennis and Barnstable. In 1865 the Harwich trade was the third most prosperous on the Cape (following her neighbors), with 36 vessels employing 131 men, sailing from south shore coves. After 1865, with the opening of the Cape Cod Central through Harwich that year, the coasting trade seems to have completely disappeared. At the same time, the railroad may have been part of the stimulus inaugurating several land-based industries--fishermen's boots and slippers (1865), overalls
(1865), and B.F. Bee's tap and die factory (1867).
The same period also saw the inauguration of the cranberry industry, said to have been introduced by Alvin and Cyrus Cahoon by 1847. After the Civil War, returning soldiers, as well as unemployed mariners, took to cultivating cranberry bogs. Between
1855 and 1865, bog acreage rose from 17 acres (giving the town a
rank of fifth in the study unit) to 209 acres, giving the town the
largest amount of bog land of any in the study unit. (That year, Barnstable County was also the chief producing county in the
state.) General farming, however, was extremely limited in Harwich. Only 14 of the county's 942 farms were located in Harwich, placing the town ninth among the 13 Cape towns.
In the 1850s, with both the fisheries and the cranberry industry expanding, two banks were organized in quick succession--the Bank of Cape Cod in 1855 and the Cape Cod Five Cent Savings Bank in
1856--possibly only the second and third banks to be organized since the Barnstable Bank (Yarmouth Port) in 1825.
E. Architecture
Residential: During the early years of the period, the
story-and-a-half, gable roof, double pile, interior chimney houses remained popular (ca. 5 were built) in both four- and five-bay
forms; a late example has a sharp facade gable and bay windows.
By the decade of the 1840s, however, the predominant form was the
gable front, three-bay, side entry house in both 1 1/2- and 2
1/2-story heights. The former area most numerous (615), and some examples include fine detailing and elaboration of the basic
form: apparently integral side ells (ca. 5), small horizontally
rectangular lights in the attic story, a doric porch within the main block of the facade, and another on a side ell. Most are ornamented with door surrounds, pilasters, wide cornice boards. Of the 2 1/2-story examples (ca. 7), two have entry into their long side, one employs a full Doric portico, and one is L-plan
with entry into the facade's long element, with porch and cupola;
ornament is similar to those smaller examples, with the later
addition of an Italianate vocabulary (brackets and roundheaded windows) in an additional four examples. A group of small houses were constructed two stories in height under a mansard roof, primarily five bays with center entries.
Institutional: The Congregational Church built is the third meetinghouse in the Center in 1832, single-story, gable front, 40 x 54 feet, with paired entry, square tower with belfry,
MHC Reconnaissance Survey Town Report: Harwich
15
roundheaded windows; it was remodeled with plans by J. D. Towle of Boston in 1854 into a two-story, pedimented and tower facade with elaborate Italianate detailing and spire. The town's second Methodist society built its house in South Harwich in 1836, gable front in form, single-story in height, paired entry, lancet headed doors and windows. When the Baptists moved to West Harwich they constructed a new meetinghouse (1841), gable front in form, two stories in height, square tower with clock and spire over main block, single entry and pilasters on facade, square headed
windows. A group withdrawing from the South Harwich Methodist
Society formed Bethel nearby in 1853, and constructed a gable front house with square belfry with pinnacles, paired entry, square headed openings (taken down, 1920-23). A Second
Congregational society, Pilgrim, was formed in Harwich Port and in
1854 constructed a gable front house with square tower clock and
spire, center entry, tall roundheaded windows, pilasters, and wide cornice board; it has recently been greatly altered through the addition of pedimented vestibule with freestanding Tuscan
portico. The town's Roman Catholics built Holy Trinity in 1866
(burned in 1927); the gable front block has a square center entry tower with octagonal belfry and employs roundheaded windows.
A West Harwich school from this period is a 2 1/2-story gable roof structure with hooded entry into the end bay, ornamented by pilasters and wide cornice boards. A tiny school was constructed in Bassetville, of gable front form, but only two bays in width. Brooks Academy/Pine Grove Seminary is a 2 1/2-story gable front structure of three bays behind a full Doric portico of four columns; paired entries are divided by a single blind door, with side ell.
Commercial: The town's most exceptionally designed commercial structure of this period is the bank of 1856, a small gable front structure with a full Corinthian portico, a three-bay side entry facade and roundheaded windows. The railroad station is a hip roof structure with wide overhanging eaves, and entry at each end and central bay window with gable overhanging roof. Stores survive as 2 1/2-story gable front structures with Greek or Italianate ornament. The first Exchange Building was a 2
1/2-story gable front structure, 43 x 64 feet, with stores on the
first and a hall on the second story.
