Provincetown, Mass.
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Provincetown () is a
New England town The town is the basic unit of Local government in the United States, local government and local division of state authority in the six New England states. Most other U.S. states lack a direct counterpart to the New England town. New England town ...
located at the extreme tip of
Cape Cod Cape Cod is a peninsula extending into the Atlantic Ocean from the southeastern corner of Massachusetts, in the northeastern United States. Its historic, maritime character and ample beaches attract heavy tourism during the summer months. The ...
in
Barnstable County, Massachusetts Barnstable County is a County (United States), county in the U.S. state of Massachusetts. At the 2020 United States census, 2020 census, the population was 228,996. The county seat is Barnstable, Massachusetts, Barnstable. The county consists ...
, in the United States. A small
coastal resort town A seaside resort is a city, town, village, or hotel that serves as a vacation resort and is located on a coast. Sometimes the concept includes an aspect of an official accreditation based on the satisfaction of certain requirements such as in t ...
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 A harbor (American English), or harbour (Commonwealth English; see spelling differences), is a sheltered body of water where ships, boats, and barges can be moored. The term ''harbor'' is often used interchangeably with ''port'', which is ...
, artists and tourist industry.


History

At the time of European encounter, the area was long settled by the historic
Nauset The Nauset people, sometimes referred to as the Cape Cod Indians, were a Native American tribe who lived in Cape Cod, Massachusetts. They lived east of Bass River and lands occupied by their closely related neighbors, the Wampanoag. Although th ...
tribe, who had a settlement known as "Meeshawn". They spoke
Massachusett The Massachusett are a Native American tribe from the region in and around present-day Greater Boston in the Commonwealth of Massachusetts. The name comes from the Massachusett language term for "At the Great Hill," referring to the Blue Hills ...
, a Southern New England
Algonquian language Algonquian language may refer to: * Algonquian languages, language sub-family indigenous to North America * Algonquin language, an Algonquian language closely related to the Ojibwe language {{disambiguation ...
dialect that they shared in common with their closely related neighbors, the
Wampanoag The Wampanoag, also rendered Wôpanâak, are a Native Americans in the United States, Native American people of the Indigenous peoples of the Northeastern Woodlands, Northeastern Woodlands currently based in southeastern Massachusetts and forme ...
. On May 15, 1602, having made landfall from the west and believing it to be an island,
Bartholomew Gosnold Bartholomew Gosnold ( – ) was an English barrister, explorer and privateer who was instrumental in founding the Virginia Company in London and Jamestown in colonial America. He led the first recorded European expedition to Cape Cod. He is co ...
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; not until much later was that that name reused to designate the entire region now known as
Cape Cod Cape Cod is a peninsula extending into the Atlantic Ocean from the southeastern corner of Massachusetts, in the northeastern United States. Its historic, maritime character and ample beaches attract heavy tourism during the summer months. The ...
. On November 9, 1620, the Pilgrims aboard the ''
Mayflower ''Mayflower'' was an English sailing ship that transported a group of English families, known today as the Pilgrims, from England to the New World in 1620. After 10 weeks at sea, ''Mayflower'', with 102 passengers and a crew of about 30, reac ...
'' sighted Cape Cod while en route to the
Colony of Virginia The Colony of Virginia was a British Empire, British colonial settlement in North America from 1606 to 1776. The first effort to create an English settlement in the area was chartered in 1584 and established in 1585; the resulting Roanoke Colo ...
. 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 Provincetown Harbor is a large harbor#Natural harbors, natural harbor located in the town of Provincetown, Massachusetts, Provincetown, Massachusetts. The harbor is mostly deep and stretches roughly from northwest to southeast and from northea ...
, and set anchor. It was here that the
Mayflower Compact The Mayflower Compact, originally titled Agreement Between the Settlers of New Plymouth, was the first governing document of Plymouth Colony. It was written by the men aboard the ''Mayflower,'' consisting of Separatist Puritans, adventurers, a ...
was drawn up and signed. The event is memorialized in a
sculpture Sculpture is the branch of the visual arts that operates in three dimensions. Sculpture is the three-dimensional art work which is physically presented in the dimensions of height, width and depth. It is one of the plastic arts. Durable sc ...
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 Plymouth ( ) is a port city status in the United Kingdom, city and unitary authority in Devon, South West England. It is located on Devon's south coast between the rivers River Plym, Plym and River Tamar, Tamar, about southwest of Exeter and ...
, 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 Plymouth Colony (sometimes spelled Plimouth) was the first permanent English colony in New England from 1620 and the third permanent English colony in America, after Newfoundland and the Jamestown Colony. It was settled by the passengers on t ...
