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| Breakwater dike to Long Point: Can you make out the tower of Wood End Light at the opposite end of the dike? |
Long Point—a Cape Cod sandspit bordering Provincetown's harbor on its southwest side—has an interesting history. Long Point is the result of the “river of sand” (generically known as Longshore Sediment Transport [1]) flowing around Cape Tip. The fertile fishing waters surrounding the tip attracted fishermen, who created a village on Long Point in the first half of the 19th century. Starting with the first house built by John Atwood in 1818, a bustling community with a general store, bakery, post office, schoolhouse, six windmills, wharf and salt works developed [2]. When the offshore fish stock became exhausted and the salt works less profitable, decline began in the 1850's. Christopher Setterlund describes the final episode of the Long Point settlement [2]:
The final chapter of Long Point's story as a viable community came in 1875. The wharf which had been a part of the former fishing village was given a second life. Originally built by John Atwood it became part of the Cap Cod Oil Works, established by Jonathan Cook. The company's purpose was to extract all that was usable from the carcasses of whales and fish. It was purchased by Lorenzo Richardson of Boston in 1885 after Cook's death. He would change the name to the Cap Cod Oil Company in 1889.
The remains of the Cap Cod Oil Works can still be found at the harbor-side beach. The settlers once came from Provincetown via the dunes of Race Point and Herring Cove Beach. Today, you have a shorter option: the breakwater separating West End Marsh from Provincetown Harbor. The one-mile-long dike connects Provincetown's Westend with the Wood End Light site.
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| Wood End Light with Cape Cod Bay seen as a blue sliver |
The breakwater is not a resort promenade. Be prepared to manage unlevelled granite blocks with gaps in-between. Parts of the dike may be submerged at extreme high tide. On a calm, sunny day, however, it is a pleasure to carefully cross the breakwater while having varying views of the West End Marsh, spotting “breakwater lichen” between the dike rocks and watching water birds on either side.
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| South-facing patches of breakwater lichen |
The sand dune land stretches for about one mile and a half from Wood End Light to Long Point Light. Both lighthouses feature square-based towers—in contrast to the round-shaped Race Point Lighthouse located farther northwest at the westernmost tip of Cape Cod.
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| Long Point Light with Provincetown Harbor entrance |
To make a Long Point walk short, you can opt for the Long Point Shuttle service taking you from Provincetown to the tip and beaches around the Long Point lighthouse.
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| Travelers disembarking the Long Point Shuttle boat |
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| Beach life near the Long Point lighthouse with Provincetown and the Pilgrim Monument in the background |
References and more to explore
[1] Shifting Shorelines. Link: https://www.capecodextension.org/shiftingshorelines/.
[2] Christopher Setterlund. Hidden Cape Cod: A Village That Used to Exist in Provincetown. March 7, 2017. Link: https://www.capecod.com/lifestyle/hidden-cape-cod-a-village-that-used-to-exist-in-provincetown/.
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| Charles Darby Memorial Cross with a westward view across Long Point toward Wood End |
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