Calendar of Events
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Sat07May202210:00 am - 12:00 pmA. Elmer Crowell Barn
Saturday, May 7, 2022
10:00 am-12:00 pmDrop in at the Crowell Barn this Saturday to watch the students at work. The Art of Decoy Making Workshop, led by Master Woodcarver, painter, and decoy maker, Paul Phillips, demonstrates the traditional folk art of bird carving and painting. Visitors will be able to view our carvers at work in the original woodshop of world-renowned decoy artist Anthony Elmer Crowell, and learn about future opportunities to sign up for decoy making classes at the Barn! Select pieces from the Harwich Historical Society’s collection will also be on display. Free Admission!
Be sure to visit our Gift Shop for our Spring Sale!
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Tue17May20221:00pm - 3:00pm11 Strawberry Ln. Yarmouth Port
Join the Harwich Historical Society for a special collaborative day of history with the Historical Society of Old Yarmouth on Tuesday, May 17
Registration is required - $10 per person
1:00-1:50 pm – Guided walking tour of Historic Old King’s Highway in Yarmouth PortHistoric homes—many owned by sea captains—old inns, houses of worship, taverns, and quaint shops are just some of the things you'll find along the historic Old King's Highway in Yarmouth Port
As the road winds its way under a canopy of shade trees you'll pass an almost endless collection of historic homes, some dating from the 1600s. From modest Capes to stately Colonials, these homes—still lived in or converted to inns, B&Bs, and even a museum—have been carefully, lovingly preserved by generations of owners and restored to their original character.
2:00-2:50 pm – Visit the Captain Bangs Hallet House Museum
Listed on the National Register of Historic Places and the centerpiece of the Society’s properties, this home is a stately, fully-furnished sea captain's home, circa 1840. It is the only one like it on Cape Cod regularly open to the public, providing an intimate glimpse into how sea captains' families lived and entertained in the Victorian era.
The home is arranged as if Captain Hallet was just returning from one of his many voyages to China and features period furnishings, silk, porcelain, and other antique pieces plus an extensive maritime exhibit.
Enjoy this guided tour and experience lively stories of Yarmouth sea captains' hair-raising adventures at sea during the Golden Age of Sail when clipper ships helped open the world to international trade on a global scale and made Cape Cod sea captains famous.
To learn more about the Historical Society of Old Yarmouth visit www.hsoy.org
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Sat21May202211:00 amBrooks Academy Museum Lawn
The 2022 Harwich Historical Society Annual Meeting
On the agenda will be a review of the 2021 year, approving the Board of Directors, as well as approving changes to the Society bylaws.
The meeting will take place on the lawn of Brooks Academy to accommodate the maximum number of people in a safe and socially distant environment. Please bring your own chairs!
The Society seeks the interest and support of all members and its many friends. Attendance at the Annual Meeting is a welcomed indication to staff and the many volunteers that their efforts are recognized and appreciated.
Hope to see you there!
Rain date TBA
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Sat09Jul202211:30 amPine Grove Cemetery
Saturday, July 9 - 11:30 am
$7 HHS members, $10 non-members
West Harwich resident and HHS life member J. Duncan Berry will be leading an "illustrated tour" of the Pine Grove Cemetery in West Harwich. Making use of the Historical Society's vast collection of digitized photographs and other sources, Berry will present a cross section of the village's more colorful and historically significant individuals, families, and institutions. Beginning with the Chase family's multi-generational role in the preeminence of the village, the tour will present highlights from several of the many noteworthy sea captains buried here as well as a discussion of the two ministers who maintained the vitality of the Baptist Church for a century. Some of the more interesting and overlooked town characters, from physicians and talented artists, will also be discussed.
Duration: 50 minutes
Meet at the tall marble obelisk at the Cemetery. Parking is available along Pine Grove Road. -
Sat09Jul202211:30 amWest Harwich Schoolhouse
Saturday, July 16 - 11:30 am
$7 HHS members, $10 non-members
Harwich resident and HHS life member J. Duncan Berry will be leading a tour of the West Harwich Baptist Church Cemetery.Berry will present a cross section of the village's more colorful and historically significant individuals, families, and institutions through the use of artifacts, photographs, and manuscripts.Duration: 50 minutes
Park at the West Harwich Schoolhouse. Please do NOT park at the Baptist Church. -
Sat30Jul202211:30 amWest Harwich Schoolhouse
Saturday, July 2, 11:30 am
$7 HHS members, $10 non-members
Join historian J. Duncan Berry on a walk through Captains’ Row—the stretch of Route 28 in West Harwich from the Herring River to the Dennis town line. This mile of Route 28 wears its deep historical and cultural significance in its wide array of buildings, each a fine example of a major style of American residential architecture from the 1740s to the 1940s. This walking tour discusses these amazing buildings, explaining the architectural styles and details, and noting the Harwich families who built them and lived in them. Captains’ Row is a multi-generational dialogue about the good life, played out in architecture, from the colonial days through the age of the great sea captains, and on to early motorized tourism.