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 (now known as Pilgrim Lake)—near the present-day border between Provincetown and
Truro Truro (; ) is a City status in the United Kingdom, cathedral city and civil parish in Cornwall, England; it is the southernmost city in the United Kingdom, just under west-south-west of Charing Cross in London. It is Cornwall's county town, s ...
—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 The Massachusetts Bay Colony (1628–1691), more formally the Colony of Massachusetts Bay, was an English settlement on the east coast of North America around Massachusetts Bay, one of the several colonies later reorganized as the Province of M ...
. In 1692, a new
Royal Charter A royal charter is a formal grant issued by a monarch under royal prerogative as letters patent. Historically, they have been used to promulgate public laws, the most famous example being the English Magna Carta (great charter) of 1215, but ...
combined the Plymouth and Massachusetts Bay colonies into the
Province of Massachusetts Bay The Province of Massachusetts Bay was a colony in New England which became one of the thirteen original states of the United States. It was chartered on October 7, 1691, by William III and Mary II, the joint monarchs of the kingdoms of Eng ...
. "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 The Massachusetts General Court, formally the General Court of Massachusetts, is the State legislature (United States), state legislature of the Commonwealth (U.S. state), Commonwealth of Massachusetts located in the state capital of Boston. Th ...
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 The Massachusetts General Court, formally the General Court of Massachusetts, is the State legislature (United States), state legislature of the Commonwealth (U.S. state), Commonwealth of Massachusetts located in the state capital of Boston. Th ...
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 American Revolution (1765–1783) was a colonial rebellion and war of independence in which the Thirteen Colonies broke from British America, British rule to form the United States of America. The revolution culminated in the American ...
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 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 Whaling is the hunting of whales for their products such as meat and blubber, which can be turned into a type of oil that was important in the Industrial Revolution. Whaling was practiced as an organized industry as early as 875 AD. By the 16t ...
center. The population was bolstered by numerous Portuguese sailors, many of whom were from the
Azores The Azores ( , , ; , ), officially the Autonomous Region of the Azores (), is one of the two autonomous regions of Portugal (along with Madeira). It is an archipelago composed of nine volcanic islands in the Macaronesia region of the North Atl ...
, 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 The Provincetown Players was a collective of artists, people and writers, intellectuals, and amateur theater enthusiasts. Under the leadership of the husband and wife team of George Cram “Jig” Cook and Susan Glaspell from Iowa, the Players p ...
was an important experimental theatre company formed during this period. Many of its members lived during other parts of the year in
Greenwich Village Greenwich Village, or simply the Village, is a neighborhood on the west side of Lower Manhattan in New York City, bounded by 14th Street (Manhattan), 14th Street to the north, Broadway (Manhattan), Broadway to the east, Houston Street to the s ...
in New York, and intellectual and artistic connections were woven between the places. In 1898
Charles Webster Hawthorne Charles Webster Hawthorne (January 8, 1872 – November 29, 1930) was an American portrait and genre painter and a noted teacher who founded the Cape Cod School of Art in 1899. He was born in Lodi, Illinois, and his parents returned to Maine, ...
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 The National Register of Historic Places (NRHP) is the Federal government of the United States, United States federal government's official United States National Register of Historic Places listings, list of sites, buildings, structures, Hist ...
: 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 A hippie, also spelled hippy, especially in British English, is someone associated with the counterculture of the 1960s, counterculture of the mid-1960s to early 1970s, originally a youth movement that began in the United States and spread to dif ...
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 shop A head shop is a retail outlet specializing in Drug paraphernalia, paraphernalia used for consumption of cannabis and tobacco and items related to cannabis culture and related countercultures. They emerged from the hippie counterculture in ...
s. 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 Art colonies are organic congregations of artists in towns, villages and rural areas, who are often drawn to areas of natural beauty, the prior existence of other artists, art schools there, or a lower cost of living. They are typically mission- ...
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 A peninsula is a landform that extends from a mainland and is only connected to land on one side. Peninsulas exist on each continent. The largest peninsula in the world is the Arabian Peninsula. Etymology The word ''peninsula'' derives , . T ...
. The East Harbor, which provided the most protected mooring place in Provincetown, had a 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: 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.


