|
 Workboat of the Marshes - Cape Cod National Seashore - Eastham, MA Posted by:  Lat34North
N 41° 50.238 W 069° 58.336
19T E 419273 N 4632168
Located at the Salt Pond Visitor Center. The Visitors Center is located at the corner of Nauset Road and Route 6 in Eastham, MA.
Waymark Code: WMMPDA
Location: Massachusetts, United States
Date Posted: 10/19/2014
Views: 2
A remnant from Cape Cod's agriculture past, this 1850-era hay barge was a common sight among the working dories, skiffs, and catboats of the area. Wide and flat-bottomed, it was rowed, poled, and sailed throughout the shallow marshes. Salt marsh hay was gathered from the water's edge for livestock, bedding and feed. Many local residents still remember the taste of salty milk.
After 1900, Cape Codders made the move from cows and plows to summer cottages and tourism, the usefulness of hay barges waned. Luckily, the French Transatlantic Cable Company in Town Cove used this one as a repair vessel for sixty years thus sparing it the fate of others of its kind. Today it is the last remaining hay barge on Cape Cod, perhaps in all New England, and is a reminder of the bustling maritime life of the coastal community.
Agency Responsible for Placement: National Park Service
Agency Responsible for Placement (if not in list above): N/A
County: Barnstable
City/Town Name: Eastham
Year Placed: Not listed
Relevant Web Site: Not listed
|
Visit Instructions:
When logging a Massachusetts Historic Marker, we ask that you not only describe your visit, but to upload a picture from it. The picture does not have to be of the marker - one picture of the marker is enough. But a photo of you standing next to the marker or a photograph the subject of the marker - those are examples of possible photographs to upload.
|