Eastham Historical Society
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Eastham Historical Society |
NAUSET LIGHT, built in 1877, was moved from Chatham in 1923. In 1996 the light and
the oil house, followed two years later by the 1875 keeper's house,
were relocated 300 feet inland to prevent their destruction from the sea.
The light is owned by the National Park Service, but is leased to and
maintained by the Nauset Light
Preservation Society. The light (but not the privately owned keeper's
house), is open to visitors. Listed in the National Register of Historic Places.
The three wooden lighthouses were erected in 1892 to replace the three
small brick towers built in 1839
which were about to be claimed by the sea. In 1911 the center tower was changed to a flashing
light and the other two towers were abandoned and made into a summer dwelling. The remaining light, known as "The
Beacon", served until 1923 when it was replaced by one of the Twin Lights in Chatham, from where it was
moved, and is now the well known and often photographed Nauset Light.
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"The Beacon," the very first 'Nauset Light.' |
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The Three Sisters of Nauset may now be seen a 10 minute walk west of Nauset Light on Cable Road, the structures having been reunited and restored by the National Seashore. The towers are listed in the National Register of Historic Places. |
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One of the early 'trophy homes' in Eastham, it was built in 1867 by CAPTAIN EDWARD PENNIMAN,
Eastham's deepwater whaling captain. Born in Eastham in 1831, he went to
sea at age 11 and had an adventure-filled and profitable career in the
whaling trade. A pair of whale jawbones frame the rear gateway to the
house. An example of the French Second Empire style of architecture, the house is
located on Fort Hill Road and is owned and maintained by the Cape Cod National
Seashore. Listed in the National Register of Historic Places; the interior is open for guided
tours.
COVE BURYING GROUND is Eastham's oldest cemetery. Three Mayflower passengers,
Lt. Joseph Rogers (1608-1678), Constance Hopkins (1605-1677), and Giles
Hopkins (1607-1690) are interred here. Near the cemetery is the site where
the first meeting house was erected by the settlers in 1644. Placed in the National Register of Historic Places in 1999. (For
further information, visit Cove
Burying Grounds.)
The Bridge Road Cemetery is located in central Eastham, on the west side of the road, south of its intersection with Samoset Road. The cemetery marks the site of Eastham's second meeting house and town center in the same way that the Cove Cemetery marks the location of the original meeting house and settlement. The new cemetery on Bridge Road was laid out along with the Second Congregational Meeting House of 1720. The earliest stone is dated 1754, probably because burials continued at the Cove Burying Ground until 1770. Similarly, the Bridge Road Cemetery remained in use until 1886, well after a third cemetery was created 1830 when the town center and Congregational Church were moved northward along the highway. The cemetery and the former Parsonage/Crosby Tavern remain as the extant symbols of the eighteenth and early nineteenth century town center. Placed in the National Register of Historic Places 1999. In 2001-2002 cemetery conservators repaired and cleaned 20 gravestones in The Cove Burying Ground and 121 in the Bridge Road Cemetery. (For further information, visit Bridge Road Cemetery.) Other cemeteries of interest are Evergreen, and Congregational & Soldiers.
