text:
Provincetown, Massachusetts

Provincetown is a New England town located at the extreme tip of Cape Cod in Barnstable County, Massachusetts, in the United States. A small coastal resort town with a year-round population of 3,664 as of the 2020 United States Census, Provincetown has a summer population as high as 60,000. Often called "P-town" or "Ptown", the locale is known as a vacation destination for its beaches, harbor, artists and tourist industry.

History
At the time of European encounter, the area was long settled by the historic Nauset tribe, who had a settlement known as "Meeshawn". They spoke Massachusett, a Southern New England Algonquian language dialect that they shared in common with their closely related neighbors, the Wampanoag.

On May 15, 1602, having made landfall from the west and believing it to be an island, Bartholomew Gosnold initially named this area "Shoal Hope". Later that day, after catching a "great store of codfish", he chose instead to name this outermost tip of land "Cape Cod". Notably, that name referred specifically to the area of modern-day Provincetown; it wasn't until much later that that name was reused to designate the entire region now known as Cape Cod.

On November 9, 1620, the Pilgrims aboard the Mayflower sighted Cape Cod while en route to the Colony of Virginia. After two days of failed attempts to sail south against the strong winter seas, they returned to the safety of the harbor, known today as Provincetown Harbor, and set anchor. It was here that the Mayflower Compact was drawn up and signed. The event is memorialized in a sculpture near the Pilgrim Monument. They agreed to settle and build a self-governing community, and came ashore in the West End.

Though the Pilgrims chose to settle across the bay in Plymouth, Cape Cod enjoyed an early reputation for its valuable fishing grounds, and for its harbor: a naturally deep, protected basin that was considered the best along the coast. In 1654, the Governor of the Plymouth Colony purchased this land from the Chief of the Nausets, for a selling price of two brass kettles, six coats, 12 hoes, 12 axes, 12 knives and a box.

That land, which spanned from East Harbor (formerly, Pilgrim Lake)—near the present-day border between Provincetown and Truro—to Long Point, was kept for the benefit of Plymouth Colony, which began leasing fishing rights to roving fishermen. The collected fees were used to defray the costs of schools and other projects throughout the colony. In 1678, the fishing grounds were opened up to allow the inclusion of fishermen from the Massachusetts Bay Colony.

In 1692, a new Royal Charter combined the Plymouth and Massachusetts Bay colonies into the Province of Massachusetts Bay. "Cape Cod" was thus officially renamed the "Province Lands".

The first record of a municipal government with jurisdiction over the Province Lands was in 1714, with an Act that declared it the "Precinct of Cape Cod", annexed under control of Truro.

On June 14, 1727, after harboring ships for more than a century, the Precinct of Cape Cod was incorporated as a township. The name chosen by its inhabitants was "Herringtown", which was rejected by the Massachusetts General Court in favor of "Provincetown". The act of incorporation provided that inhabitants of Provincetown could be landholders, but not landowners. They received a quit claim to their property, but the Province retained the title. The land was to be used as it had been from the beginning of the colony—a place for the making of fish. All resources, including the trees, could be used for that purpose. In 1893 the Massachusetts General Court changed the Town's charter, giving the townspeople deeds to the properties they held, while still reserving unoccupied areas.

The population of Provincetown remained small through most of the 18th century.

The town was affected by the American Revolution the same way most of Cape Cod was: the effective British blockade shut down most fish production and shipping and the town dwindled. It was, by happenstance, the location of the wreck of British warship HMS Somerset (1748) at the Peaked Hill Bars off the Atlantic Coast of Provincetown in 1778.

Following the American Revolution, Provincetown grew rapidly as a fishing and whaling center. The population was bolstered by numerous Portuguese sailors, many of whom were from the Azores, and settled in Provincetown after being hired to work on US ships.

By the 1890s, Provincetown was booming and began to develop a resident population of writers and artists, as well as a summer tourist industry. After the 1898 Portland Gale severely damaged the town's fishing industry, members of the town's art community took over many of the abandoned buildings. By the early decades of the 20th century, the town had acquired an international reputation for its artistic and literary productions. The Provincetown Players was an important experimental theatre company formed during this period. Many of its members lived during other parts of the year in Greenwich Village in New York, and intellectual and artistic connections were woven between the places. In 1898 Charles Webster Hawthorne opened the Cape Cod School of Art, said to be the first outdoor school for figure painting, in Provincetown. Film of his class from 1916 has been preserved.

The town includes eight buildings and two historic districts on the National Register of Historic Places: Provincetown Historic District and Dune Shacks of Peaked Hill Bars Historic District.

In the mid-1960s, Provincetown saw population growth. The town's rural character appealed to the hippies of the era; property was relatively cheap and rents were correspondingly low, especially during the winter. Many of those who came stayed and raised families. Commercial Street, where most of the town's businesses are located, gained numerous cafés, leather shops, and head shops.

By the 1970s, Provincetown had a significant gay population, especially during the summer tourist season, when restaurants, bars and small shops serving the tourist trade were open. There had been a gay presence in Provincetown as early as the start of the 20th century as the artists' colony developed, along with experimental theatre. Drag queens could be seen in performance as early as the 1940s in Provincetown. In 1978 the Provincetown Business Guild (PBG) was formed to promote gay tourism. Today more than 200 businesses belong to the PBG and Provincetown is perhaps the best-known gay summer resort on the East Coast. The 2010 US Census revealed Provincetown to have the highest rate of same-sex couples in the country, at 163.1 per 1000 households.

Since the 1990s, property prices have risen significantly, causing some residents economic hardship. The housing bust of 2005–2012 caused property values in and around town to fall by 10 percent or more in less than a year. This did not slow down the town's economy, however. Provincetown's tourist season has expanded, and the town has created festivals and week-long events throughout the year. The most established are in the summer: the Portuguese Festival, Bear Week, and PBG's Carnival Week. In 2017, a memorial was dedicated to those who lost their lives to AIDS.

Historic transportation

For nearly all of Provincetown's recorded history, life has revolved around the waterfront − especially the waterfront on its southern shore − which offers a naturally deep harbor with easy and safe boat access, plus natural protection from the wind and waves. An additional element of Provincetown's geography tremendously influenced the manner in which the town evolved: the town was physically isolated, being at the hard-to-reach tip of a long, narrow peninsula.

The East Harbor, which provided the most protected mooring place in Provincetown, had a 1000 ft inlet from Provincetown Harbor, and effectively blocked off access to Provincetown by land. Until the late 19th century, no road led to Provincetown – the only land route connecting the village to points back toward the mainland was along a thin stretch of beach along the shore to the north (known locally as the "backshore"). A wooden bridge was erected over the East Harbor in 1854, only to be destroyed by a winter storm and ice two years later. Although the bridge was replaced the following year, any traveler who crossed it still needed to traverse several miles over sand routes, which, together with the backshore route, was occasionally washed out by storms. This made Provincetown very much like an island. Its residents relied almost entirely upon its harbor for its communication, travel, and commerce needs.

That changed in 1868, when the mouth of the East Harbor was diked to enable the laying of track for the arrival of the railroad. The railroad was completed, to great fanfare, in 1873; and the wooden bridge and sand road was finally replaced by a formal roadway in 1877. The railroad terminated at Railroad Wharf, known today as MacMillan Pier. It provided an easy means for fishermen to offload their vessels and ship their catch to the cities by rail.