Geography

Provincetown is located at the very tip of
Cape Cod Cape Cod is a peninsula extending into the Atlantic Ocean from the southeastern corner of Massachusetts, in the northeastern United States. Its historic, maritime character and ample beaches attract heavy tourism during the summer months. The ...
, encompassing a total area of − 55% of that, or , is land area, and the remaining water area. Surrounded by water in every direction except due east, the town has of coastal shoreline. Provincetown is bordered to the east by its only neighbor, the town of
Truro Truro (; ) is a City status in the United Kingdom, cathedral city and civil parish in Cornwall, England; it is the southernmost city in the United Kingdom, just under west-south-west of Charing Cross in London. It is Cornwall's county town, s ...
, and by Provincetown Harbor to the southeast,
Cape Cod Bay Cape Cod Bay is a large bay of the Atlantic Ocean adjacent to the U.S. state of Massachusetts. Measuring below a line drawn from Brant Rock in Marshfield to Race Point in Provincetown, Massachusetts, it is enclosed by Cape Cod to the south ...
to the south and west,
Massachusetts Bay Massachusetts Bay is a bay on the Gulf of Maine that forms part of the central coastline of Massachusetts. Description The bay extends from Cape Ann on the north to Plymouth Harbor on the south, a distance of about . Its northern and sout ...
to the northwest and north, and the
Atlantic Ocean The Atlantic Ocean is the second largest of the world's five borders of the oceans, oceanic divisions, with an area of about . It covers approximately 17% of Earth#Surface, Earth's surface and about 24% of its water surface area. During the ...
to the northeast. The town is north (by road) from Barnstable,
Hyannis, Massachusetts Hyannis is the largest of the seven villages in the town of Barnstable, Massachusetts, United States. It is the commercial and transportation hub of Cape Cod and was designated an urban area at the 1990 census. Because of this, many refer to Hya ...
, and by road to the Sagamore Bridge, which spans the
Cape Cod Canal The Cape Cod Canal is an artificial waterway in Massachusetts connecting Cape Cod Bay in the north to Buzzards Bay in the south, and is part of the Intracoastal Waterway, Atlantic Intracoastal Waterway. The approximately canal traverses the nec ...
and connects Cape Cod to the mainland. Provincetown is east by southeast from Boston by air or sea, and by road. About 4,500 acres, or about 73% of the town's land area, is owned by the
National Park Service The National Park Service (NPS) is an List of federal agencies in the United States, agency of the Federal government of the United States, United States federal government, within the US Department of the Interior. The service manages all List ...
, which operates the
Cape Cod National Seashore The Cape Cod National Seashore (CCNS) encompasses on Cape Cod, in Massachusetts. CCNS was created on August 7, 1961, by President John F. Kennedy, when he signed a bill enacting the legislation he first co-sponsored as a Senator a few years pr ...
, leaving about 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 A humid continental climate is a climatic region defined by Russo-German climatologist Wladimir Köppen in 1900, typified by four distinct seasons and large seasonal temperature differences, with warm to hot (and often humid) summers, and cold ...
(''Dfb''), closely bordering on
oceanic climate An oceanic climate, also known as a marine climate or maritime climate, is the temperate climate sub-type in Köppen climate classification, Köppen classification represented as ''Cfb'', typical of west coasts in higher middle latitudes of co ...
. The
plant hardiness zone A hardiness zone is a geographic area defined as having a certain average annual minimum temperature, a factor relevant to the survival of many plants. In some systems other statistics are included in the calculations. The original and most widely ...
is 7a, with an average annual extreme minimum air temperature of . The average seasonal (Nov–Apr) snowfall total is around . The average snowiest month is February, which corresponds to the annual peak in
nor'easter A nor'easter (also northeaster; see below) is a large-scale extratropical cyclone in the western North Atlantic Ocean. The name derives from the direction of the winds that blow from the northeast. Typically, such storms originate as a low ...
activity.