Duration: 50 minutes
Meet in the parking lot of the West Harwich Schoolhouse
To reserve a spot on this tour, please fill out the form below:
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Sat06Aug202211:30 amPine Grove Cemetery
Saturday, August 6 - 11:30 am
$7 HHS members, $10 non-members
West Harwich resident and HHS life member J. Duncan Berry will be leading an "illustrated tour" of the Pine Grove Cemetery in West Harwich. Making use of the Historical Society's vast collection of digitized photographs and other sources, Berry will present a cross section of the village's more colorful and historically significant individuals, families, and institutions. Beginning with the Chase family's multi-generational role in the preeminence of the village, the tour will present highlights from several of the many noteworthy sea captains buried here as well as a discussion of the two ministers who maintained the vitality of the Baptist Church for a century. Some of the more interesting and overlooked town characters, from physicians and talented artists, will also be discussed.
Duration: 50 minutes
Meet at the tall marble obelisk at the Cemetery. Parking is available along Pine Grove Road.To reserve a spot on this tour, please fill out the form below:
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Sat13Aug202211:30 amWest Harwich Schoolhouse
Saturday, July 16 - 11:30 am
$7 HHS members, $10 non-members
Harwich resident and HHS life member J. Duncan Berry will be leading a tour of the West Harwich Baptist Church Cemetery.Berry will present a cross section of the village's more colorful and historically significant individuals, families, and institutions through the use of artifacts, photographs, and manuscripts.Duration: 50 minutes
Park at the West Harwich Schoolhouse. Please do NOT park at the Baptist Church.To reserve a spot on this tour, please fill out the form below: -
Sat27Aug20225:00, 5:30, 6:00 pmFirst Congregational Church of Harwich Cemetery - 697 Main St, Harwich, MA 02645
Saturday, August 27
$10 HHS members, $12 non-members
Hear from the spirits of Revolutionary War veterans and their families as they share their stories. Groups will be departing from Brooks Academy Museum at 5:00, 5:30, and 6:00 pm. Each tour will last approximately one hour. Reservations are required, space is limited.To reserve a spot on this tour, please fill out the form below: -
Sat10Sep202210:00 am - 11:30 amBrooks Academy Museum - 80 Parallel Street, Harwich Center
Saturday, September 10, 10:00-11:30 am$10 HHS members, $12 non-members
Explore historic Harwich Center with a look back at three of the early families - Brooks, Chase, Underwood - and their contributions to the town. Learn about key landmarks, cranberries, politics, and the people that put Harwich on the map! This walking tour will be led by Paul Doane.To reserve a spot on this tour, please fill out the form below: -
Wed14Sep20226:00 pmBrooks Academy Museum - 80 Parallel Street, Harwich Center
Wednesday, September 14, 6:00 pm
$7 HHS members, $10 non-members
About the Book:Whether you call Cape Cod a man-made island or describe it as a geographic peninsula connected to the mainland by bridges, there is one non-debatable fact. Cape Cod is surrounded by water on all four sides, jutting out prominently into the Atlantic Ocean. This characteristic accounts in large measure for its history, its economic development, its aesthetic beauty, and its maritime legacy.This narrative explores the connection that each Cape Cod town has to the sea as demonstrated through its seafaring residents. It provides a glimpse into heroic maritime adventures, entrepreneurial brilliance, and an appreciation of the resolve needed by captains to thrive in a hostile seaside environment.Maritime figures take several forms such as distinguished fishermen, military war heroes, deep-sea merchants, local coasters, packet boat captains, whalers, ship architects, luxury passenger liner magnets, and even “mooncussers” prowling along the coastline for treasure.A definite emphasis is placed on the role of indigenous people, black sea captains, the female perspective of living aboard a ship, and social status awarded to ethnic groups brave enough to face the perils of deep-sea travel.This book examines each Cape Cod town’s relative engagement to the seafaring life. Can one specific town assert unique mastery of the sea, or should several communities share in this heritage? In reviewing the data, we discover that every town assuredly has a substantive connection to the sea and deserves to be given at least some credit for its maritime history.About the Author:Dr. Michael Pregot has served as a secondary school administrator at the middle school and high school levels for 15 years and as a P-12 school superintendent for 15 years. Most of his administrative experiences have taken place in New York and Massachusetts with three years of service as an interim superintendent in New Hampshire. During his tenure as a practicing school leader, he has taught adjunct educational leadership courses at Boston College, Keene State, Franklin Pierce, Fitchburg State and Worcester State College. Prior to his appointment to the faculty at Long Island University’s Brooklyn Campus, he taught educational leadership courses for five years at Iona College in New Rochelle, N.Y.His latest interest is in maritime history. He has now written “Sea Captains of Cape Cod” and “Meet the Captains of the Captains Golf Course’.To reserve a spot for this program, please fill out the form below: -
Sat03Dec2022