The railroad was not the only late arrival to Provincetown. Even roads within the town were slow to be constructed: "'There was then no road through the town. With no carts, carriages, wagons, horses or oxen, why a road? ... Here every man had a path from his house to his boat or vessel, and once launched, he was on the broad highway of nations without tax or toll. There were paths to the neighbors, paths to school, paths to church; tortuous paths perhaps, but they were good pilots by night or day, on land or water. Besides, at low water there was a road such as none else could boast, washed completely twice a day from year to year, wide enough and free enough and long enough, if followed, for the armies of the Netherlands.'"

The town's internal road layout reflects the historic importance of the waterfront, the key to communication and commerce with the outside world. As the town grew, it organically expanded along the harborfront. The main "thoroughfare" was the hard-packed beach, where all commerce and socializing took place. Early deeds refer to a "Town Rode", which was little more than a footpath that ran behind the houses. In 1835, County Commissioners turned that into "Front Street", now known as Commercial Street. "Back Street" ran parallel to Front Street, but was set back from the harbor − today it is known as Bradford Street. "'The houses faced the water then; since then some of the houses have been turned around; some of them still have the front door on the shore side. One man, a doctor, who had not lived long in town, proposed that the street be made sixty-four feet wide, but they soon voted down such foolishness as that from foreigners. He tried to compromise on thirty-two feet, but twenty-two feet seemed wide enough for all possible purposes, and twenty-two feet wide it is.'"

Geography
Provincetown is located at the very tip of Cape Cod, encompassing a total area of 17.5 sqmi − 55% of that, or 9.7 sqmi, is land area, and the remaining 7.8 sqmi water area. Surrounded by water in every direction except due east, the town has 21.3 mi of coastal shoreline. Provincetown is bordered to the east by its only neighbor, the town of Truro, and by Provincetown Harbor to the southeast, Cape Cod Bay to the south and west, Massachusetts Bay to the northwest and north, and the Atlantic Ocean to the northeast.

The town is 45 mi north (by road) from Barnstable, Hyannis, Massachusetts, and 62 mi by road to the Sagamore Bridge, which spans the Cape Cod Canal and connects Cape Cod to the mainland. Provincetown is 45 mi east by southeast from Boston by air or sea, and 115 mi by road.

About 4,500 acres, or about 73% of the town's land area, is owned by the National Park Service, which operates the Cape Cod National Seashore, leaving about 2.7 sqmi of land under the town's jurisdiction. To the north lie the "Province Lands", the area of dunes and small ponds extending from Mount Ararat in the east to Race Point in the west, along the Massachusetts Bay shore. The Cape Cod Bay shoreline extends from Race Point to the far west, to Wood End in the south, eastward to Long Point, which in turn points inward towards the town, and provides a natural barrier for Provincetown Harbor. All three points are marked by lighthouses. The town's population center extends along the harbor, south of the Seashore's lands.

Mount Ararat was named after Noah's landing place, while Mount Gilboa, and another dune, was named for the mountain described in the book of Samuel.

Climate
The town of Provincetown has a warm-summer humid continental climate (Dfb), closely bordering on oceanic climate. The plant hardiness zone is 7a, with an average annual extreme minimum air temperature of 4.9 F. The average seasonal (Nov–Apr) snowfall total is around 30 in. The average snowiest month is February, which corresponds to the annual peak in nor'easter activity.

United States census information
According to the U.S. census of 2010, there were 2,942 people living in the town (down 14.3% since 2000). The population density was 304.2 PD/sqmi. There were 4,494 housing units (up 15.5%) at an average density of 464.7 /sqmi. The racial makeup of the town was 91.5% White, 4.0% African American, 0.6% Native American, 0.6% Asian, 1.6% from other races, and 1.7% from two or more races. Hispanic or Latino of any race were 4.8% of the population.

The top reported ancestries were Irish (26.7%, up 9.3% from 2000), English (17.4%, up 2.6%), Portuguese (14.6%, down 8.2%), Italian (13.5%, up 3.4%), and German (12.5%, up 3.6%).

There were 1,765 households (down 3.9%), out of which 416 (23.6%) had families, 115 (6.5%) had children under the age of 18 living within them, and 76.4% were non-families. The average household size was 1.64 persons/household, and the average family size was 2.55.

The distribution of the population, broken down by age and gender, is shown in the population pyramid. In 2010, 6.8% of the population was under the age of 18, and the median age was 52.3. There were 1,602 males and 1,340 females.

For 2011, the estimated median income for a year-round household in the town was $46,547, with a mean household income of $74,840. For families, the median income was $87,228, and the mean is $84,050. For nonfamily households, the median income was $42,375, and the mean, $71,008. Median earnings for male full-time, year-round workers was $49,688, versus $36,471 for females. The per capita income for the town was $41,488. About 2.1% of families and 15.4% of the population were below the poverty line, including 26.0% of those under age 18 and 7.5% of those age 65 or over.

Provincetown's ZIP code has the highest concentration of same-sex couple households of any ZIP code in the United States.

Demographics in a resort town
Data from traditional demographic sources like the U.S. Census, municipal voting rolls and property records may not accurately portray the demography of resort towns. They often reveal unusual results, as in this case, where the number of housing units far exceeds the Town's total population, where that number of housing units rose 15% while the population dropped 14%, and where nearly 61% of the housing stock is vacant, with 53% designated "for seasonal, recreational, or occasional use", according to the census.

In the decade spanning the years 2000 through 2010, Provincetown's small year-round population declined 14.3% from 3,431 to 2,942, yet during the summer months, population estimates vary wildly, ranging from 19,000 to 60,000. Census figures are unable to capture these dynamic population fluctuations that are associated with seasonal tourism. Part-time residents, which includes non-resident property owners and seasonal residents, are not counted in the census.

Arts and culture

In 1940, Catharine Sargent Huntington, Edwin Pettit, and Virginia Thoms founded the Provincetown Playhouse on the Wharf. The playhouse replaced an older structure that existed between 1915 and 1924. Huntington served as owner and manager of the playhouse until 1973. During her time as manager, a Eugene O'Neill drama was produced each summer season, and the theater hosted an O'Neill Festival in 1966, during which ten of his plays were produced.

From 1955 to 1959, the Sun Gallery was run by Yvonne Andersen and Dominic Falcone. It was an art exhibition that took place during the summer where young and up and coming artists could show their work.

The Fine Arts Work Center is a nonprofit educational enterprise, located in Provincetown since 1968. Its stated mission is to encourage the growth and development of emerging visual artists and writers through residency programs, to propagate aesthetic values and experience, and to restore the year-round vitality of the historic art colony of Provincetown.

Provincetown Art Association and Museum (PAAM) is a nationally recognized, year-round cultural institution that celebrated its Centennial in 2014. PAAM mounts 35 art exhibitions each year, offers workshops in the fine arts for children, youth, and adults, and hosts an array of programs and events to enrich visitor experience. The PAAM Permanent Collection consists of 3,000 objects, which are displayed throughout the year in the PAAM galleries.

