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Provincetown at a glance ...
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The Town of Provincetown was incorporated in 1727, but
its history begins much earlier since its well protected harbor offered excellent
protection from storms. The European explorer Gosnold recorded a stop in Provincetown as
early as 1602 and the harbor was the site of the first landing of the Mayflower. The
Pilgrims signed the Mayflower compact in the harbor, to codify the way in which they were
going to administer the new colony they intended to establish. Although rich fishing
grounds resulted in the seasonal leasing of fisheries with licenses granted for bass,
mackerel and cod fishing, the first permanent settlement didn't take place until 1700.
Provincetown grew very slowly during the 18th century and its population fluctuated with
the price of fish. Farming was of secondary importance and aside from the fishing
industry, there were only some salt works and one mill. After the Revolution, the town
boomed and its population rose 276.6% between 1790 and 1830. Despite its relative lack of
good farm land, by the middle of the 19th century, Provincetown had developed as the prime
maritime, fishing and commercial center of the Cape. The Civil War, which destroyed so
much New England business, only provided more markets for Provincetown's fish. Portuguese
sailors, picked up by American ships in the Azores and Cape Verde Islands to fill out
their crews, came to Provincetown to live and additional Portuguese immigrants had moved
to town by the 19th century to work on the whaling boats and coastal fishing vessels. In
1875, there were 25 coastwise and 36 ocean vessels operating in town, more than any
community in the state including Boston. Provincetown was a bustling place with all of the
ancillary maritime businesses operating, such as ship chandlers, shipwrights, sail makers,
caulkers, riggers and blacksmiths. The picturesque setting and salt air also began
attracting artists and writers by the end of the 19th century. This contingent grew and
poets, novelists, journalists, socialists, radicals and dilettantes formed a colony which
in 1915 opened the Provincetown Players in a converted fish house on the wharf. Among the
writers whose works were performed there was Eugene O'Neill. When the fishing industry
faltered from competition with cheaper Nova Scotia cod, and the Portland Gale of 1898
swept away half of the town's wharves, the resort population of the town provided jobs to
take the place of those lost. In the 1920's the artistic and literary productions of the
town were of international repute and the abandoned sites of maritime businesses became
the new homes of the seasonal visitor as sail lofts, warehouses and barns became studios,
galleries and shops. Today, the wealth of preserved historic buildings combines with the
lure of the sea to support a huge tourist and summer home industry. 
Transportation
Public Schools 
Recreational Facilities 
Health Facilities 
Places
of Worship