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Wellfleet Drive-In Theatre
51
Rte. 6
508-349-7176
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Built in 1957, the
Wellfleet Drive-In Theatre is the lone drive-in still showing films
on Cape Cod and one of just six drive-in theaters still operating in
a state that once boasted more than 80. The theater is a throwback
to the past for some and a lesson on life before the megaplex for
others. Open late April – early Oct. A flea market is held on
weekends in the summer and some Monday holidays. The Miniature Golf
at Wellfleet Drive-in is also worth a few putts.
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Marconi Wireless Station
Marconi Station Road, off Rte. 6
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The Marconi Wireless
Station was dismantled in the 1920s, but its global contribution
will be long remembered.
The site was where
Italian inventor Guglielmo Marconi built four towers and arranged to
have U.S. President Theodore Roosevelt send the first trans-Atlantic
wireless communication between the United States and England in Jan.
1903.
But as he practiced
on Jan. 18, 1903, intending to send a message to Nova Scotia,
Marconi accidentally sent a message to his Poldhu Station in
Cornwall, England himself. The practice session became the first
two-way trans-Atlantic communication from America, though President
Roosevelt still made the big headlines on Jan. 19, 1903 by
communicating with King Edward VII.
Marconi’s wireless
communication technology is the foundation for today’s radio,
microwave and cellular systems. In his day, it was used to send
messages to ships and its value multiplied in the wake of the
Titanic’s sinking on April 15,
1912. Though wireless technology was credited with saving some of
the Titanic passengers, the
large number of casualties sent the International Radio-Telegraphic
Convention to work on many improvements, one being creation of the S.O.S.
distress signal.
Marconi chose
Wellfleet for his station because it offered an elevated and
unobstructed landing over the Atlantic Ocean. Today, the site
belongs to the Cape Cod National Seashore and offers visitors
amazing views of both the ocean and Cape Cod Bay, while showcasing plaques honoring Marconi’s achievement and a model of his
station.
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First
Congregational Church and Town Clock
200 Main St
508-349-6877
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The town clock sits
in the steeple of the First Congregational Church, raising the
question of separation between church and state, except no one ever
asks. The focus is all on the chime, the world’s only one to sound
on ship time, and a beloved piece of Wellfleet history.
The 1850 church
features an 1873 Hook & Hastings organ and an exquisite stained glass window
bearing a Mayflower-style ship. But the clock has been its
centerpiece since 1952, when Selectman Lawrence R. Gardinier
received Town Meeting approval to make it reflect the town’s
maritime history by adding chimes in ship time, which breaks the day
into four parts.
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Wellfleet Historical Society
266 Main St.
508-349-9197
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The Wellfleet
Historical Society owns the museum and the 1700s Samuel Ryder House
on Gull Pond Road. The museum features marine and lifesaving
memorabilia along with china featuring Wellfleet scenes dating back
100 years. A Lyle Gun, a half-size cannon-like device used for
life-saving, greets visitors on the front lawn.
Open mid-June –
mid-Sept.
Wed., Thurs. and
Sat., 1 p.m. – 4 p.m. and Tues. and Fri., 10 a.m. – 4 p.m.
Tues. and Fri.
walking tours at 10:15 a.m. Call to reserve space.
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Wellfleet Town Hall
300 Main St.
508-349-0301
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This building became
Town Hall in 1950 after starting life as the Second Congregational
Church in South Wellfleet. It was carefully restored for the move to
the town center,
but the work was lost to fire in 1960 and residents had to start
repairs anew. Town Hall has public restrooms and a late 1800s cannon
on the front lawn. Known as the Wellfleet Cannon, it was carried
from Cannon Hill to South Wellfleet in 1903 and buried in Clarence
B. Hicks’ yard until a subsequent property owner uncovered it in
1974 and gifted it to the town.
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Wellfleet Public Library
55
West Main St.
508-349-0310
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Wellfleet’s struggle
to maintain a library has taken it to several locations. A small
library began operating out of the First Congregational Church
vestry in 1873, and after moving to the former Wellfleet Savings
Bank and two Main Street buildings, was relocated to the current
Wellfleet Historical Society building in the early 1900s.
The town realized
its long-term goal of moving the library to Town Hall in 1950 after
residents restored the Second Congregational Church to be the center
of municipal operations. The library operated there through the
1980s, when the town bought its current building, a restored 1931
candle and curtain factory.
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Wellfleet Harbor Actors Theater on
Cape Cod
Mayo Beach
508-349-9428
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Founded in 1985, the
Wellfleet Harbor Actors Theater (WHAT) thrives by pushing the limit
and keeping performances newsworthy as well as entertaining. One of
its 2005 performances was former U.S. Secretary of Labor and
one-time Massachusetts gubernatorial candidate Robert Reich’s,
“Public Exposure,” about an arrogant TV show host so in love with
himself he thought he had a chance at the United States presidency.
The theater’s pretty setting helps pack performances, but expect
even better things when WHAT opens a new 250-seat theater in the
next few years.
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