Between 2004 and 2007, PAAM received four Rural Development grants and loans totaling $3 million to increase the museum's space, add climate-controlled facilities, renovate a historic sea captain's house (the Hargood House) and cover cost overruns. As the mission of the Rural Development program is "To increase economic opportunity and improve the quality of life for all rural Americans", the USDA considered Provincetown's residents in the 2000s to still be rural and to still require such federal assistance

In 2003, Provincetown received a $1.95 million low interest loan from the Rural Development program of the U.S. Department of Agriculture to help rebuild the town's MacMillan Pier. It primarily serves the town's active fishing fleet, and also tourists and high-speed ferries.

The Atlantic House in Provincetown is considered the oldest gay bar in the US and Frommer's calls it "the nation's premier gay bar". Provincetown is the setting for the annual Women's Week festival. Held in mid-October since 1984 and attended by almost 2,000 women, it is the "longest running lesbian cultural event in the Northeast". Since 1975, Provincetown has been the host city to Fantasia Fair, the world's first and longest-running annual conference that focuses on gender diversity and transgender issues.

The Provincetown International Film Festival, honors the best in independent and avant-garde film. Among the honorees for 2014 were actress Patricia Clarkson and director David Cronenberg. Previous honorees include Matt Dillon, Harmony Korine, Parker Posey, Roger Corman, Vera Farmiga, Darren Aronofsky, Quentin Tarantino, Jane Lynch, Gael García Bernal, Tilda Swinton, Kathleen Turner, Jim Jarmusch, Todd Haynes, Gus Van Sant, and John Waters. Waters, a summer resident, is a major participant in the festival.

In November 2011, the Provincetown Theater Company became the first theater company in New England to stage a live-action dramatic theatrical presentation of horror-fantasy author H.P. Lovecraft. The story was Lovecraft's 1919 classic, "The Picture in the House," and was described as "...the macabre come to life." The adaptation was produced for the 22nd Fall Playwright's Festival.

Parks and recreation
Veterans Memorial Community Center serves as the area community center. By 2012, Veterans Memorial Elementary School closed and was being refurbished to become a community center. In 2014, the town government considered building a second floor on the facility to add affordable housing.

Government

Provincetown is governed, like most New England towns, by the open town meeting form of government. The citizens, gathered in the town meeting, act as the legislative branch and approve the budget and amend the town's bylaws, while the popularly elected Board of Selectmen act as the executive branch and hire and oversee the Town Manager, meet regularly to determine policy, and appoint members of other boards and commissions.

Provincetown 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 towns east and north of Harwich on the Cape. The seat is held by Democrat Sarah Peake, a former Provincetown selectman. 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 towns of Bourne, Falmouth, Sandwich and a portion of Barnstable. The Senate seat is held by Democrat Julian Cyr. Provincetown is patrolled by its own Police Department as well as the Second (Yarmouth) Barracks of Troop D of the Massachusetts State Police.

On the national level, Provincetown is a part of Massachusetts's 9th congressional district, and is currently represented by Bill Keating. Following the death of Ted Kennedy, the state's senior (Class I) member of the United States Senate was John Kerry (last re-elected in 2008) until he became Secretary of State; that seat has been occupied by Ed Markey since July 16, 2013. The other (Class II) senate seat is held by Elizabeth Warren, a Democrat, elected in the November 2012 elections and sworn in as senator in January 2013. Provincetown is governed by the open town meeting form of government and is led by a town manager and a board of selectmen. The town has its own police and fire departments, both of which are stationed on Shank Painter Road. The town's post office is located on Commercial Street, near the town's Fourth Wharf. The Provincetown Public Library is a member of the Cape Libraries Automated Materials Sharing library network and is also located on Commercial Street, in the former Center Methodist Episcopal Church building since 2005.

In the 2020 US Presidential Election Democrat Joe Biden received 91.9 percent of the vote to Republican Donald Trump's 7 percent.

Education

Provincetown Schools operates the public schools for elementary and middle school levels, with the main facility being the grade 1–8 International Baccalaureate World School, verified in 2013 in the Primary Years Program and in 2014 in the Middle Years program. Provincetown Schools educates approximately 120 children in grades Pre-K–8. The Veterans Memorial Community Center houses Provincetown Schools Early Learning Center (Wee Care and Preschool ages 3–5 and kindergarten).

In 2010, the Provincetown school board elected to phase out the high school program of Provincetown High School, at the end of the 2012−2013 school year, and send students to nearby Nauset Regional High School (of Nauset Public Schools) in North Eastham, beginning with the 2013−2014 academic year. Provincetown students in grades 9 and 10 were already attending Nauset by 2012.

There are no private schools in Provincetown; high school students from the town will now attend Cape Cod Regional Technical High School in Harwich or Nauset Regional High School in North Eastham. Prior to its closing, Provincetown High School (PHS) served students from seventh through twelfth grades (and for a time also accepted students from Truro). In 2012, Provincetown High School was recognized as one of the smallest high schools in the country with a student population of 32 students in grades 10–12. In 2018 there were about 45–50 students at the high school level from Provincetown.

There are private scholarships for students from Provincetown and Truro: the John Anderson Francis Family Scholarship Fund and the Captain Joseph F. Oliver Scholarship Fund. Circa 2019 each year the number of applicants ranged from 6–10, a figure the organizers consider to be low.

Transportation

Provincetown is the eastern terminus of U.S. Route 6, both in the state and in the nation. Although the terminus is directed east officially, geographically speaking, the road, having curved around Cape Cod, is facing west-southwest at the point, and is marked only by its junction with Route 6A. The state-controlled portion ends with a "" sign as the road enters the Cape Cod National Seashore, after which the road is under federal maintenance. Route 6A passes through the town as well, mostly following Bradford Street (whereas US 6 originally followed Commercial Street before the bypass was built and Commercial Street was switched to one-way westbound), and ending just south of the Herring Cove Beach.

Provincetown is served by two seasonal ferries to Boston and one to Plymouth. They all dock at MacMillan Pier, located just east of the Town Hall in the center of town. When operating at full capacity, the pier accommodates in any given day: 11 ferry trips carrying over 5,000 passengers; five whale watch vessels each running up to three trips a day with a total capacity of 3,600 passengers; the town's commercial fishing fleet of 55 vessels; and many other excursion and visiting vessels. It also plays host several times per year as a destination port-of-call to passengers of organized cruise ship tours, whether themed towards the gay traveller, or towards eco-tourism, arts and other aspects of Provincetown and the outer cape.

The town has no rail service; the Provincetown Train Station opened to service by the Old Colony Railroad in 1873. The successor operator of the Old Colony lines, New York, New Haven and Hartford Railroad, served the station until 1938. (Service was briefly restored in 1940.) The line was formally abandoned in 1960. A large portion of the "road" later converted into three roads (Harry Kemp Way, Railroad Avenue and Rear Howland) plus the "Old Colony Nature Pathway", a 1.3 mi pedestrian path and greenway.

The Cape Cod Regional Transit Authority offers flex route buses between MacMillan Pier and Harwich and a shuttle to Truro. Plymouth & Brockton Street Railway and Peter Pan Bus Lines provide daily bus service to Hyannis Transportation Center with connecting service to Boston, New York, and Providence and the Cape Flyer.

