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About Eastham
The town of Eastham is a coastal resort community
straddling the arm of Cape Cod. Located on the lower Cape, the town is
bounded on only two sides by land, the other two being water, the
Atlantic Ocean and Cape Cod Bay.
Pre-colonial stands of oak and pine were long ago harvested for fuel and
shipbuilding and the terrain of the town is now heavily saltmarsh and
sand. Dissatisfied with Plymouth, in 1644 the directors of the Colony
sent a seven-man delegation to scout Eastham for a new site for the
center of government. The decision was not to move, but the seven
members of the delegation brought their families and established a new
town. The town has several harbors and these and the abundant shellfish
are probably what brought these early settlers from the Plymouth
Colony.
The settlers' economy was based on agriculture, fishing and salt making,
but Eastham's summers resort history began as early as 1830 when the
Methodist Church established a summer camp meeting ground in town. The
coming of railroad connections in 1870 stimulated local market gardening
and Eastham specialized in cranberries and asparagus for the city
markets. Eastham had cod and mackerel fisheries and oysters to ship
north.
The town's harbors were not as good as those of other communities in the
area, so agriculture remained more important to the town in the 19th
century than did maritime trades. Grain production was abundant enough
to allow Eastham to export her grain, while industry was never a real
factor in the town. Residents note, however, that Swift and Company
meatpackers began in Eastham before moving to Chicago.
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