Attractions
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Orleans Historical
Society Museum
3
River Road
508-240-1329
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| This 1800s
Universalist meetinghouse showcases historical records, photos and ship
logs from Orleans’ early days. Ask about the
CC36500,
a Coast Guard rescue ship that made history on Feb. 18, 1952 when its
four-man crew saved 32 men from the tanker
Pendleton
during a storm. The boat is docked in Rock Harbor during the summer and
is periodically open for tours.
Museum open mid-June
– Sept., Thurs. – Sat. 10 a.m. – 1 p.m.
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Jonathan Young Windmill
Town Cove Park
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This circa 1720
windmill still has many of its early parts.
Originally located in Orleans, it was moved to Hyannis Port in 1897,
then donated to the Orleans Historical Society in 1983. The windmill
now sits in Town Cove Park, a grassy refuge off Rte. 6A that
overlooks the water.
Windmill staffed for
tours 11 a.m. – 4 p.m. daily in July and August.
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Academy of Performing Arts
120 Main St.
508-255-5510
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The Academy of
Performing Arts has been bringing its creative flair to Orleans
since 1976. Originally teaching 25 students, the school now has some
600 students enrolled in its dance, acting and writing classes for
all ages. The theater performs at the original Orleans Town Hall,
built in 1873.
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French Cable Museum
41
South Orleans Road
508-240-1735
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It wasn’t planned,
but several decades after Orleans was named for French royalty in
1797, the small town was again linked to the foreign nation
amid the growing need to send information overseas. In 1879, the
French Cable Co. laid 3,173 nautical miles of cable wire across the
Atlantic Ocean, from Brest, France to St. Pierre Island off Canada
to a station on Nauset Light Beach in Eastham. The cable operators
complained about the remote location and were moved to Orleans.
The French cable
proved an important communication tool for the U.S. government
during World War I and operated in Orleans until World War II when
France surrendered to Germany in June 1940. Though the cable briefly
resumed operation in the 1950s, telephone service made it obsolete
by the end of the decade. Today, the museum showcases the cable
equipment and explains the technical process behind trans-Atlantic
communication.
Open June, Fri. –
Sun., 1 p.m. – 4 p.m.
July – early Sept.,
Mon. – Sat., 1 p.m. – 4 p.m.
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