Provincetown is at one end of the scenic "Bike Route 1" from Boston called the Claire Saltonstall Bikeway. The town earned a Silver-level Bicycle Friendly Community Award from the League of American Bicyclists in 2018. Provincetown has the highest rate of year-round bicycle commuters in the state, at 14%, according to the PeopleForBikes City Ratings.

The Provincetown Municipal Airport is located just east of Race Point. This 378 acre airport is surrounded by the Cape Cod National Seashore, and is used mostly for General Aviation, but does receive regular scheduled service to Boston or White Plains, New York (with optional car service to Manhattan) via Cape Air, which also operates code-share flights for JetBlue. The airport is a well-equipped, if small, general-aviation airport with a single 3500 ft runway, an ILS approach, and full lighting. The nearest national and international service is from Logan International Airport in Boston.

Notable people

 * Murray Bartlett (born 1971), actor
 * Anthony Bourdain (1956–2018), chef, author, television host
 * Alice Brock (born 1941), subject of Arlo Guthrie's 1966 song "Alice's Restaurant"
 * Walter P. Chrysler Jr. (1909–1988), art collector, museum founder
 * Barry Clifford (born 1945), underwater explorer, discovered Whydah Galley pirate ship
 * Kate Clinton (born 1947), comedian, writer
 * Robert Duffy (born 1954), co-founder of Marc Jacobs fashion line
 * Alan Emtage (born 1964), internet pioneer, photographer
 * Judy Gold (born 1962), stand-up comedian
 * Al Jaffee (1921–2023), cartoonist for MAD Magazine, famous for the Mad Fold-In
 * Donald B. MacMillan (1874–1970), arctic explorer
 * Jason Moore (born 1970), director
 * Howard Mitcham (1917–1996), artist, poet, cook
 * William Emery Nickerson (1853–1930), inventor with The Gillette Company; namesake of Nickerson Field
 * Sarah Peake (born 1957), state representative for the Democratic Party (United States), 4th Barnstable District
 * Susan J. Swift Steele (1822–1895), social reformer
 * Prescott Townsend (1894–1973), early LGBT activist
 * John Waters (born 1946), filmmaker of Hairspray, Serial Mom, Pink Flamingos
 * Frances L. Whedon (1902–1998), meteorologist, US Army
 * Channing Wilroy (born 1940), actor, Dreamlander
 * Ruth Marie Terry (1936–c. 1974), murder victim discovered in 1974, known as Lady of the Dunes until her identification in 2022

Writers and journalists

 * Louise Bryant (1885–1936), journalist, author
 * Michael Cunningham (born 1952), Pulitzer Prize-winning author of The Hours
 * Pat de Groot (1930–2018), English-born American painter
 * Mark Doty (born 1953), poet, author
 * David Drake (born 1963), Obie Award-winning playwright, stage director
 * Susan Glaspell (1876–1948), Pulitzer Prize-winning playwright, author
 * Frank X. Gaspar (unknown), poet, author
 * Harry Kemp (1883–1960), "poet of the dunes", author of Tramping on Life and More Miles
 * Stanley Kunitz (1905–2006), former United States Poet Laureate in 1974, and then again in 2000
 * Ryan Landry (unknown), playwright, painter
 * Norman Mailer (1923–2007), Pulitzer Prize-winning author, co-founder of The Village Voice
 * William J. Mann (born 1963), author, historian
 * Cookie Mueller (1949–1989), writer, performer, Dreamlander
 * Ryan Murphy (born 1965), television screenwriter, director, producer
 * Eugene O'Neill (1888–1953), Pulitzer Prize and Nobel Prize-winning author
 * Mary Oliver (1935–2019), Pulitzer Prize-winning poet
 * Mark Protosevich (born 1961), screenwriter of The Cell, I Am Legend, Poseidon
 * John Reed (1887–1920), journalist, poet, communist activist
 * Andrew Sullivan (born 1963), author, writer, blogger
 * Andy Towle (unknown), poet, writer, founder of Towleroad.com
 * Kurt Vonnegut (1922–2007), Hugo Award-winning author
 * Mary Heaton Vorse (1874–1976), journalist, labor activist, social critic, novelist
 * Tennessee Williams (1911–1983), Pulitzer Prize-winning playwright

Visual artists

 * Nela Arias-Misson (1915–2015), abstract expressionist painter, sculptor
 * Max Bohm (1868–1923), artist
 * Edwin Dickinson (1891–1978), painter, draftsman
 * Helen Frankenthaler (1928–2011), abstract expressionist painter
 * Ada Gilmore (1883–1955), watercolorist, printmaker, one of the Provincetown Printers
 * Nanno de Groot (1913–1963), belonged to the New York School abstract expressionist artists of the 1950s
 * Marsden Hartley (1877–1943), American Modernist painter, poet, essayist
 * Charles Webster Hawthorne (1872–1930), painter, founder of the Cape Cod School of Art
 * Henry Hensche (1899–1992), painter, teacher
 * Hans Hofmann (1880–1966), painter, artist, teacher
 * Edward Hopper (1882–1967), American realist painter, printmaker
 * Candy Jernigan (1952–1991), artist, graphic designer, set designer
 * Franz Kline (1910–1962), abstract expressionist painter
 * Karl Knaths (1891–1971), artist
 * Willem de Kooning (1904–1997), abstract expressionist artist
 * Blanche Lazzell (1878–1956), painter, printmaker, designer
 * Herman Maril (1908–1986), artist, emeritus professor of painting at University of Maryland
 * Joel Meyerowitz (born 1938), photographer
 * Ross Moffett (1888–1971), artist
 * George Morrison (1919–2000), Ojibwe painter, sculptor
 * Robert Motherwell (1915–1991), abstract expressionist painter, printmaker, editor
 * Lillian Orlowsky (1914–2004), American Modernist artist
 * Anne Packard (born 1933), artist
 * Fritz Pfeiffer (1889–1960), artist
 * Mark Rothko (1903–1970), artist closely associated with the abstract expressionist movement
 * Selina Trieff (1934–2015), artist, painter
 * Jack Tworkov (1900–1982), abstract expressionist painter
 * Ferol Sibley Warthen (1890–1986), painter, printmaker
 * Agnes Weinrich (1873–1946), artist interesting early on in modernist, abstract, and cubist styles
 * Edith Lake Wilkinson (1868–1957), artist
 * Martha Dewing Woodward (1856–1950), created Provincetown's first summer art school in 1896

Provincetown in popular culture
Provincetown features in the following productions:

 * Tough Guys Don't Dance (film) (1987)
 * Hightown (2020–2024)
 * American Horror Story: Double Feature (2021)
 * Bros (2022)

title: Provincetown, Massachusetts


text:
User:Amillar/Contributions

user:Amillar

To Do

 * Theodorus Lector
 * Valesius
 * Jodocus Hondius cartographer
 * Thomas Jefferys Geographer of King George III
 * Eucherius of Lyons
 * Matthew George Easton
 * Henry Barclay Swete
 * Jacopone da Todi

Lists
 * Composer
 * Ante-Nicene Fathers, Nicene and Post-Nicene Fathers
 * Pope, Archbishop of Canterbury
 * Public domain resources