Demographics


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 . There were 4,494 housing units (up 15.5%) at an average density of . The racial makeup of the town was 91.5%
White White is the lightest color and is achromatic (having no chroma). It is the color of objects such as snow, chalk, and milk, and is the opposite of black. White objects fully (or almost fully) reflect and scatter all the visible wa ...
, 4.0%
African American African Americans, also known as Black Americans and formerly also called Afro-Americans, are an Race and ethnicity in the United States, American racial and ethnic group that consists of Americans who have total or partial ancestry from an ...
, 0.6% Native American, 0.6% Asian, 1.6% from other races, and 1.7% from two or more races.
Hispanic The term Hispanic () are people, Spanish culture, cultures, or countries related to Spain, the Spanish language, or broadly. In some contexts, Hispanic and Latino Americans, especially within the United States, "Hispanic" is used as an Ethnici ...
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 Italian(s) may refer to: * Anything of, from, or related to the people of Italy over the centuries ** Italians, a Romance ethnic group related to or simply a citizen of the Italian Republic or Italian Kingdom ** Italian language, a Romance languag ...
(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 town A resort town, resort city or resort destination is an urban area where tourism or vacationing is the primary component of the local culture and economy. A typical resort town has one or more actual resorts in the surrounding area. Sometimes ...
s. 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 The Fine Arts Work Center is a non-profit enterprise that supports emerging visual artists and writers in Provincetown, Massachusetts. The Work Center was founded in 1968 by a group of American artists and writers to support promising individual ...
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 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, Pro ...
(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 Quality of life (QOL) is defined by the World Health Organization as "an individual's perception of their position in life in the context of the culture and value systems in which they live and in relation to their goals, expectations, standards ...
for all rural Americans", the USDA considered Provincetown's residents in the 2000s to still be rural and to still require such
federal assistance Federal or foederal (archaic) may refer to: Politics General *Federal monarchy, a federation of monarchies *Federation, or ''Federal state'' (federal system), a type of government characterized by both a central (federal) government and states or ...
In 2003, Provincetown received a $1.95 million low interest
loan In finance, a loan is the tender of money by one party to another with an agreement to pay it back. The recipient, or borrower, incurs a debt and is usually required to pay interest for the use of the money. The document evidencing the deb ...
from the Rural Development program of the
U.S. Department of Agriculture The United States Department of Agriculture (USDA) is an executive department of the United States federal government that aims to meet the needs of commercial farming and livestock food production, promotes agricultural trade and production ...
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 Frommer's () is a travel guide book series created by Arthur Frommer in 1957. Frommer's has since expanded to include more than 350 guidebooks in 14 series, as well as other media including an eponymous radio show and a website. In 2017, the com ...
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 The Provincetown International Film Festival (PIFF) is an annual film festival founded in 1999 and held on Cape Cod in Provincetown, Massachusetts. The festival presents American and international narrative features, documentaries and short film ...
, honors the best in independent and avant-garde film. Among the honorees for 2014 were actress
Patricia Clarkson Patricia Davies Clarkson (born December 29, 1959) is an American actress. She has starred in numerous leading and supporting roles in a variety of films ranging from independent film features to major film studio productions. Her accolades incl ...
and director
David Cronenberg David Paul Cronenberg (born March 15, 1943) is a Canadian film director, screenwriter, producer and actor. He is a principal originator of the body horror genre, with his films exploring visceral bodily transformation, infectious diseases, and ...
. Previous honorees include
Matt Dillon Matthew Raymond Dillon (born February 18, 1964) is an American actor. He has received various accolades, including a Screen Actors Guild Award and two Independent Spirit Awards alongside nominations for an Academy Award, a Golden Globe Award, ...
,
Harmony Korine Harmony Korine (born January 4, 1973) is an American filmmaker, actor, photographer, artist, and author. His methods feature an erratic, loose and transgressive aesthetic, exploring taboo themes and incorporating experimental techniques,Alicia Kn ...
,
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,
Roger Corman Roger William Corman (April 5, 1926 – May 9, 2024) was an American film director, producer, and actor. Known under various monikers such as "The Pope of Pop Cinema", "The Spiritual Godfather of the New Hollywood", and "The King of Cult", he w ...
,
Vera Farmiga Vera Ann Farmiga ( ; born August 6, 1973) is an American actress. Farmiga began her professional acting career on stage in the original Broadway production of '' Taking Sides'' (1996). After expanding to television and film, her breakthrough ...
,
Darren Aronofsky Darren Aronofsky (born February 12, 1969) is an American Filmmaking, filmmaker. His films are noted for their surreal, dramatic, and often disturbing elements, frequently in the form of psychological realism. His accolades include a Golden Lion ...
,
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,
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,
Tilda Swinton Katherine Matilda Swinton (born 5 November 1960) is a British actress. She is known for playing eccentric and enigmatic characters, often working with auteurs. Her accolades include an Academy Award, two BAFTA Awards, and a Volpi Cup, in addit ...
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Jim Jarmusch James Robert Jarmusch ( ; born January 22, 1953) is an American film director, screenwriter and musician. He has been a major proponent of independent film, independent cinema since the 1980s, directing films such as ''Stranger Than Paradise'' ...
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Gus Van Sant Gus Green Van Sant Jr. (born July 24, 1952) is an American filmmaker, photographer, painter, and musician. He has earned acclaim as an independent film, independent auteur. His films typically deal with themes of marginalized subcultures. His ...
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John Waters John Samuel Waters Jr. (born April 22, 1946) is an American filmmaker, actor, writer, and artist. He rose to fame in the early 1970s for his transgressive cult films, including '' Multiple Maniacs'' (1970), '' Pink Flamingos'' (1972) and '' Fe ...
. 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 New England is a region consisting of six states in the Northeastern United States: Connecticut, Maine, Massachusetts, New Hampshire, Rhode Island, and Vermont. It is bordered by the state of New York (state), New York to the west and by the ...
towns, by the
open town meeting Town meeting, also known as an "open town meeting", is a form of local government in which eligible town residents can directly participate in an assembly which determines the governance of their town. Unlike representative town meeting where ...
form of government. The citizens, gathered in the town meeting, act as the
legislative branch A legislature (, ) is a deliberative assembly with the authority, legal authority to make laws for a Polity, political entity such as a Sovereign state, country, nation or city on behalf of the people therein. They are often contrasted with th ...
and approve the budget and amend the town's bylaws, while the popularly elected
Board of Selectmen The select board or board of selectmen is commonly the Executive (government), executive arm of the government of New England towns in the United States. The board typically consists of three or five members, with or without staggered terms. Three ...
act as the
executive branch The executive branch is the part of government which executes or enforces the law. Function The scope of executive power varies greatly depending on the political context in which it emerges, and it can change over time in a given country. In ...
and hire and oversee the Town Manager, meet regularly to determine policy, and appoint members of other boards and commissions. 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 also located on Commercial Street, occupying the former Center Methodist Episcopal Church building since 2005. Provincetown is represented in the
Massachusetts House of Representatives The Massachusetts House of Representatives is the lower house of the Massachusetts General Court, the State legislature (United States), state legislature of Massachusetts. It is composed of 160 members elected from 14 counties each divided into ...
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, Massachusetts, Bourne, Falmouth, Massachusetts, Falmouth, Sandwich, Massachusetts, 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, Massachusetts, 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 William R. Keating, 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. In the 2020 US Presidential Election, Democratic Party (United States), Democratic nominee Joe Biden received 91.9 percent of the vote to Republican Party (United States), Republican incumbent Donald Trump's 7 percent. In the 2024 United States presidential election, 2024 presidential election, Democratic Party (United States), Democratic nominee Kamala Harris received 90.9 percent of the vote and Republican nominee Donald Trump received 7.2 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 Truro (; ) is a City status in the United Kingdom, cathedral city and civil parish in Cornwall, England; it is the southernmost city in the United Kingdom, just under west-south-west of Charing Cross in London. It is Cornwall's county town, s ...
: 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.


