Sandwich Attractions

Just two gravestone markers lie at this Sandwich cemetery: for Edmond Freeman, who obtained Plymouth Colony’s permission to start the Sandwich settlement, and his wife Elizabeth Freeman. Edmond Freeman also served as an assistant to Governor William Bradford of Plymouth Colony from 1640 – 1647. He died in 1682 at age 92. His wife died six years earlier in 1676 at age 76.

Benjamin Nye sailed across the Atlantic Ocean at the young age of 15 and was among the first 50 men to settle in Sandwich. He married Katharine Tupper – daughter of Thomas Tupper, one of Sandwich's 10 founders along with Edmond Freeman – in Jan. 1623 and built a house on Spring Hill where they raised nine children. Nye built one of the nation’s first gristmills in 1669 and later added a fulling mill. He gave his original house to his son John and built the current museum in 1681. Initially, it had a peaked roof, but became a two-story saltbox with subsequent additions.

Open July 15 to Oct. 15, Tues. – Sat., noon to 4:30 p.m.

Built in 1693, this widely photographed Cape Cod tavern near Shawme Pond was loyal to the Tories during the American Revolution and housed visiting British dignitaries. It is now rented out as a single vacation property.

Set on Shawme Pond in historic Sandwich village, the museum is the home where author and naturalist Thornton W. Burgess (1874 – 1965) was raised by his mother and aunt. A walk through the grounds and those of the nearby Green Briar Nature Center shows where Burgess drew inspiration for the 170 books and 15,000 stories he wrote about Peter Rabbit, Jimmy Skunk and their animal friends. The house holds memorabilia such as metal lunchboxes featuring the animal characters and documents showing Burgess’ wildlife conservancy efforts. Tour guides will explain how Burgess started writing the animal tales to send to his son, with whom he did not live.

The saltbox is widely believed to be Cape Cod's oldest house. Built around 1640, this hallmark of Colonial architecture takes its name from whaling Capt. Abraham Hoxie, who bought it in the 1850s. The town purchased it for preservation in 1959.

Open daily from June – mid-Oct., 10 a.m. – 5 p.m.

Among the nation’s oldest gristmills, the Dexter Grist Mill was built on Shawme Pond about 1640 by Thomas Dexter, one of the 10 Saugus men who founded Sandwich along with Edmond Freeman. Built with a wood wheel, it was later switched to a steel turbine and produced corn meal through the late-1800s when Sandwich’s glassmaking workforce began shrinking. Briefly reopened as a tearoom in the 1920s, the mill later sat dormant until the wood wheel was restored in 1961. It is now a popular family attraction where visitors can pick up cloth-covered bags of corn meal to take home. 

Open mid-June – mid-Oct., Mon. – Sat., 10 a.m. – 4:45 p.m.

Sandwich’s strong glass legacy comes alive here, with a short film and pieces made by the Boston & Sandwich Glass Co., which Deming Jarves founded in Sandwich in 1825. Jarves chose Sandwich because he thought the ready supply of trees would reduce fuel costs and the possibility of canal construction would put him near an easy shipping channel.

But neither Jarves nor his company – which he left in 1858 – would see the Cape Cod Canal open in 1914. And the glassmaking industry as a whole had left Sandwich by then, though the heritage was only starting to be cultivated by the Sandwich Historical Society, which operates the glass museum.

Sandwich Glass Museum Walking Tours

Modeled after Christopher Wren’s London steeples, this 1847 church stands magnificently over Sandwich village, setting the tone of quintessential New England town.

The church dates back to Sandwich’s earliest days, with the Rev. Roland Cotton ordained as its first minister in 1694. In 1703, Cotton oversaw construction of the first meetinghouse, which was later adorned a Capt. Adolph Bell. Capt. Peter Adolph’s wife gave the church the bell after Cotton wrote her in New York about the deaths of her husband and his crew in a shipwreck off Sandwich. The captain’s widow said she wished to have the bell’s ring heard at her husband’s burial site. Though no longer in use, the bell remains on display at the church.

The last Sandwich slave, Titus Winchester, also gave the church a cherished gift. Winchester refused his freedom until his owner, the Rev. Abraham Williams, died. Winchester then went to work on a ship and left the church his savings on his death to buy a steeple clock, which was used for 60 years.

Operated by the Thornton W. Burgess Society, the Green Briar Nature Center and Jam Kitchen abut the 57-acre Briar Patch Conservation Land, where Burgess worked as a child and later set his Peter Rabbit tales. Visitors can walk the woods, take in the birds or head to the wildflower garden and nature center, which holds the Robert S. Swain Natural History Library.

Don’t forget the jam kitchen. Located in a 1780 Federal style home, the kitchen was started by Sandwich resident Ida Putnam in 1903 and features the same stove where she stirred her all-natural jam. Take a jam-making class or buy a few jars for home.