2004

 * Gennadius of Massilia - new, Schaff, EB1911, Wace

 * Image:Pope-eugenius-iv.jpg for Pope Eugene IV

 * Eustathius of Antioch

 * Sozomen new - Schaff, EB1911

 * Gennadius I - new, Schaff
 * Gennadius II - new, Schaff

 * Image:Map-alexander-empire.png new

 * Nectarius of Jerusalem new - Schaff
 * Macarius of Jerusalem new - Schaff
 * Macarius Magnes new - Schaff
 * Macarius of Alexandria new - Schaff
 * Macarius new disambig
 * Macarius of Egypt new - Schaff

 * Christopher Love new - Schaff
 * Pope Lucius I
 * Pope Lucius II
 * Pope Honorius IV
 * Pope Honorius III
 * Antipope Honorius II
 * OSI Model

2003

 * Mongoose picture
 * Pangolin picture
 * Bryde's Whale picture
 * Wolverine picture
 * Scottish Deerhound picture
 * Airedale Terrier picture

 * Alviso, California new
 * Redwood Shores, California new
 * Hayward-San Mateo Bridge new
 * anteater - 1911 EB
 * Guillaume Delisle cartographer
 * John Ogilby
 * Great Yarmouth 1911 EB
 * Martin Frobisher 1911 EB

 * badger picture
 * lynx picture
 * coati picture

 * fox new red fox picture
 * margay stub, picture
 * condor picture

 * Tandem Computers new
 * Ungermann-Bass new
 * StarLAN new
 * TIA-568B new

 * Aqueduct picture
 * Pont du Gard picture

 * tuba picture
 * silkworm picture
 * spinning wheel picture
 * Lord Palmerston picture

 * Benito Juarez (Picture)
 * Plato (Picture)
 * Roman Colosseum (Picture)
 * The Panthéon (picture)
 * Brooklyn Bridge (Picture)
 * Aardvark (picture)

 * mink
 * weasel picture

 * ferret picture

2002

 * List of people by name major rework

 * Condor 1911
 * Chalcedon 1911
 * Titian
 * Bernicia 1911
 * Deira 1911
 * Glencoe, Scotland 1911
 * George MacDonald 1911
 * Augustinians
 * Thermopylae 1911
 * Inverness 1911
 * Papias
 * Bernard of Clairvaux - Cistercians
 * Hilary of Poitiers
 * Thomas Young 1911
 * Paul Revere 1911
 * Photius
 * Sussex 1911
 * Kingdom of Sussex 1911
 * Gloucester 1911
 * Wittenberg
 * Lucas Cranach the elder 1911
 * Warwickshire 1911
 * Domesday Book 1911
 * Gloucestershire
 * Pope Paul III Schaff
 * Crimea
 * Pope Paul II Scaff
 * Pope Paul I Schaff
 * Leiden
 * Timur 1911
 * Hubert van Eyck 1911
 * Jan van Eyck 1911
 * Hieronymus Bosch artist 1526
 * William Byrd
 * Cuthbert of Lindisfarne
 * Carl Maria von Weber 1911
 * Augustine of Canterbury
 * Gioacchino Rossini 1911
 * Jean Baptiste Lully 1911
 * Tatian
 * Georg Major 1911
 * Marie Antoinette 1911
 * Pliny the Elder 1911
 * Franz Schubert 1911
 * Robert Schumann 1911
 * John Newton
 * Manuel I Comnenus
 * Manuel II Palaeologus
 * William of Tyre
 * Beaver
 * Porcupine
 * Pope Leo I
 * Arcangelo Corelli
 * Domenico Scarlatti
 * Alessandro Scarlatti
 * Socrates Scholasticus
 * John Milton
 * Saint Nicephorus
 * Thomas a Kempis
 * John Wesley
 * Johann Eck
 * Theodore Beza
 * Myles Coverdale
 * Roger Williams
 * Berengar of Tours
 * John Bunyan
 * Robert Estienne new
 * Stephen Langton
 * Philipp Melanchthon Schaff
 * Hildegard of Bingen
 * Theodoret

 * Tertullian
 * Barnabas
 * Apollos
 * Epistle to the Hebrews
 * Eusebius of Nicomedia Schaff
 * Pope Eusebius Schaff

 * Eusebius of Alexandria Schaff
 * Eusebius of Angers Schaff
 * Eusebius of Caesarea Schaff
 * Eusebius of Nicomedia Schaff
 * Eusebius
 * Origen Schaff
 * Clement of Alexandria
 * Telephone
 * Public switched telephone network

 * Justin Martyr Schaff
 * Justinian I
 * Justus
 * Archbishop of Canterbury
 * Cyril of Alexandria
 * Saint Cyril Schaff
 * Methodius Schaff
 * Cyril of Jerusalem Schaff
 * Cyrus the Great
 * Jerome
 * Septimius Severus
 * Thomas Aquinas

 * Alexander of Hales
 * Genesis
 * First Council of Nicaea Schaff
 * Second Council of Nicaea Schaff
 * First Council of Constantinople Schaff
 * Fourth Council of Constantinople Schaff
 * Gasparo Contarini
 * Jan Hus Schaff
 * Hussite
 * John Wyclif
 * Huldreich Zwingli Schaff
 * Ignatius Loyola Schaff
 * John Knox Schaff

 * History of computing hardware
 * History of Microsoft Windows
 * History of the graphical user interface
 * Multiple Sclerosis
 * Sleep apnea
 * Starship Troopers
 * X Window System
 * Year 2000 problem
 * Albert

2001

 * Squirrel
 * Chipmunk
 * Capybara
 * Internet_Explorer

 * Aardvark 1911
 * Alphonse I
 * Anteater
 * Arctic fox
 * Armadillo
 * Aves
 * Bear

 * Biblical canon
 * Book of Amos Eastman
 * Book of Esther Eastman
 * Book of Ezra Eastman
 * Book of Habakkuk Eastman
 * Book of Haggai Eastman
 * Book of Hosea Eastman
 * Book of Job Eastman
 * Book of Joel Eastman
 * Book of Jonah Eastman
 * Book of Judges Eastman
 * Book of Lamentations Eastman
 * Book of Malachi Eastman
 * Book of Micah Eastman
 * Book of Nahum Eastman
 * Book of Nehemiah Eastman
 * Book of Numbers Eastman
 * Book of Obadiah Eastman
 * Book of Revelation Eastman
 * Book of Ruth Eastman
 * Book of Zecharaiah Eastman
 * Book of Zechariah Eastman
 * Book of Zephaniah Eastman
 * Books of Chronicles Eastman
 * Books of Kings Eastman
 * Books of Samuel Eastman
 * Books of the Bible
 * Camel Eastman
 * Carnivora
 * Command line interface
 * Crusade new
 * Epistle of James Eastman
 * Epistles to the Thessalonians Eastman
 * Epistle to Galatians Eastman
 * Epistle to Philemon Eastman
 * Epistle to Philippians Eastman
 * Epistle to the Colossians Eastman
 * Epistle to Titus Eastman
 * Esther Eastman
 * Exodus Eastman
 * First Epistle of John Eastman
 * First Epistle of Peter Eastman
 * First Epistle to the Corinthians Eastman
 * First Epistle to Timothy Eastman
 * Fox
 * Free Methodist Church new
 * Gary Kildall
 * Giraffe
 * Gopher
 * Gopher protocol
 * Gospel of John Eastman
 * Graphical user interface
 * Habakkuk Eastman
 * Haggai Eastman
 * History of the graphical user interface
 * Hosea Eastman
 * Jonah Eastman
 * Killer whale
 * KDE
 * Lynx
 * Malachi Eastman
 * Manatee
 * Marsupial
 * Micah
 * Microsoft Excel
 * Microsoft Windows
 * Microsoft Word
 * Minicomputer

