Harwich, Massachusetts Harwich, Massachusetts Harwich Town Hall Harwich Town Hall Official seal of Harwich, Massachusetts Harwich (pronounced / h rw t / har-wich) is a New England town on Cape Cod, in Barnstable County in the state of Massachusetts in the United States.

At the 2010 census it had a populace of 12,243. The town is a prominent vacation spot, positioned near the Cape Cod National Seashore.

Harwich's beaches are on the Nantucket Sound side of Cape Cod.

Saquatucket, Wychmere and Allen Harbors are all in Harwich Port.

The town of Harwich includes the villages of Pleasant Lake, West Harwich, East Harwich, Harwich Port, Harwich Center, North Harwich and South Harwich.

The town was officially incorporated in 1694, and originally encompassed the lands of the current town of Brewster.

The town is also the site of the start/finish line of the "Sail Around the Cape", which rounds the Cape counter-clockwise, returning via the Cape Cod Canal. Since 1976, the town has hosted the annual Harwich Cranberry Festival, noted for its fireworks display, in September.

In the summer, the town is host to the Harwich Mariners of the Cape Cod Baseball League.

The Harwich Antique Center West Harwich is a large group shop that features over 40 dealers.

The Patriot Square Shopping Center in neighboring South Dennis is convenient for inhabitants of North Harwich and West Harwich.

Supermarkets in Harwich include a Shaw's Star Market on the Harwich Port/West Harwich border and another Stop & Shop in East Harwich.

According to the United States Enumeration Bureau, the town has a total region of 33.1 square miles (85.8 km2), of which 20.9 square miles (54.1 km2) is territory and 12.2 square miles (31.7 km2), or 36.97%, is water. The seven villages of Harwich are West Harwich, North Harwich, East Harwich, South Harwich, Harwich Center, Harwich Port and Pleasant Lake.

Harwich is on the southern side of Cape Cod, just west of the southeastern corner.

Harwich is approximately 12 miles (19 km) east of Barnstable, 28 miles (45 km) east of the Cape Cod Canal, 35 miles (56 km) south of Provincetown, and 80 miles (130 km) southeast of Boston.

The town shares the biggest lake on the Cape, called Long Pond, with the town of Brewster.

Sand Pond, a enhance beach and swimming area, is positioned off Great Western Road in North Harwich.

There are also many beaches in West Harwich and South Harwich.

The First Congregational Church of Harwich, in Harwich Center The town of Harwich contains a several smaller census-designated places (CDPs) for which the U.S.

The CDPs in Harwich are Harwich Center, Harwich Port (including South Harwich), East Harwich and Northwest Harwich (including West Harwich, North Harwich, and Pleasant Lake).

Harwich 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, Harwich is a part of Massachusetts's 9th congressional district, and is presently represented by William R.

Harwich is governed by the open town meeting form of government, led by a town administrator and a board of selectmen.

The municipal library, the Brooks Free Library in Harwich Center, is the biggest and is a member of the Cape Libraries Automated Materials Sharing (CLAMS) library network.

There are two lesser non-municipal libraries the Chase Library on Route 28 in West Harwich at the Dennis town line, and the Harwich Port Library on Lower Bank Street in Harwich Port.

Harwich is the site of the Long Pond Medical Center, which serves the southeastern Cape region.

Harwich has police and fire departments, with one fire and police station headquarters, and Station 2 in East Harwich.

There are postal services in Harwich Port, South Harwich, West Harwich, and East Harwich.

Harwich's schools are part of the Monomoy Regional School District.

Harwich Elementary School serves students from pre-school through fourth grade, Monomoy Regional Middle School which serves both Harwich and its joining town, Chatham.

This middle school serves grades 5 8, and Monomoy Regional High School serves grades 9 12 for both Harwich and Chatham.

The Lighthouse Charter School recently moved into where the Harwich Cinema building was located.

Harwich is the site of Cape Cod Regional Technical High School, a grades 9 12 high school which serves most of Cape Cod.

The town has the southern termini of Routes 39 and 124, and a portion of Route 137 passes through the town.

Route 39 leads east through East Harwich to Orleans.

Route 28 passes through West Harwich and Harwich Port, connecting the suburbs of Dennis and Chatham.

Route 124 leads from Harwich Center to Brewster, and Route 137 cuts through East Harwich dominant from Chatham to Brewster.

There is no rail service in town, but the Cape Cod Rail Trail rotary is positioned in North Harwich near Main Street.

The Flex Harwich Port West Harwich Dennis Port - South Dennis East Dennis - South Yarmouth - West Yarmouth - Hyannis Route H20 Hyannis Orleans via South Dennis, West Dennis, Dennis Port, Harwich Port, Chatham and Orleans.

Elmer Crowell, (1862 1952) was a master decoy carver from East Harwich.

Seth Doane, award-winning tv journalist; raised in Harwich and graduate of Harwich High School Shawn Fanning, creator and owner of MP3 music downloading application Napster; graduated from Harwich High School a b "Geographic Identifiers: 2010 Demographic Profile Data (G001): Harwich town, Barnstable County, Massachusetts".

"1990 Enumeration of Population, General Population Characteristics: Massachusetts" (PDF).

"1980 Enumeration of the Population, Number of Inhabitants: Massachusetts" (PDF).

Wikimedia Commons has media related to Harwich, Massachusetts.

Wikivoyage has a travel guide for Harwich, Massachusetts.

Town of Harwich official website