IX. LATE INDUSTRIAL PERIOD (1870-1915) A. Transportation Routes
The 19th century road and rail network continued in use, with the addition of the Chatham Branch Railroad (1887), which extended east from Harwich Depot, and passed north of Harwich Center and South Harwich into Chatham.
B. Population
According to the available population statistics, Harwich's unusually sharp decline (nearly 15% of the population) between
MHC Reconnaissance Survey Town Report: Harwich
16
1865 and 1870 was offset by an unusual gain in the succeeding five years. As this unusual pattern is repeated in at least three
other towns (Dennis, Orleans, and Edgartown), it suggests that there may be a reporting problem in the 1870 Federal census (1865 and '75 being state censuses). After 1875 Harwich's population, in company with most of the rest of the study unit, steadily declined. In 1910, the town reported 2,115 persons, representing a loss of nearly one third of the town's population since 1870. Between 1910 and 1915 the town gained at a rate of 12.8 persons per year, and probably would have continued beyond that point had not World War I intervened. As it was, as in most towns, the momentary gain was more than offset by the loss in the five years
1915-20.
Until 1895, Harwich maintained a foreign-born population of less than 2% -- well under the county average, primarily made up of Irish and English or Canadians. That year, 1895, was the first in which the state census reported a substantial Portuguese population. The 107 natives of Portugal in Harwich that year was the second largest group in the county (after Provincetown's 962) and represented 8% of the county total. By 1905, the Portuguese, then numbering 183, made up 70% of Harwich's foreign-born population. Despite the Harwich population rise, 1910-15, the number of foreign-born Portuguese declined slightly by 1915.
Harwich lost 29% of its population during the period, a decline greater than the regional average of -9%. Only 2% of the population was foreign-born in 1875. By 1905 the proportion had risen to 11%, with 73% of the town's immigrants Portuguese West Islanders. Employment opportunities declined during the period. In 1875, Harwich had the second largest male workforce in the region, with 36% employed as fishermen and 28% as mariners. By
1905, the collapse of local fisheries left only 3% of the workforce employed as fishermen, and 16% working in transportation. Meanwhile, 22% were employed in agriculture, 18% were engaged in manufacturing, and 15% were laborers.
A number of religious societies were active locally. A Methodist Chapel was located at Pleasant Lake in 1880. By 1897, however, the North Harwich Methodist Society had only two remaining members. A Portuguese Nazarene Church was formed in 1909. Local meetings of Jehovah's Witnesses in South Harwich are reported to have been initiated before World War I. The Cape Cod Spiritualists and Liberals Association held summer meetings at Ocean Grove. A temperance organization was formed at South Harwich in 1888. A high school was established at Harwich Center in 1881.
C. Settlement Pattern
Settlement expansion slowed as the local population declined, but the south shore became increasingly oriented toward summer resort use. Harwich Center remained a civic focus, with the addition of a high school (1881), library (1880), and Masonic lodge (1885).
Commercial additions were also made, including the second Exchange
MHC Reconnaissance Survey Town Report: Harwich
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Building, a four-story brick structure built in 1884, and a bank building erected in 1914. A few stylish residences were added in the village area, and Brooks Park was established east of the commercial area. At Harwich Port, the Sea View Hotel was opened west of Wychmere Harbor in 1880, the Satucket House was built in
1886, and the Snow Inn was opened in 1892. Summer resort
residences were built on Main Street south toward the shore. By
ca. 1890, Ocean Grove along Ocean Avenue south of Main Street was established as a Camp Meeting grounds for the Cape Cod Spiritualists and Liberals Association.
Resort development also took place at West Harwich, where the Belmont Hotel (1890) was located at Belmont road and Chase Street in the southwest, and summer residences were built along Chase Street east of Herring River, and Kelley Road-Riverside Drive to the west. A Portuguese Nazarene Church was located at West Harwich on Kelley Road in 1909, in a converted blacksmith shop. Local Portuguese farming neighborhoods developed north of Harwich Center on Queen Anne Road near the railroad corridor, and on Main Street north of Harwich Depot. In the northeast the Pleasant Bay Club was located at Round Cove by 1910.
D. Economic Base
Despite the promising fishery statistics of the 1865 census, the reports a decade later (1875) omit Harwich altogether. The larger boats, introduced by the Civil War decade, required deeper harbors than Harwich could provide, and many Harwich mariners either retired or sailed from other better ports .•
Smaller land-based industries were carried on, including the manufacture of barrels, boats, confectionery, and boots. The two largest "manufacturing" industries reported in 1875 were Jonathan Buck's factory for fishermen's boots and two makers of overalls. The $20,756 worth of boots was 80% of the total county boot
production. The overall maker, E.L. Stokes & Co. had 50 employees
in the shop and 250 outside doing piecework. The two industries
alone made up nearly 60% of Harwich's manufactured goods, the
total of which placed the town third in the rank of the thirteen
Cape towns (following Sandwich/Bourne, and Falmouth).
