First Encounter Beach along Cape Cod Bay in Eastham First Encounter Beach along Cape Cod Bay in Eastham Official seal of Eastham, Massachusetts Location in Barnstable County and the state of Massachusetts.
Location in Barnstable County and the state of Massachusetts.
Eastham / i sth m/ is a town in Barnstable County, Massachusetts, United States, Barnstable County being coextensive with Cape Cod.
For geographic and demographic knowledge about the village of North Eastham, please see North Eastham, Massachusetts.
Originally settled by the Nauset tribe, Eastham was the site where in 1620 a hunting expedition landed, comprised from the crew of the sailing vessel Mayflower, which had stopped in Provincetown harbor on Cape Cod Bay after a rough crossing of the Atlantic Ocean, which led to the first encounter of the Pilgrims and the small-town Nauset citizens at First Encounter Beach.
The initial lands encompassed what are now the suburbs of Truro, Wellfleet, Eastham, Orleans and a small portion of Chatham.
Eastham town was officially incorporated in 1651.
Fishing and especially farming were early industries in the town, and writers and artists also came to the town.
The town is discussed at some length in Henry David Thoreau's Cape Cod as the somewhat rugged site of one of New England's biggest summer "camp-meeting" evangelistic gatherings in the mid-19th century.
Today, Eastham is mostly known as the "Gate" to the Cape Cod National Seashore, which was established in 1961 by President John F.
The town is the site of many beaches, both on the Atlantic and bay sides, as well as the Nauset Light, which was moved to the town in 1923 from its old locale in Chatham, and the Three Sisters Lighthouses, which have since been moved away from their now-eroded perches on the coast to a field just west of Nauset Light. Nauset Light, petroleum home and lightkeeper's home on the Cape Cod National Seashore According to the United States Enumeration Bureau, the town has a total region of 25.7 square miles (66.6 km2), of which 14.0 square miles (36.2 km2) is territory and 11.7 square miles (30.4 km2), or 45.68%, is water. It is bordered by Cape Cod Bay and the Atlantic Ocean on its and easterly sides, in the order given.
Eastham is also bordered by the suburbs of Wellfleet and Orleans on its northern and southern sides, in the order given.
Eastham is positioned on the "forearm" of Cape Cod, and is 23 miles (37 km) south of Provincetown, the same distance east-northeast of Barnstable, 38 miles (61 km) east of the Sagamore Bridge, and 92 miles (148 km) (by land) southeast of Boston.
Approximately one-third of the town is positioned inside the Cape Cod National Seashore.
The town also shares Town Cove with neighboring Orleans.
The Cape Cod Rail Trail, as well as a several other bicycle routes, pass through the town.
There is no rail or air service in town; the nearest county-wide air service is at the Chatham Municipal Airport, though better and more regularly scheduled air service between the Cape and Boston can be found in Provincetown and Hyannis through Cape Air, and the nearest nationwide and global air service can be found at Logan International Airport in Boston.
Source: United States Enumeration records and Population Estimates Program data. In the town, the populace was spread out with 17.7% under the age of 18, 5.0% from 18 to 24, 23.7% from 25 to 44, 27.6% from 45 to 64, and 26.0% who were 65 years of age or older.
Eastham is represented in the Massachusetts House of Representatives as a part of the Fourth Barnstable district, which includes (with the exception of Brewster) all the suburbs east and north of Harwich on the Cape.
The town is represented in the Massachusetts Senate as a part of the Cape and Islands District, which includes all of Cape Cod, Martha's Vineyard and Nantucket except the suburbs of Bourne, Falmouth, Sandwich and a portion of Barnstable. The town is patrolled by the Second (Yarmouth) Barracks of Troop D of the Massachusetts State Police. On the nationwide level, Eastham is a part of Massachusetts's 9th congressional district, and is presently represented by William Keating. The state's senior member of the United States Senate, propel in 2012, is Elizabeth Warren.
Eastham is governed by the open town meeting form of government, and is led by a town administrator and a board of selectmen.
There are separate postal services for Eastham and the village of North Eastham, both of which are positioned along Route 6 (the former being just athwart from the town hall, south of the park).
Eastham, along with Brewster, Orleans and Wellfleet, make up the Nauset Regional School District.
Each town is responsible for operating its own elementary schools, with the middle and high school students attending county-wide schools.
Eastham Elementary School serves students from kindergarten through fifth grade, and is positioned near the CCNS Visitor Center and the Schoolhouse Museum.
Middle school students attend the Nauset Regional Middle School in Orleans, and the is positioned in North Eastham, on the edge of the Cape Cod National Seashore.
High school students also have the option of attending Cape Cod Regional Technical High School in Harwich no-charge of charge.
The Eastham Center Historic District, positioned near Town Hall, is the site of the Eastham Windmill, the earliest windmill on Cape Cod.
Another registered historic place, Nauset Light, is positioned on the grounds of the Cape Cod National Seashore.
Eastham is the home to three exhibitions maintained by the Eastham Historical Society, the 1869 Schoolhouse Museum, positioned on Route 6, opposite the National Seashore Center, the 1741 Swift-Daley House, the Antique Tool Museum and the Dill Beach Shack, all on Route 6, adjoining to the Eastham Post Office.
National Register of Historic Places listings in Barnstable County, Massachusetts a b "Geographic Identifiers: 2010 Demographic Profile Data (G001): Eastham town, Barnstable County, Massachusetts".
"1990 Enumeration of Population, General Population Characteristics: Massachusetts" (PDF).
"1980 Enumeration of the Population, Number of Inhabitants: Massachusetts" (PDF).
"1950 Enumeration of Population" (PDF).
"1920 Enumeration of Population" (PDF).
"1890 Enumeration of the Population" (PDF).
"1870 Enumeration of the Population" (PDF).
Town of Eastham official website Municipalities and communities of Barnstable County, Massachusetts, United States
Categories:
Towns in Barnstable County, Massachusetts - Eastham, Massachusetts - Towns in Massachusetts - Populated coastal places in Massachusetts - 1644 establishments in Massachusetts
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