Barnstable, Massachusetts

Barnstable, Massachusetts is a charming little city located on Cape Cod. In this area, you don't have to be super active, because the action is right off shore. Just take a look at the sea for a while, and let things start to make sense as its constant meditation washes over you. A walk or run along the beach can make sense of just about anything. 

The ocean and the land have become one for the locals of Barnstable. The city witnesses numerous festivals, which bring people from all over the world to this place. Barnstable is a very relaxing place and is popular among retirees. The beaches have and endless number of activities and the beaches have wooded paths for bicycles and skating. Surfing, diving, fishing, blue whale sightings and other water activities are very popular here. The city has ample number of hotels and lodges, which suit every budget. The city has excellent shopping destinations that will entice any shopaholic of every age and sex.

Barnstable Town has a lot to offer those who enjoy city life as well as the outdoors. It has something to appeal to everyone's senses. People of any age or any profession will surely find the city exciting and vivacious to their own liking.

Barnstable History

The history of Barnstable, Massachusetts goes back quite some time. It was incorporated in 1639 which means it is approaching 400 years of modern history while quietly watching the seas and producing crops. The city is named for a town in England, and was first explored in the early part of the 17th century. From an early place of farming, fishing and salt collection, the city was one of the country's first to expand into the service industry through becoming a center of tourism. Many of the earliest parts of the city can still be found, either because they've been commemorated or because they've been restored with some semblance of their earlier charm.

Barnstable is a fairly simple city that has never been especially ostentatious in showing itself to the rest of the world. In fact, the area has generally been well hidden, which has attracted a lot of affluent people from the nearby city of Boston to enjoy the peace and quiet of the local shores.

The area which would eventually become Barnstable was first explored by a man named Batholomew Gosnold in the year 1602, which places it among one of the earliest settlements in what would eventually become the United States. The town itself was incorporated in 1639 by a group of farmers who were following a Reverend named Joseph Hull. From this simple beginning, the city slowly began to draw people towards its scenic vistas and quiet charm. The rock where Mr. Hull preached from the top of hundreds of years ago still sits silently beside the road, just as it did then and just as it will continue to do.

Just like with every town on a coast, ships have always been a major part of Barnstable. By the time the 19th century drew to a close, there were in excess of 800 ships docked in the vicinity of the coast. However, ships were slowly becoming obsolete by that point for all but fishing. Trains were coming to the city in increasing numbers by that point, which led to the inevitable need to diversify the area's industries or become just another dead town without much to offer. Barnstable made a decision that other cities all around the country could take inspiration from, and embraced tourism.

Tourists have been coming to Barnstable since the early part of the nineteenth century. People such as Ulysses S. Grant came around to enjoy the simple wonders of the beach and contemplate life's mysteries here. As time has gone on, tourism has become the most dominant industry, and this is a city which has taken to this new normal very well.

About Barnstable, Massachusetts

Barnstable is a city located in Barnstable County Massachusetts. The city is about seventy miles away from the city of Boston. Many people in Barnstable live along one of the several beaches in the area, such as near Barnstable Harbor or Wequaquet Lake. Education is extremely important to the people of Barnstable, as its enrollment is second to none as far cities and towns in the Cape Cod area.

Barnstable is named after a town in England, U.K. It has undergone several major changes to its economy over the past few hundred years. Beginning with industry, it has actually gotten ahead of the curve to lead the country into the service based economy of the modern world.

Incorporating the town in 1639, Joseph Hull led and founded Barnstable during its early formative years. In 1939, as the town celebrated 300 years of being around, the local people dedicated a memorial tablet in the place where his home once stood. Where he preached so long ago, the rock he stood upon still stands beside the road.

Tourism is a major part of Barnstable. During its early years, most of the people who settled there were farmers by trade. As time went on, more and more salt workers began to harvest sea salt from the ocean, and to fish commercially. Indeed, as the 19th century drew to a close, there were in excess of 800 ships moored off the local coast. For a long time, this production based endeavors were the most dominant industries in Barnstable, but times have to change at some point.

While the rest of the country was fine to simply continue producing, Barnstable noticed that a lot of people from Boston enjoyed spending their summers on the shores of the Cape. Grover Cleveland and Ulysses S. Grant were some of the more notable historical figures who enjoyed being early tourists of the area. Later on, the Kennedy family loved the area so much that they built the Kennedy Compound in nearby Hyannis Port.

Tourism has grown into by far the most massive industry to carry Barnstable along. Each year thousands of tourists come around, not just for the sandy beaches and lovely scenery, but for the history that pervades this ancient and timeless city. Some notable sites are the Ancient Burying Ground and Gideon Hawley House, both of which became national historic landmarks back in 1987. The massive amounts of history in Barnstable speak to the fact that what people do today can continue to have an impact, even hundreds of years after their death.

About Barnstable County, Massachusetts

Barnstable Massachusetts is both the titular figure of and the seat of Barnstable County. Barnstable County contains several islands, including Cape Cod within its land mass. This is a very old part of the country, having been formed up in June of 1685. Also, Barnstable County is interesting in that nearly 70% of its entire mass is made up of water, with less than a third of the total mass being made of actual land. Like many places that border the sea, the highest point in the entire county is only 306 feet above sea level.

The physical area of Barnstable County is an interesting mix. While the sea is obviously the lowest point in this coastal county, the highest point is 306 feet above sea level on Pine Hill's summit. Pine Hill is located in Bourne's Massachusetts Military Reservation. Out of the entire county's 1,305 square miles, only a little over 395 of those square miles are actually made up of land. The rest is water, which is undoubtedly hard to build homes and businesses on top of.

The 2000 Census reported that there were just over 222,000 people living in the county of Barnstable. Of these people, there were nearly 95,000 regular households and just slightly over 61,000 families living in the county. Out of all the households, just over 52% were composed of married couples. The average household size was 2.28 people, which was only slightly different from the average family size of 2.82 people. The racial makeup was overwhelmingly white, with over 94% of the population claiming to be Caucasian. Fortunately, less than 7% of Barnstable County's population was under the poverty line.

The Census also reported that the population density in the county was 562 people per square mile, although it didn't specify whether that implied that everyone lived on land. Considering the heavy fishing heritage of the local people, some might actually onboard seagoing vessels. The county contains several villages, and most are fairly autonomous. However, all planning in the county is carried out by the Cape Cod Commission.