Chatham, Massachusetts est., 1664
Greetings and salutations from the sand, sun and surf of Cape Cod, Martha’s Vineyard and the sunny, beautiful, breezy island of Nantucket! Great to be with you on this 7th day of June, 2015, a wonderful day on Cape as Sea Cape Cod makes good on it’s second installment of ‘better know a district’, I mean ‘better know a Cape town or island’…, no need for invoking copy-write infringement Mr. Colbert, if that is your real name sir!
Chatham was first settled by the English in 1664, the township (pop., 6,125 by 2010 U.S. Census), was originally called “Monomoit’ based on the indigenous population’s term for the region. ‘Chatham’ now home to Monomoy National Wildlife Refuge’, located on Monomoy Island. Native America tribes who lived in the area before European colonization included the Nauset, specifically the Manomoy, or Monomoy people.
Many locals today will point to their collective elbows to help tourists and some family members alike, just kidding, where the town lies on a map when compared to the rest of the Cape, being the whole of the arm itself, just one long sand bar created 11,500 years ago by the Last Great Ice Age. Even early on Chatham thrived, with it being a whaling, shipping and fishing center from the early days going forward into this 21st Century. Much of the beautiful 18th Century architecture afforded by Chatham’s success can still be enjoyed today, attracting tourists from all over the world every year.
Chatham Lighthouse-established in 1808 by our third U.S. President, Thomas Jefferson to protect ships circling the Cape–was moved from that original position (erosion), and rebuilt across the street in 1877 out of cast iron where it sits today. One can enjoy a pleasant walk down Main Street, about as quaint as it gets (mom and pop stores gladly dwarf corporate entities), after a day body surfing at the many beaches (Coast Guard Beach being one of the best!), or after a long bike ride on the awesome biking trails that take one out to Cape Cod National Seashore, eat a delicious dinner and then take in a Chatham Angler’s baseball game, part of the Cape Cod Baseball League, on the peninsula for collegiate athletes.
Whatever you decide to do in this amazing town, you will, for sure, have a smile on your face!
Have a pleasant evening everybody!
PRESERVE THE WILDERNESS! Peace~M