The largest industry, however, for most or all of the period, was the cultivation of cranberries. In 1895, Harwich's cranberry crop was valued at $78,077, the largest value in the study unit (a quarter of the county total) and exceeded in the state only by Carver, Plymouth, and Wareham.
The first hotel to open was the Sea View Hotel in 1880, testimony to the growing trade in summer visitors and the recovery from the depressing 1870s. The Snow Inn and the Belmont followed in the early 1890s.
MHC Reconnaissance Survey Town Report: Harwich
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E. Architecture
Residential: In spite of the town's declining population, residents continued to construct a number of new dwellings. The majority are large, 2 1/2-story gable or pyramidal blocks with projecting gabled bays on the front and/or sides, full or entry porches, occasionally embellished with a corner "gazebo;" a small number of 1 1/2-story examples are also known. These employ the ornamental shingles and turned elements of the Queen Anne style. Later in the period, houses were constructed in the Shingle Style, with an unusually high frequency of gambrel roofs as well as entry porches (ca. 6), as well as the clipped gable, in these moderate size homes.
Institutional: No new churches were constructed in the town.
With the consolidation and grading of the schools the town built a high school at the Center (1881), and uniform schools for the
first four grades (1890), of unknown appearance. The Brooks Block
(1880) was constructed to house stores on the first and a library
on the second story; this long, hip roofed structure has entries in the fourth and seventh of its ten bays, with long squareheaded windows on the first floor and standard size openings on the second, below a block cornice. A Masonic Hall was constructed in
1885 (Charles Brett), gable front in form, 2 1/2 stories in height, with stores on the first floor. A second library is a small 1 1/2-story structure with a high hip roof with a shed hood over the center entry and bay windows on either side.
Commercial: The second Exchange Building (1885; demolished 1965) was a four-story frame structure (tallest on the Cape), a gable roof and cupola with ornamental shingle patterns marking the floors and tall roundheaded windows in the second story, and a multicomponent, roundheaded window dominating the gable end. Several hotels date to this period, including the three-story mansard roof Sea View (demolished 1964), and similar Belmont (1894), and the Wychmere Harbor Club (1892 as Snow Inn?) of obscured design due to later modifications. A bank of 1914 survives as the town offices, constructed in brick, 1 1/2 stories
under a hip roof, recessed center entry and wide windows on either side, ornamented in pale contrasting quoins, window surrounds, and
segmental arch entry.
Agriculture: A photo of a screen house (cranberries) indicates a small gable front barn, with a shed to one side, vertical board siding, and wide double doors.
X. EARLY MODERN PERIOD (1915-1940) A. Transportation Routes
By the mid 1920s, the east-west route through the southern part of town had been improved as part of the Route 28 automobile corridor (Main Street). By period's end, this highway was joined by Route
137 in the northeast from Chatham to Brewster, and the old Route
24 branch from Route 28 north through Harwich Center to Brewster
MHC Reconnaissance Survey Town Report: Harwich
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(Sisson Road, Pleasant Lake Road). Other local routes that were improved by 1940 included the Lower County Road along the south shore, the east-west central road through Harwich Center (Great Western Road, Main Street, Orleans-Harwich Road), and the connector to South Harwich (Chatham Road). The Chatham Branch Railroad closed in 1930.
B. Population
Between 1915 and 1940, Harwich grew by 16.3% -- well above her neighbor Brewster but less than Chatham, Yarmouth, and the county average of 29.4%. After a sharp decline during the War years, shared with most other towns, Harwich grew by over 26% in the
1920s, slowed during the first years of the Depression, and
continued expansive growth in the late '30s. By 1940, her population was 2,535, about what it had been in 1895. In that year, her foreign-born population, numbering 147, amounted to 5.7% of the total number of town residents -- about half the average
for the county.
Harwich saw moderate (16%) growth during the period. The foreign-born population remained 10% in 1915, 67%
Portuguese-speaking. By 1940, the foreign-born population had declined to 6%. At the same time, the town's 19% black population was the highest proportion in the region. This group was presumably primarily composed of Portuguese West Islanders. In
1915 the employment structure had changed further, with 42% of the
male workforce employed in manufacturing, 17% in agriculture and
fishing, and 15% in trade.
An Episcopal Society was formed early in the period, and the Second Christ Church Episcopal was built in 1926. Holy Trinity Catholic Church, destroyed by a fire, was relocated to West Harwich in 1927. A local fire department was formed in 1929, and a police department was organized the next year. In 1937 a new high school was built.
