Happy 350th Birthday, Eastham!
Eastham has one of the farthest-reaching histories on Cape Cod. Shortly after landing in Provincetown in 1620, a Pilgrim hunting party led by Miles Standish stumbled upon Native Americans at the site of current day First Encounter Beach. Arrows and musket fire were exchanged and the Pilgrims did not return to the area of Eastham for another twenty-four years. In 1644, a group of Pilgrims, dissatisfied with the lands in Plymouth returned to settle on a large portion of the lower Cape. On June 7, 1651, a part of the land originally known as Nauset was incorporated and renamed Eastham.
Up until the beginning of the 20th century,
Eastham enjoyed a successful economy supported by farming and of course,
fishing. For a time Eastham's economic focus was on salt production and the
growing of asparagus and turnips. The vast forests were cleared for lumber,
fuel and fields and by the early 1900s, the rich farming and forest lands of
Eastham were barren and treeless. Eastham again looked to the sea for economic
stability.
Now Eastham is best known as the "Gateway to the National Seashore." The creation of the National Seashore in 1961 helped to preserve the land (one third of the town) and the quaintness of Cape Cod.
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