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The
Bourne Historical Society
30
Keene St.
508-759-8167
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| The Bourne
Historical Society is based at the Jonathan Bourne Historical Center and
offers a variety of tours each summer. It operates and maintains the
Aptucxet Trading Post Museum, Gray Gables Railroad Station, Windmill
Gift Shop, Sagamore Information Booth and the Bourne Stone |
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Jonathan Bourne Historic Center
30
Keene St.
508-759-8167
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Built in 1897, the
American Colonial structure was given to the town by Bourne’s
daughter Emily Howland Bourne to serve as a library. The location
along the Cape Cod Canal was chosen because his birthplace is
visible from there. Bourne, the town's namesake, and his nine
siblings lost their home in 1913 to the canal’s construction. Today,
visitors can go to the center to search records, purchase books
about the Bourne history and learn about the historical society’s
activities.
Open Mon. and Tues.,
9 a.m. – 2:30 p.m. and Wed., 6:30 p.m. to 8:30 p.m.
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Aptucxet Trading Post Museum
24
Aptucxet Road
508-759-9487
Gift Shop 508-759-1479
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This Bourne museum sits on
the spot where trading in the New World began in the 1620s. Opened
in 1930, the museum showcases the goods the Pilgrims, Wampanoag
Indians and Dutch brought to the trading table. The grounds also
feature the Windmill Gift Shop, a Dutch-style windmill worth a visit
in and of itself. Aesthetically different than other Cape Cod
windmills still standing, it was actually a studio on actor Joseph
Jefferson's Bourne estate in the 1800s.
Open Memorial Day
weekend through Columbus Day weekend
Mon- Sat 10 a.m. - 4
p.m., Sun. noon - 4 p.m. Also open by appointment in May or final
weeks of October.
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Gray Gables Station
Located at the Aptucxet Trading Post Museum, 24 Aptucxet Road
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| U.S. President
Grover Cleveland served two non-consecutive terms leading the nation,
the first starting in 1885. During his off-term, he purchased property
on Monument Beach in Bourne. His no-longer-standing home, which was
called Gray Gables, became Cape Cod’s first summer White House upon his
re-election in 1893. The depot had a direct telegraph line back to
Washington. The area where Cleveland lived is now a village named Gray
Gables. |
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Briggs-McDermott House and Alonzo Booth Blacksmith Shop
20
Sandwich Road
508-759-6120
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This
yellow Greek Revival structure was home
to one of Bourne’s most politically active residents in the town's
early days and features an 1890 ceiling mural painted by renowned
marine artist and Bourne resident Charles Raleigh.
The house is named
for owners George I. Briggs and his son-in-law, William McDermott,
but originates several generations earlier with Josephus Keene, who
built the first part of the structure in 1802. Briggs acquired the
home when he married Keene’s granddaughter Thirza and was active in
Bourne’s effort to separate from Sandwich in 1884. A friend of
U.S. President Grover Cleveland, Briggs served as one of the town’s first
selectmen, the first school committee chairman, a library trustee
and chairman of the Barnstable County Commission.
Briggs’ daughter
Mercy and her husband William McDermott inherited the house and
their daughter later sold it to the school department. Townspeople
worked to restore it in the 1970s.
Established in 1888
on Shore Road, the blacksmith shop is noteworthy because President
Cleveland’s horses are believed to have been shod there. The shop
was moved to the grounds of the Briggs-McDermott House in 1998.
Open mid-June –
Aug., Tues. 1 p.m. – 4 p.m.
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Bourne United Methodist Church
7
Sandwich Road
508-830-5000
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Built in the 1830s,
this Bourne church has undergone several expansions and has a bell town
namesake Jonathan Bourne gave the parish in 1883. It cracked in 1908
and was recast the following year.
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Massachusetts
Maritime Academy
101 Academy Drive, Buzzards Bay
508-830-5000
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The nation's longest
continually operating maritime academy, Mass Maritime was
created by the state legislature in 1891 and started as the
Massachusetts Nautical Training School in Boston. It relocated to
Hyannis before its current spot along the Cape Cod Canal.
Mass Maritime
Academy is home to the Capt. Charles H. Hurley Library, which houses
maritime materials focused on the Merchant Marines, and a museum of
miniature lighthouses and a collection of 95 ship models.
These days, Mass
Maritime Academy is
known for the 241-foot turbine on its campus. Visible
to canal walkers and boaters coming in, the turbine was built by Boston
developer Jay Cashman, who is using it to test the impact on birds.
Cashman is seeking approval for a 90- to 120-turbine windmill project in
Buzzards Bay. The turbine is offsetting the academy's energy costs.
Library and museum
open Mon - Thurs. 7 am - 11 pm, Fri. 7 am - 5 pm and Sat noon - 6
pm, Sun. 3:30 pm - 11 pm. |
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National Marine Life
Center
120 Main St., Buzzards Bay
508-743-9888
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Founded in 1995 by
Townsend and Elizabeth Horner of Osterville, the National Marine
Life Center has raised awareness about the marine life off Cape Cod
and saved countless stranded sea turtles and
seals. Summer visitors can view the alarge sea turtles and learn how volunteers
are trained for beach rescues.
Open summer season
Mon. – Sat., 10 a.m. – 5 p.m., and Sun., noon – 5 p.m.
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