Sandy
Neck Beach in West Barnstable is one of the largest on Cape Cod and
also one of the most historic. Those who pull into the parking lot
and stare out at the ocean or over at the majestic dunes are getting
much of what makes Sandy Neck unique, but not what makes it
historical. The beach itself is amazing, yet it’s along the Sandy
Neck Trails where the true heart and soul of the area is found. A
permit is required for taking a vehicle out on these trails which
lead around the south side of Sandy Neck’s impressive dunes. There
are a few off shoot trails which bring you out to much more secluded
sections of the 4,700-acre beach area.
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| A wide view of the Sandy Neck Colony (Christopher Setterlund) |
Centuries
ago, prior to 1702, the entirety of Sandy Neck Beach was considered
part of the ‘common lands’ of the Town of Barnstable. This
meant the whole of Sandy Neck was public property. In 1703 the beach
was purchased and divided into 60 private parcels except for a
minuscule 330-foot section of the north facing beach which remained
public. Lot 60, located at the very tip of Sandy Neck was allocated
to Joseph Lothrop and Ebenezer Lewis. It would become home to a
group of summer cottages in the latter part of the 19th
century.
In
the 18th
into the 19th
century whaling was a huge industry along the coast of New England.
Along Sandy Neck the process of shore whaling took place. This
included having the tryworks on shore, these were brick furnaces
usually adorning whaling ships. A pair of cast iron try-pots would
be placed on the bricks for the purpose of heating whale blubber to
recover the oil. Sandy Neck became the first area of whaling on Cape
Cod to open up its grounds to the public for whale watching as well.
The
whaling industry, along with the fact that Sandy Neck marked the
entrance to Barnstable Harbor necessitated the construction of a
lighthouse at its eastern end referred to as Beach Point. On October
1, 1826 Sandy Neck Lighthouse was illuminated for the first time.
Erosion over the decades forced the construction of a second
lighthouse in 1857. This is the current lighthouse. Made of brick
it was susceptible to cracking and in 1887 a pair of iron hoops along
with six staves were added around its center giving the lighthouse a
unique look.
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| The current Sandy Neck Lighthouse prior to 1880 (Wikimedia Commons) |
Sandy
Neck Lighthouse was decommissioned on October 1, 1932 due to
Barnstable Harbor’s decreasing importance as well as the fact that
the shifting sands of Sandy Neck moved the lighthouse further from
the outer coast of the beach. There were attempts to dismantle and
sell the entirety of the lighthouse but the oncoming Great Depression
put that on hold. A skeleton tower was briefly erected closer to the
water but it proved too costly and only was lit during the warmer
months. In 1934 the lighthouse was sold to a private owner and the
lantern was discarded. It remained ‘headless’ for more than
seventy-five years until it was restored to its full working order
with a new lantern in 2007.
Sandy
Neck is home to fifty-eight cottages. The first of which is a little
more than a mile out on the sand. The cottages are mostly over a
hundred years old; they are grandfathered into this historic
district. New construction in the area was forbidden during the
1960’s. The main attraction is at the end of the trails is the
Sandy Neck Colony. Located more than six miles out on the sandy
trails is a cluster of more than two dozen cottages with the
lighthouse supplying the border on the east.
Many
of the cottages dotting the spit of sand have interesting histories.
There is the ‘The Barnacle’ cottage built by noted local
historian Henry Crocker Kittredge out of an old garage in 1908. ‘The
Hurricane’ cottage was a hunting camp originally built in 1898 by
Jim Hinckley, Russell Hallett, and Arthur Coville. The
‘Parker/Poland’ cottage was originally built at the turn of the
20th
century with the help of George Jamieson who was keeper of Sandy Neck
Light at the time.
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| One of the cottages on the way out to the Sandy Neck Colony (Christopher Setterlund) |
One
of the earliest cottages of the colony also doubled as a restaurant.
The Barnstable Harbor House, owned in the 1880’s and 1890’s by
Benjamin Lovell, could seat up to twenty-five in the dining room.
It became more widely known as the Chowder House due to the superb
chowder created by Lovell. A wharf was built to allow for boats to
dock in front of the restaurant/cottage. Lovell also canned his
chowder for sale to customers. The kitchen ell of the cottage was
removed around 1910 and became the Buck Cottage at the west end of
the colony.
During
Prohibition the rolling dunes and relative isolation of Sandy Neck
became the perfect landing and hiding spot for rum runners. Liquor
would be stored in one of the summer cottages as it was prepared to
be shipped to the Cape’s mainland.
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| A close up of Sandy Neck Lighthouse from Bone Hill Beach (Christopher Setterlund) |
Since
1978, Sandy Neck has been designated an “Area of Critical
Environmental Concern” by the Mass. Office of Energy and
Environmental Affairs because several endangered species including
piping plovers and least terns make their habitat in the area. As of
2015 the lighthouse which had been originally built at the point
stood more than 2,000 feet from the point due to accretion of sand.
The colony and Sandy Neck
Lighthouse are private though and the trails will not take you there.
Many of the cottages have been passed down for generations through
the same families. It is a very close-knit community. The Sandy
Neck Colony is best seen either from a boat in the harbor or across
the water on the shore of Millway Beach or Bone Hill Beach in
Barnstable. However the beach itself is public and remains one of
the most popular and unique natural beauties on Cape Cod. -----------------------------------------
My 5th book, Cape Cod Nights, is on sale at Amazon.com and through Arcadia Publishing
View my previous blog posts: In Their Footsteps: Cape Cod History - Deacon John Doane
Be sure to check out my website: Christopher Setterlund.com
