
2010 Population: 12,243 The Town of Harwich is
a resort and residential community located on the south side of the Cape peninsula, with an extensive shoreline on Nantucket Sound.
Harwich was settled around 1665, and incorporated in 1694. The early economy of Harwich included agriculture and maritime industries and its history has
included boom and bust cycles from the earliest days of the community. When the whaling industry collapsed with the discovery of oil, the Harwich community's emphasis
shifted to cod fishing. By 1802, 15 to 20 ships were shore fishing and another four ships were cod fishing in Newfoundland and Labrador, and by 1851, there
were 48 ships employing 577 men and bringing in thousands of tons of cod and mackerel. The eventual decline of the fishing industry in Harwich by the latter part
of the 19th century was caused by increases in the size of ships which eventually outstripped the shallow port's ability to house them. Harwich residents turned to the development of
cranberry bogs and resorts for summer visitors, working side-by-side with Portuguese immigrants. The first Harwich resort hotel opened in 1880 and both the cranberry and the tourist industries
remain substantial parts of Harwich's economy. |
Travel the road to the upper campgrounds in Nickerson State Park and you may think for a moment that you have been magically transported to the Berkshire Hills or the piney woods of the Carolinas. Nowhere in sight are the sand dunes and salt marshes usually associated with Cape Cod. Instead, you are surrounded by woods that slope down to the banks of eight crystal clear fresh water ponds. Yet, if you walk or bicycle through the woods, you will find no rivers or streams feeding the ponds. These are “kettle ponds,” among more than 300 formed as glaciers retreated from the Cape over 10,000 years ago. Completely dependent on groundwater and precipitation, the water level in the ponds fluctuates from season to season and year to year.
Rte. 6A, Brewster, MA
phone: 508-896-3491
map / details
| Water rescues reported in Brewster, Sandwich Saturday August 15, 2026 |
| BREWSTER ? At least one person was rescued after their kayak capsized on Long Pond about 12:45 PM Saturday. Brewster and Harwich rescuers responded. No injuries were reported. SANDWICH ? Four people on a raft were unable to get back to shore off Town Neck Beach around 3:30 PM Saturday. A passing vessel and the [?] |
| Medical condition may have led to crash on Route 6 ramp in Harwich Saturday August 15, 2026 |
| HARWICH ? Officials are investigating if a medical condition led to a crash on a Route 6 ramp in Harwich. About 8:55 AM Saturday, a vehicle went into the woods along the ramp from Route 124 to Route 6 eastbound. The driver was transported to Cape Cod Hospital. The ramp was closed for a time [?] |
| The Summer Sons: Cape Cod Baseball League Saturday August 15, 2026 |
| On a Cape Cod summer evening, on many a high school baseball field, you can enjoy our national pastime of yore for free. You will find packed bleachers, a small snack shop cooking up burgers and hot dogs, and picnic blankets and beach chairs ringing the area. Local community volunteers run the whole thing- from welcoming folks at the entrance to fundraising to hosting players in their homes. The coach and trainers get a stipend, but other than that, no one gets paid. It is all done for the love of the game.
We witnessed the culmination of the season-ending playoffs of theCape Cod Baseball League between Harwich Mariners and the Bourn Braves. The Mariners won in the rubber match in the three game series. I have been persuaded to write about the Cape Cod League by the avid baseball fans in my midst and I am channeling John here because , as many of you know, I am not much of a baseball fan!
The Cape Cod Baseball League (CCBL or Cape League) is a collegiate summer baseball wooden bat league. One of the nation's premier collegiate summer leagues, thousands of players have spent a summer on the Cape before later donning a big league uniform. That includes Hall of Famers like Frank Thomas and Jeff Bagwell and former stars like Nomar Garciaparra, Thurman Munson, Barry Zito and Jason Varitek. Current stars- including Aaron Judge, Pete Alonso, Chris Sale and George Springer- all wore jerseys for Cape Cod Summer League.
As early as the 1860s, baseball teams representing various Cape Cod towns and villages were competing against one another. The earliest newspaper account is of an 1867 game in Sandwich between the hometown ?Nichols Club? and the visiting Cummaquid team. Though not formalized as a league, the games provided entertainment for residents and summer visitors.
Players in the Cape Cod all live with host families who live on the Cape, becoming members of those families along the way. Hosts often refer to them as their ?summer sons?.
?The league has enabled people to come together under the auspices of baseball, and build deep and abiding relationships,? says Boston Globe journalist Christopher Price, author of Baseball by the Beach: A History of America's National Pastime on Cape Cod. Price's grandparents met at a Barnstable game in the 1930s. ?The game connects generations over time. That's a legacy that any sport would be proud of.? |