C. Settlement Pattern
Summer resort development intensified, as cottage construction spread along the south shore at West Harwich and Harwich Port. A Christian Science Church (ca. 1930) was built on Main Street in West Harwich. After Holy Trinity Catholic Church in Harwich Center burned in 1927, the new structure was relocated to Main Street, West Harwich. In 1929, a Fire Department building was built on Bank Street at Harwich Center. A new high school (1937) was located southwest of Harwich Center on Sisson Road. In the southwest, residential growth occurred around the mouth of the Herring River at lower Belmont Road and Riverside Drive and along Strandway. New development extended east along Lower County Road and Shore Road. At Harwich Port, intensive cottage construction
extended east from Allens Harbor to Wychmere Harbor along a series
of roads leading to the shore. North of Main Street, new
dwellings were located in the Cross Street/Pleasant Street area. Christ Church Episcopal was located on Main Street in 1926.
MHC Reconnaissance Survey Town Report: Harwich
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D. Economic Base
The cranberry business continued to grow. By 1930, Orra Stone could write that "the factory of the United Cape Cod Cranberry Co. at North Harwich is of greater importance than all of the town's previous enterprises combined" (History of Massachusetts Industries, p. 98). Stone also cites two small factories, manufacturers of narrow fabric tapes (employing 10 hands) and a barrel maker (12 hands). Catering to summer residents occupied most year-round residents, however. Harwich's five hotels in 1924 had 238 rooms, fourth largest number on the Cape after Falmouth, Barnstable, and Chatham.
E. Architecture
Residential: A small number of houses were built during the period, primarily small examples of nationally popular styles, including three low rambling half-timbered cottages, two side entry and one center entry Dutch Colonial, two Capes, and a 2
1/2-story, five-bay Georgian Revival with low lateral extensions with fretted balustrades; an as yet unknown house was designed by Royal Barry Wills.
Institutional: Christ Church (1926) is a gable dominated structure with low eaves and entry at one end of the long side detailed by trefoil openings, and stained glass in gable walls. The greatly changed fire station of 1929 is a gable entry
structure of shingle covering on a concrete base. The large brick high school of 1937 is 2 1/2 stories in height with modified Flemish gables at each end as well as ornamenting the pediments of the facade detailing.
Commercial: Flat-roofed 1 1/2-story structures with center entries date to this period.
XI. SURVEY OBSERVATIONS
The lack of documentation makes it difficult to assess the reliability of many of the dates assigned to inventoried structures. Some forms have no photos, and some area and monument forms (i.e., for nonbuildings) are misfiled.
XII. SOURCES
Brewster Historical Society, Brewster: A Cape Cod Town Remembered
(Brewster, 1976).
Deyo, Simeon L, (ed.), History of Barnstable County, Massachusetts, 1620-1890 (New York: H. W. Black, 1890).
Conkey, Laura E., Ethel Boissevain, and J. Goddard, Indians of
Southern New England and Long Island: Late Period. In Handbook
of North American Indians. Vol. 15: Northeast, Bruce G. Trigger,
ed. (Washington: Smithsonian Institution, 1978).
MHC Reconnaissance Survey Town Report: Harwich
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Freeman, Frederick, The History of Cape Cod, Annals of the Thirteen Towns of Barnstable County. Vols. 1 and 2 (Boston: W. H. Piper & Co., 1869).
[Freeman, Rev. James,] "Note on the South Precinct of Harwich, in the County of Barnstable, September, 1802," Massachusetts Historical Society Collections ser. 1 vol. 8 (1802), pp. 141-142.
Harwich, Mass. 27Sth Committee, 275th Anniversary, Harwich, Massachusetts, A Sketch of the Years 1694-1969 in Text and Pictures (Harwich, 1969).
Mooney, James, The Aboriginal Population of America North of Mexico, Smithsonian Miscellaneous Collections 80(7), John R. Swanton, ed. (Washington: Smithsonian Institution, 1928).
Mooney, James and Cyrus Thomas, Nauset. In Handbook of American Indians North of Mexico, vol. 2. Frederick W. Hodge, ed. (Washington: Bureau of American Ethnology, 1910).
Oldale, Robert N., Geologic Map of the Harwich Quadrangle, Barnstable County, Cape Cod, Massachusetts. U. S. Geological Survey Map 6Q-786 (Washington: U.S. Geological Survey, 1969).
Oldale, R. N., Carl Koteff and J. H. Hartshorn, Geologic Map of the Orleans Quadrangle, Barnstable County, Cape Cod, Massachusetts. U. S. Geological Survey Map 6Q-931 (Washington: U. S. Geological Survey, 1971).
Paine, Josiah, A Histor� of Harwich, Barnstable County, Massachusetts, 1620-180 (Rutland, Vermont: Tuttle Publishing Co. , Inc. , l 93 7) •
Simpkins, John, "A Topographical Description of Brewster, in the County of Barnstable, January, 1806," Massachusetts Historical Society Collections Ser. 1 vol. 10 (1809), pp. 72-79.