Following the establishment of the Plymouth colony in 1620, sixty families, under the leadership of Edmund Freeman, in 1637, settled the first, and now the oldest, town on Cape Cod - Sandwich. Prior to the arrival of the Europeans, this area had been home to the Native American tribe , known as the Wampanoags, for centuries. Freeman and his cohorts named their settlement after the town of Sandwich in Kent, England. Soon after their arrival, the settlers built the Dexter Grist mill in order to grind corn meal for its inhabitants (The mill still exists next to town hall). By 1658, Christopher Holden led the first group of Quakers to settle in this area. They established the oldest continuous Quaker Meeting House in the U.S. Dennis James founded the famous Boston and Sandwich Glass Company here in 1825. Fifty-nine years later (1884) , the western part of the town separated from Sandwich and became the town of Bourne. Following several previously unsuccessful planning attempts, construction of the Cape Cod Canal through the town began in 1909. Finally completed in 1914, the Canal opened as the longest sea-level canal in the world (17 miles). Thornton Burgess, author of "Peter Rabbit ", and descendant of Thomas Burgess - one of the first settlers of Sandwich - was born here in 1874. Burgess was an ardent conservationist and spent a significant portion of his life in Sandwich, writing about what he experienced. The house of his aunt, Anabella Burgess, now serves as the Burgess Society Museum. This is a lovely, quaint old town, which we've visited and enjoyed many times. When I was working, I attended a number of conferences at the centerpiece of Sandwich, the Daniel Webster Inn ( which has been here for three hundred years).
Many of our blog followers have never visited the Cape Cod area of Massachusetts (where we are currently staying). Both of us have grown up in Massachusetts, and are quite familiar with Cape Cod, especially Lori, whose family owned property here. Therefore, we've decided to offer a series of posts about some of the oldest parts of the Cape. Following the establishment of the Plymouth colony in 1620, sixty families, under the leadership of Edmund Freeman, in 1637, settled the first, and now the oldest, town on Cape Cod - Sandwich. Prior to the arrival of the Europeans, this area had been home to the Native American tribe , known as the Wampanoags, for centuries. Freeman and his cohorts named their settlement after the town of Sandwich in Kent, England. Soon after their arrival, the settlers built the Dexter Grist mill in order to grind corn meal for its inhabitants (The mill still exists next to town hall). By 1658, Christopher Holden led the first group of Quakers to settle in this area. They established the oldest continuous Quaker Meeting House in the U.S. Dennis James founded the famous Boston and Sandwich Glass Company here in 1825. Fifty-nine years later (1884) , the western part of the town separated from Sandwich and became the town of Bourne. Following several previously unsuccessful planning attempts, construction of the Cape Cod Canal through the town began in 1909. Finally completed in 1914, the Canal opened as the longest sea-level canal in the world (17 miles). Thornton Burgess, author of "Peter Rabbit ", and descendant of Thomas Burgess - one of the first settlers of Sandwich - was born here in 1874. Burgess was an ardent conservationist and spent a significant portion of his life in Sandwich, writing about what he experienced. The house of his aunt, Anabella Burgess, now serves as the Burgess Society Museum. This is a lovely, quaint old town, which we've visited and enjoyed many times. When I was working, I attended a number of conferences at the centerpiece of Sandwich, the Daniel Webster Inn ( which has been here for three hundred years). Welcome to Sandwich, Massachusetts, the oldest town on Cape Cod. Sandwich Town Hall is located next to the Dexter Grist Mill and across the street from the Sandwich Glass Museum. Needing corn meal to survive, Sandwich residents built the Dexter Grist mill soon after establishing the town. Nearby is this memorial to Benjamin Nye and Katherine Tupper, two of the original homesteaders. Originally known as the Boston and Sandwich Glass Company, founded by Dennis James in 1825, it still produces some of the finest glassware in the U.S. Master glass blowers put on daily exhibitions of how it is done. Constructed in 1675, the Hoxie House is the oldest residence on Cape Cod. Its kitchen is a model for what life was like in the 1th century on Cape Cod. The oldest continuous-use Quaker Meeting House in the U.S. Sandwich's Daniel Webster Inn has been played host to travelers for three hundred years. The picturesque interior makes visitors feel right at home.... ...while the stocks outside remind you that "outlandish behaviors" would not be tolerated.
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Carl and Lorraine Aveni are two retirees planning on traveling through Europe for at least one year.
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