How the Cape Got Its Name
For
centuries, codfish have figured prominently in our history and fortunes.
Although many explorers and fishermen had sailed our waters in the 1500s, Bartholemew Gosnold is credited with the "European discovery" of New England decades later.
In 1602, Gosnold set off to explore the coast south of Nova Scotia in search of a passage to Asia, rich in sassafras.
He named our coast Cape Cod and made note in his logbooks about the plentiful "codfyshes" which "pestered" his ship.
Today, the cod is our state fish, and the Massachusetts House of Representatives may be the only legislative body to deliberate under a giant carved replica of one. The way the cod's head points--east or west--is determined by which party is currently in power.
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