 * Mouse
 * MS-DOS
 * MultiPlan
 * Nahum Eastman
 * Obadiah Eastman
 * Panda
 * Penguin
 * Perissodactyla
 * Philemon Eastman
 * Phillipians Eastman
 * Platypus
 * Public Domain Resources
 * Roman Empire
 * Roman Kingdom
 * Samuel
 * Scarlatti
 * Second Epistle of John Eastman
 * Second Epistle of Peter Eastman
 * Second Epistle to the Corinthians Eastman
 * Second Epistle to Timothy Eastman
 * Starship Troopers
 * Steampunk
 * Tanach
 * Tetraodontiformes
 * Third Epistle of John
 * Titus
 * Tomaso Albinoni
 * Torah
 * Walrus
 * Web browser
 * Xenarthra
 * Zephaniah
 * Bison

 * Albatross    (picture)
 * Alligator    (picture)
 * Armadillo    (picture)
 * Asteroid    (picture)
 * Astronaut    (picture)
 * Elephant    (picture)
 * Louisiana Purchase    (picture)
 * Manatee    (picture)
 * Mouse    (picture)
 * Penguin    (picture)
 * Prairie dog    (picture)
 * Porcupinefish    (picture)
 * Space_Shuttle    (picture)
 * Space_Shuttle_Atlantis    (picture)
 * Space_Shuttle_Challenger    (picture)
 * Space_Shuttle_Columbia    (picture)
 * Space_Shuttle_Discovery    (picture)
 * Space_Shuttle_Endeavour    (picture)
 * Space_Shuttle_Enterprise    (picture)
 * Squirrel    (picture)
 * Tiger    (picture)
 * United_States_Declaration_of_Independence    (picture)
 * Volcano    (picture)
 * Vulture    (picture)
 * Wolf    (picture)
 * Zeppelin    (picture)

 * Harp    (picture)
 * Clarinet    (picture)
 * Cuttlefish    (picture)
 * French_horn    (picture)
 * Flute    (picture)
 * Chipmunk    (picture)
 * Capybara    (picture)
 * Giovanni_Pierluigi_da_Palestrina    (picture)
 * George_Friderich_Handel    (picture)
 * Alessandro_Scarlatti    (picture)
 * Whitefish    (picture)
 * Anchovy    (picture)
 * Killer_whale    (picture)
 * Alpaca    (picture)
 * Aardwolf    (picture)
 * Platypus    (picture)
 * Walrus    (picture)

 * Arctic_fox    (picture)
 * Llama    (picture)
 * Camel    (picture)
 * Pufferfish    (picture)
 * Siberian_husky    (picture)

 * Horse    (picture)

license: Creative Commons - Attribution Share-Alike - https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-sa/4.0/

title: User:Amillar/Contributions


text:
Saint Anselm (disambiguation)

Saint Anselm or Anselm of Canterbury was archbishop of Canterbury in the 11th and 12th centuries.

Saint Anselm may also refer to:
 * Saint Anselm of Lucca the Younger (1036–1086), bishop of Lucca, Italy
 * Saint Anselm, Duke of Friuli (died 805)
 * Saint Anselm Abbey (New Hampshire), a Benedictine abbey of monks in Goffstown, New Hampshire, United States
 * Saint Anselm College, its associated college
 * Sant'Anselmo all'Aventino, the primatial abbey of the Benedictines in Rome, Italy, that has four institutions:
 * Pontifical Atheneum of St. Anselm (Pontificio Ateneo Sant'Anselmo), its associated pontifical university
 * College of Sant'Anselmo, its ecclesiastical residential college
 * Curia of the Benedictine Confederation located at Sant'Anselmo
 * Church of Sant'Anselmo located on the grounds of Sant'Anselmo all'Aventino

title: Saint Anselm (disambiguation)


text:
Straw man

A straw man fallacy (sometimes written as strawman) is the informal fallacy of refuting an argument different from the one actually under discussion, while not recognizing or acknowledging the distinction. One who engages in this fallacy is said to be "attacking a straw man".

The typical straw man argument creates the illusion of having refuted or defeated an opponent's proposition through the covert replacement of it with a different proposition (i.e., "stand up a straw man") and the subsequent refutation of that false argument ("knock down a straw man") instead of the opponent's proposition. Straw man arguments have been used throughout history in polemical debate, particularly regarding highly charged emotional subjects.

Straw man tactics in the United Kingdom may also be known as an Aunt Sally, after a pub game of the same name, where patrons throw sticks or battens at a post to knock off a skittle balanced on top.

Overview
The straw man fallacy occurs in the following pattern of argument:

 * 1) Person 1 asserts proposition X.
 * 2) Person 2 argues against a superficially similar proposition Y, falsely, as if an argument against Y were an argument against X.

This reasoning is a fallacy of relevance: it fails to address the proposition in question by misrepresenting the opposing position.

For example:
 * Quoting an opponent's words out of context—i.e., choosing quotations that misrepresent the opponent's intentions (see fallacy of quoting out of context).
 * Presenting someone who defends a position poorly as the defender, then denying that person's arguments—thus giving the appearance that every upholder of that position (and thus the position itself) has been defeated.
 * Oversimplifying an opponent's argument, then attacking this oversimplified version.
 * Exaggerating (sometimes grossly) an opponent's argument, then attacking this exaggerated version.

Contemporary revisions
In 2006, Robert Talisse and Scott Aikin expanded the application and use of the straw man fallacy beyond that of previous rhetorical scholars, arguing that the straw man fallacy can take two forms: the original form that misrepresents the opponent's position, which they call the representative form; and a new form they call the selection form.

The selection form focuses on a partial and weaker (and easier to refute) representation of the opponent's position. Then the easier refutation of this weaker position is claimed to refute the opponent's complete position. They point out the similarity of the selection form to the fallacy of hasty generalization, in which the refutation of an opposing position that is weaker than the opponent's is claimed as a refutation of all opposing arguments. Because they have found significantly increased use of the selection form in modern political argumentation, they view its identification as an important new tool for the improvement of public discourse.

Aikin and Casey expanded on this model in 2010, introducing a third form. Referring to the "representative form" as the classic straw man, and the "selection form" as the weak man, the third form is called the hollow man. A hollow man argument is one that is a complete fabrication, where both the viewpoint and the opponent expressing it do not in fact exist, or at the very least the arguer has never encountered them. Such arguments frequently take the form of vague phrasing such as "some say," "someone out there thinks" or similar weasel words, or it might attribute a non-existent argument to a broad movement in general, rather than an individual or organization.

Nutpicking
A variation on the selection form, or "weak man" argument, that combines with an ad hominem and fallacy of composition is nutpicking (or nut picking), a neologism coined by Kevin Drum. A combination of "nut" (i.e., insane person) and "cherry picking", as well as a play on the word "nitpicking," nut picking refers to intentionally seeking out extremely fringe, non-representative statements from or members of an opposing group and parading these as evidence of that entire group's incompetence or irrationality.

