Pilgrim Lake approaching from Mayflower Heights
Provincetown, Cape Cod
This postcard shows what Pilgrim Lake looked like approximately 120 years ago, but it had already undergone many changes.
Once known historically as Eastern Harbor and later as East Harbor, the protected inlet was eventually diked in 1868 to make it possible for track to be laid for the railroad that made Provincetown into a thriving hub for fishing. The railroad took the fish from the Provincetown Wharf all the way to New York City.
But in building a railroad and a roadway in 1877, East Harbor became a lake known as Pilgrim Lake.
What’s interesting in this old postcard is that the dunes look fairly low and the vegetation is high. The vegetation is what caused the desalination. The fish population gradually depleted although in the mid 20th century there were reports of large terrapin turtles that lived in the lake. What did they eat?
The vegetation and wildlife continues to evolve as the National Park Service attempts to restore portions of the habitat.
What happens next? Only time will tell. Life is often a mystery.
Want to read a novel set in Provincetown? Remaining in Provincetown, “captures the characters and places perfectly,” says one reader review. “Finally an author has been able to successfully capture the flavor of that quirky town on the tip of Cape Cod and do it well,” says another. Available at Provinetown’s favorite local bookstore, Provincetown Bookshop, or online as a paperback or ebook you’ll want to read Remaining in Provincetown by S.N. Cook to get you ready for summer 2014. Like it on Facebook and keep the conversation going.
Provincetown Sand Dune postcard published by The Advocate cira 1900
I’ve posted quite a few photographs of Cape Cod sand dunes from vintage postcards. This is the first in black and white. The postcard was printed during the era when it only cost a penny to mail a postcard and have it delivered anywhere in the United States. Notice all the beach grass and vegetation growing on these sand dunes at the end of the 19th century. When the National Seashore took possession of acres of seashore on Cape Cod, which included sand dunes, during the last three decades of the 20th century they grappled with erosion. Much of the natural vegetation had been destroyed by tourists eagerly dragging coolers, umbrellas, and beach towels to set up their spot for relaxing by the water’s edge. And then there were all the children exuberantly running and sliding down sand dunes. Temporary fences were erected and new dune grass was planted. While once there was a parking area by Pilgrim Lake on the way into Provincetown for tourists to stop and walk the dunes, that parking area was closed and blocked off. Why? Just too many people causing the vegetation to become damaged and rampant erosion taking place. The wind blows hard and the sands shift and change. So it is with stories and tales of Cape Cod and Provincetown. Read any Provincetown books lately which capture the flavor of what it’s like to live in the town? Remaining in Provincetown by S.N. Cook is awaiting your reading pleasure. Available in bookstores and online as a trade paperback or ebook. Like us on Facebook. Keep the conversation going.
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Remaining in Provincetown
Truro Works. 306 pages
$12.95 Trade Paperback
Dune buggy Tour looking out over Pilgrim Lake near Provincetown
Before there was a National Seashore, four wheel drive vehicles could traverse the sand dunes at the tip of Cape Cod, traveling back and forth to visit dune shacks and go fishing. Tourists would pull over to the side of the highway and get out of their cars to run up and down the dunes as they approached Provincetown. This postcard from the 1960s shows a Dune buggy tour on the sand dune above Pilgrim Lake, which you see as you approach Provincetown from Truro. Initially the National Seashore built a parking lot near Pilgrim Lake to provide a safe spot for visitors to park but quickly realized all the erosion damage taking place and closed the area. Dune grass has been extensively planted to help prevent more loss of the dunes. In 1946 Art Costa started Art’s Dune Tours and his son Bob Costa has continued the tradition of providing interesting educational tours that explain some of the historic highlights of the sand dunes that span from the back side of the town out to Race Point and the Outer Shore. You can walk the across the dunes by taking the path at Snail Road and hiking across the sand or you can enjoy the bicycle trails that cross the sand dunes as the Carreiro children do in the soon-to-be released mystery novel Remaining in Provincetown.