Infrastructure


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 (Massachusetts), 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 pedestrian path and greenway (landscape), 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 airport is surrounded by the Cape Cod National Seashore, and is used for general aviation as well as regular scheduled service to Boston and White Plains, New York. It has a single runway, an Instrument landing system, 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 (1941-2024), 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 (businessman), 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, ''Mad'' Fold-In * Donald B. MacMillan (1874–1970), arctic explorer * Jason Moore (director), 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 (1988 film), Hairspray'', ''Serial Mom'', ''Pink Flamingos'' * Frances L. Whedon (1902–1998), meteorologist, US Army * Channing Wilroy (born 1940), actor, Dreamlanders, Dreamlander * Ruth Marie Terry (1936–), 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 (novel), The Hours'' * Pat de Groot (1930–2018), English-born American painter * Mark Doty (born 1953), poet, author * David Drake (actor), 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, Dreamlanders, Dreamlander * Ryan Murphy (writer), 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 (film), The Cell'', ''I Am Legend (film), I Am Legend'', ''Poseidon (2006 film), Poseidon'' * John Reed (journalist), John Reed (1887–1920), journalist, poet, communist activist * Andrew Sullivan (born 1963), author, writer, wikt:Blogger, 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 (art), New York School abstract expressionist artists of the 1950s * Marsden Hartley (1877–1943), American Modernist painter, poet, essayist *
Charles Webster Hawthorne Charles Webster Hawthorne (January 8, 1872 – November 29, 1930) was an American portrait and genre painter and a noted teacher who founded the Cape Cod School of Art in 1899. He was born in Lodi, Illinois, and his parents returned to Maine, ...
(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 realism, 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 (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 art, 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), Tough Guys Don't Dance'' (1987) * ''Hightown (TV series), Hightown'' (2020–2024) * ''American Horror Story: Double Feature'' (2021) * ''Bros (film), Bros'' (2022) * ''High Tide (2024 film), High Tide (2024)


References


Further reading

* *


External links


Town of Provincetown official website

Provincetown official tourism website

Provincetown Chamber of Commerce

Provincetown Business Guild
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