Steelmanning
A steel man argument (or steelmanning) is the opposite of a straw man argument. Steelmanning is the practice of applying the rhetorical principle of charity through addressing the strongest form of the other person's argument, even if it is not the one they explicitly presented. Creating the strongest form of the opponent's argument may involve removing flawed assumptions that could be easily refuted or developing the strongest points which counter one's own position. Developing counters to steel man arguments may produce a stronger argument for one's own position.

Examples
In a 1977 appeal of a U.S. bank robbery conviction, a prosecuting attorney said in his oral argument: "I submit to you that if you can't take this evidence and find these defendants guilty on this evidence then we might as well open all the banks and say, "Come on and get the money, boys," because we'll never be able to convict them."

This was a straw man designed to alarm the appellate judges; the chance that the precedent set by one case would literally make it impossible to convict any bank robbers is remote.

Another example of a strawman argument is U.S. president Richard Nixon's 1952 "Checkers speech". When campaigning for vice president in 1952, Nixon was accused of having illegally appropriated $18,000 in campaign funds for his personal use. In a televised response, based on Franklin D. Roosevelt's Fala speech, he spoke about another gift, a dog he had been given by a supporter:

"It was a little cocker spaniel dog, in a crate he had sent all the way from Texas, black and white, spotted, and our little girl Tricia, six years old, named it Checkers. And, you know, the kids, like all kids, loved the dog, and I just want to say this right now, that, regardless of what they say about it, we are going to keep it."

This was a straw man response; his critics had never criticized the dog as a gift or suggested he return it. This argument was successful at distracting many people from the funds and portraying his critics as nitpicking and heartless. Nixon received an outpouring of public support and remained on the ticket. He and Eisenhower were later elected.

Christopher Tindale presents, as an example, the following passage from a draft of a bill (HCR 74) considered by the Louisiana State Legislature in 2001:

"Whereas, the writings of Charles Darwin, the father of evolution, promoted the justification of racism, and his books On the Origin of Species and The Descent of Man postulate a hierarchy of superior and inferior races. . ..

Therefore, be it resolved that the legislature of Louisiana does hereby deplore all instances and all ideologies of racism, does hereby reject the core concepts of Darwinist ideology that certain races and classes of humans are inherently superior to others, and does hereby condemn the extent to which these philosophies have been used to justify and approve racist practices."

Tindale comments that "the portrait painted of Darwinian ideology is a caricature, one not borne out by any objective survey of the works cited." The fact that similar misrepresentations of Darwinian thinking have been used to justify and approve racist practices is beside the point: the position that the legislation is attacking and dismissing is a straw man. In subsequent debate, this error was recognized, and the eventual bill omitted all mention of Darwin and Darwinist ideology. Darwin passionately opposed slavery and worked to intellectually confront the notions of "scientific racism" that were used to justify it.

Etymology
As a fallacy, the identification and name of straw man arguments are of relatively recent date, although Aristotle makes remarks that suggest a similar concern; Douglas N. Walton identified "the first inclusion of it we can find in a textbook as an informal fallacy" in Stuart Chase's Guides to Straight Thinking from 1956 (p. 40). By contrast, Hamblin's classic text Fallacies (1970) neither mentions it as a distinct type, nor even as a historical term.

The term's origins are a matter of debate, though the usage of the term in rhetoric suggests a human figure made of straw that is easy to knock down or destroy—such as a military training dummy, scarecrow, or effigy. A common but false etymology is that it refers to men who stood outside courthouses with a straw in their shoe to signal their willingness to be a false witness. The Online Etymology Dictionary states that the term "man of straw" can be traced back to 1620 as "an easily refuted imaginary opponent in an argument."

Related usage
Reverend William Harrison, in A Description of England (1577), complained that when men lived in houses of willow they were men of oak, but now they lived in houses of oak and had become men of willow and "a great manie altogither of straw, which is a sore alteration [i.e. a sad change]." The phrase men of straw appears to refer to pampered softness and a lack of character, rather than the modern meaning.

Martin Luther blames his opponents for misrepresenting his arguments in his work On the Babylonian Captivity of the Church (1520):

"Respondeo, id genus disputandi omnibus familiare esse, qui contra Lutherum scribunt, ut hoc asserant quod impugnant, aut fingant quod impugnent. (I answer that this kind of discussion is familiar to all who write against Luther, so they can assert (or: plant, literally: sow) what they attack, or pretend what they attack.)"

Luther's Latin text does not use the phrase "man of straw". This is used in a widespread early 20th century English translation of his work, the Philadelphia Edition

"My answer is, that this sort of argument is common to all those who write against Luther. They assert the very things they assail, or they set up a man of straw whom they may attack."

In the quote, he responds to arguments of the Roman Catholic Church and clergy attempting to delegitimize his criticisms, specifically on the correct way to serve the Eucharist. The church claimed Martin Luther is arguing against serving the Eucharist according to one type of serving practice; Martin Luther states he never asserted that in his criticisms towards them and in fact they themselves are making this argument.

title: Straw man


text:
Wellfleet, Massachusetts

Wellfleet is a town in Barnstable County, Massachusetts, United States, and is located halfway between the "tip" and "elbow" of Cape Cod. The town had a population of 3,566 at the 2020 census, which swells nearly sixfold during the summer. A total of 70% of the town's land area is under protection, and nearly half of it is part of the Cape Cod National Seashore. Wellfleet is famous for its oysters, which are celebrated in the annual October Wellfleet OysterFest.

History
The area was originally settled by Europeans in the 1650s as Billingsgate (after the famous fish market in East London). In 1717, the pirate "Black Sam" Bellamy was sailing nearby when his ship, the Whydah, sank offshore, together with over 4.5 ST of gold and silver and all but two of its 145 men. The wreck was discovered in 1984, the first of only two confirmed pirate shipwrecks ever to have been discovered.

Wellfleet was part of neighboring Eastham until 1763 when it achieved town status after nearly 30 years of petitioning. Wellfleet's oyster beds drove the early economy, as did whaling and fishing. The town was home to 30 whaling ships at the time of the American Revolution.

Because of the decline of whaling and the mackerel catch in the late 19th century, the fleet declined, being completely free of schooners by 1900. The oyster fleet continued, however, and many types of shellfish continue to be harvested. Despite this decline, a church near the town center continues to operate a clock that chimes ship’s time.

Guglielmo Marconi built the USA's first transatlantic radio transmitter station on a coastal bluff in South Wellfleet in 1901–1902. The first radio telegraph transmission from the United States to England was sent from this station on January 18, 1903, a ceremonial telegram from President Theodore Roosevelt to King Edward VII. Most of the transmitter site is gone, however, as three quarters of the land it originally encompassed has been eroded into the sea. The South Wellfleet station's first call sign was "CC" for Cape Cod.

In 1961, President John F. Kennedy created the Cape Cod National Seashore, which encompasses most of the Atlantic shoreline of Cape Cod. In Wellfleet, the territory circles the town, from Jeremy Point through the marshes and "islands" along the Herring River, includes Cahoon Hollow Beach, and extends the length of the Atlantic shore of the town.

