Story by true story, Kathy Shorr chronicles the history and people of Provincetown. She writes of the first seasonal settlers, a raucous bunch of mariners, and their collection of beach shacks that earned the name Helltown. She describes how wreckers stripped vessels that had foundered and how a Provincetown whaler got swallowed up by a whale. She explains Provincetown's transition in the twentieth century to a vibrant center for the arts, as well as its residents' longtime reputation for flaunting authority and living on the edge. In this book, the colorful history of Provincetown unfolds to delight residents and visitors alike.
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From the Publisher
Story by true story, Kathy Shorr chronicles the history and people of Provincetown, Massachusetts, at the tip of Cape Cod. She writes of the first seasonal settlers, a raucous bunch of mariners, and their collection of beach shacks that earned the name Helltown. She describes how wreckers stripped vessels that had foundered and how a Provincetown whaler got swallowed by a whale. She explains Provincetown's transition in the twentieth century to a vibrant center for the arts, as well as its residents' longtime reputation for flaunting authority and living on the edge. In this book, the colorful history of Provincetown unfolds to delight residents and visitors alike.
From the Author
Provincetown is one of the most storied places I’ve ever run across. I am sure this is partly because it has played an important role in American history—as the first landing place of the Pilgrims, as a center of New England’s fishing and whaling, as the birthplace of the modern American theater, to name only a few. But I also think it’s because things just seem to happen in Provincetown more than they do in other places. So it was not hard to dig up stories about the town, so much as it was to find ones that, for me, could capture its spirit. I suspect that most people who’ve spent time here have their own equally compelling tales of Provincetown, or know an aspect of a story that’s missing from the version you will find here. That is, in a curious way, a satisfying thought, for it says something about the extraordinary nature of this place.
—Kathy Shorr, March 2002
—Kathy Shorr, March 2002
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6 of 7 people found the following review helpful:
5.0 out of 5 stars
A Treasure Chest of Information!,
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This review is from: Provincetown: Stories from Land's End (Massachusetts Town Memoir) (Hardcover)
This may be a small book of only 128 pages, but it is a "Treasure Chest of Information". This is a collection of true stories about one of America's greatest towns. If you have ever had an interest in this unique town, whether as a historian, visitor, or a resident, you will love these fascinating, sometimes humorous, stories taken from the town memoirs. Kathy Shorr has created a delightful book covering the history of "Provincetown", Land's End", during the Eighteenth, Nineteenth and Twentieth Centuries.The author writes about the settlers who first landed in Provincetown in 1620, (not in Plymouth, as commonly believed), the floating of the houses from Long Point, the first Town Crier, the birth of the Art Colony, the building of the Pilgrim Monument, the Rose Dorothea, and the birth of The Cape Cod National Seashore. In later chapters, she touches on the "Meat Rack", Spiritus, Hurricane Bob, the yearly Carnival, and the Blessing of the Fleet. Interspersed throughout the book are appropriate illustrations by Anne Rosen relating to each story. Shorr writes these stories in an intelligent, exciting, and fun manner that make this book a gratifying and enjoyable read. This book should not be missed if you have an interest and curiosity about this town at "Land's End". I wish this book was getting the fanfare that other "Provincetown" books are receiving. This book is very special, and I feel one of the best books published about this town. You should not miss this book. A special book about a very special place! Joe Hanssen
1 of 1 people found the following review helpful:
5.0 out of 5 stars
An Essential Tool For Lovers of P'Town,
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This review is from: Provincetown: Stories from Land's End (Massachusetts Town Memoir) (Hardcover)
In the nineteen forties and fifties I went my family and I made day trips from Springfield, Mass. From 1970 to 1980 I owned a house at 214 Bradford Street. I have been a frequent adult visitor from 1962 until the present day. It's my favorite town in all the world with its gorgeous harbor, its flawless light for artists, its clean, fresh air, and the fierce independence of its people. Kathy Shorr has a breezy style, the book is very readable, but not well organized; it has a lot about town oddities, and insider anecdotes about town characters. For PTowners a lot of colorful characters crop up, like Frenchie Chanel who rescued many animals. Good information on the historic shacks in the dunes will interest readers. A clever map in front of the book identifies the key places mentioned in the book. The town in the first two decades of the twentieth century became a thriving artists colony for the visual, literary, and dramatic arts and took off as a bohemian center, an outpost for the very important Greenwich Village bohemian movement. Eugene O'Neill's early work alone would make the town historic. In 1899 Charles Hawthorne opened his art school, and by 1916 there were five schools all with differing philosophies. I remember the very talented iconoclastic musical family of buskers, the Flying Neutrinos, and their strange barge-like home in the harbor. The author recalls the John Waters film years from 1966 to 1981, the succession of town criers, the death of the railroad in 1960, the destruction of dozens of wharves in the Portland Gale of 1898, the early Pilgrim landing before Plymouth, the original settlement called Helltown, the towns maverick-pariah history, the mooncussers who deliberately wrecked ships, Hurricane Bob, the fish-eating cows, the salt-making industry, and the beginning of tourism. Even a P'Town aficionado is going to learn some new information from this book. It has an excellent bibliography, but, unfortunately no index. Shorr does not cover today's Provincetown where house values have soared so high that few but the wealthy can afford to buy there. A lot of the people who would be the service workers in a tourist town have been priced out of the market. You can travel over the entire wide world and never find a small town so artistically significant and so outlandish in its eccentric characters and events.
1 of 1 people found the following review helpful:
5.0 out of 5 stars
P-Town, Here I Come!,
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This review is from: Provincetown: Stories from Land's End (Massachusetts Town Memoir) (Hardcover)
I recently visited Cape Cod for a week, staying in Provincetown. I happened upon this book during a visit to a Borders in Hyannis. Breezing through it, it sounded interesting, and I was glad I had decided to pick it up. I read the book nightly during the visit, and it was perfect timing.
Exploring for a couple of days previously, I had already familiarized myself with the lay of the land. Delving into the book, I learned some interesting tidbits of history and specific areas of town that I had bypassed without giving a second glance. Knowing their significance, I went back to see some places/things I may otherwise not have, had I not learned their historical significance. My only disappointment with the book was that it didn't have more stories about pre-1900 P-town, as these were the eras of Provincetown that truly fascinated me. Otherwise, this book not only proved to provide history presented in interesting stories, but it also proved to be an invaluable travel guide during my visit! A must for any P-town visitor!
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