Construction of the Chequessett Inn in the late 19th century contributed to the development of a tourist economy in Wellfleet. The town has the second greatest concentration of art galleries on Cape Cod, right after Provincetown. It is also a popular retirement spot.

Geography
According to the United States Census Bureau, the town has a total area of 91.7 km2, of which 51.3 km2 is land and 40.5 km2, or 44.11%, is water. Wellfleet is bordered by Truro to the north, the Atlantic Ocean to the east, Eastham to the south, and Cape Cod Bay to the west. Wellfleet is approximately 14 mi south of Provincetown, 33 mi (by road) northeast of Barnstable, 48 mi from the Sagamore Bridge, and 100 mi (by road) southeast of Boston.

The lands of Wellfleet wrap around Wellfleet Harbor, extending from the main portion of the Cape around the harbor to Jeremy Point. At one time, Wellfleet Harbor included an island known as Billingsgate Island, which sat at the harbor's mouth, to the south of the point. Once a flourishing small community with a lighthouse, the island was destroyed by coastal erosion and now exists as a shoal that is exposed at low tide. The Billingsgate shoals are split between Wellfleet and neighboring Eastham. Several other inlets extend inland from the harbor, at the mouth of the Herring River (also called "The Gut"), Duck Creek, Blackfish Creek and Fresh Brook (commonly known as "The Run") which leads to several brooks.

In addition to the Seashore, Wellfleet Bay Wildlife Sanctuary, run by Massachusetts Audubon, surrounds much of The Run, including part of Small Island (between The Run and Blackfish Creek). Between the sanctuary, seashore and other small parks and beaches, seventy percent of the town's area is protected.

A small whaling community was founded on the land that is now Wellfleet Bay Wildlife Sanctuary, and was originally known as Silver Spring, after Silver Spring Brook. What remains of it is a marsh that was once its harbor, known as the Silver Spring Brook Marshes. This land is now protected by the Massachusetts Audubon Society in its Wellfleet Bay Sanctuary.

Climate
The town of Wellfleet has a mild summer humid continental climate (Dfb). The plant hardiness zone is 7a, with an average annual extreme minimum air temperature of 3.6 °F (−15.7 °C). The average seasonal (Nov–Apr) snowfall total is around 30 in (76 cm). The average snowiest month is February, which corresponds to the annual peak in nor'easter activity.

Transportation
U.S. Route 6 passes from north to south through the town. The town's commercial center lies west of the route, along the shores of the harbor. The route was straightened in the mid-20th century, and some maps still consider the "old" Route 6 to be a portion of Route 6A. The town has no rail or air service. The last train left the area in the 1930s, the train station was razed and the tracks were torn up through Provincetown. The old rail line was turned into a bicycle trail, named the Cod Rail Trail, which ends in South Wellfleet. The nearest municipal airports are in Chatham and Provincetown, both about 18 mi from town; the nearest national and international service can be found at Logan International Airport in Boston.

There is currently limited bus service between Wellfleet and Hyannis, and from there on to Boston and Logan Airport, on the Plymouth & Brockton Street Railway Company, a Plymouth-based bus service. The CCRTA, which runs between Hyannis and Provincetown, also makes stops in Wellfleet.

Demographics

As of the census of 2000, there were 2,749 people, 1,301 households, and 724 families residing in the town. The population density was 138.6 PD/sqmi. There were 3,998 housing units at an average density of 201.6 /sqmi. The racial makeup of the town was 96.58% White, 0.95% African American, 0.29% Native American, 0.36% Asian, 0.04% Pacific Islander, 0.58% from other races, and 1.20% from two or more races. Hispanic or Latino of any race were 0.69% of the population.

There were 1,301 households, out of which 20.0% had children under the age of 18 living with them, 44.8% were married couples living together, 8.2% had a female householder with no husband present, and 44.3% were non-families. Of all households, 34.8% were made up of individuals, and 13.2% had someone living alone who was 65 years of age or older. The average household size was 2.11 and the average family size was 2.75.

In the town, the population was spread out, with 17.8% under the age of 18, 4.9% from 18 to 24, 23.3% from 25 to 44, 32.2% from 45 to 64, and 21.7% who were 65 years of age or older. The median age was 47 years. For every 100 females, there were 89.2 males. For every 100 females age 18 and over, there were 83.5 males.

The median income for a household in the town was $43,558, and the median income for a family was $50,990. Males had a median income of $38,100 versus $35,964 for females. The per capita income for the town was $25,712. About 5.7% of families and 7.5% of the population were below the poverty line, including 9.7% of those under age 18 and 6.0% of those age 65 or over.

Government
Wellfleet 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 towns 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 towns of Bourne, Falmouth, Sandwich and a portion of Barnstable. Wellfleet is patrolled by the Second (Yarmouth) Barracks of Troop D of the Massachusetts State Police.

On the national level, Wellfleet is a part of the 9th congressional district, currently represented by Bill Keating. The state's senior (Class I) member of the United States Senate, elected in 2012, is Elizabeth Warren. The junior (Class II) senator, elected on April 30, 2013, is Ed Markey.

Wellfleet is governed by the open town meeting form of government and a board of selectmen, who employ a town administrator to oversee day-to-day business. The town has its own police and fire departments, headquartered on Route 6 near the town center. There are two post offices, and both are also located along Route 6. The Wellfleet Public Library is located in the town center, in a former curtain and candle factory converted in 1989.

Education
Wellfleet, Brewster, Truro, Provincetown, Eastham and Orleans make up the Nauset Regional School District. Each town operates its own elementary schools, with a regional middle school and high school accepting the students of all four towns. Wellfleet Elementary School is located just off Route 6 near the town center, and serves students from kindergarten to fifth grade. The Nauset Regional Middle School is located in Orleans, and the Nauset Regional High School is located in neighboring Eastham. There are no private schools in Wellfleet; high school students may, however, choose to attend Cape Cod Regional Technical High School in Harwich free of charge.

Notable people

 * Martha Atwood, soprano
 * Lorenzo Dow Baker, entrepreneur, pioneer of the American commercialization of bananas
 * Samuel Bellamy, pirate
 * Berry Berenson, actress, photographer, model; victim of September 11 attacks
 * William Birenbaum (1923–2010), college administrator who served as president of Antioch College
 * Serge Chermayeff, architect
 * Mike DeVito, NFL player for nine seasons
 * Edwin Dickinson, artist
 * John Dos Passos, writer
 * Janet Doub Erickson, co-founder of the Blockhouse of Boston, artist, and author
 * Gilbert Franklin, sculptor, educator
 * Bernard Greenhouse, cellist
 * John M. Johansen, architect
 * Allen Kurzweil, writer
 * Robert Jay Lifton, psychiatrist, author
 * Guglielmo Marconi, technology pioneer
 * Mary McCarthy, writer
 * William McFeely, historian
 * Anthony Perkins, actor, singer, director
 * Marge Piercy, poet
 * Jane Piper (1916–1991), artist
 * Stephen Russell, actor, theater director
 * Arthur Schlesinger, Jr., historian
 * Edmund Wilson, literary critic
 * Howard Zinn, historian

title: Wellfleet, Massachusetts