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95-644: Historically, train service extended beyond the current terminus of the three branches. Greenbush service continued on a now-abandoned right-of-way to Kingston, where it joined the Plymouth line. The Plymouth line extended into downtown Plymouth, and a branch connected to Middleborough through Carver. Trains continued southeast from Middleboro to four different termini on Cape Cod : Woods Hole , Hyannis , Chatham , and Provincetown . Another major branch continued southwest to New Bedford , and another to Newport via Fall River . A number of minor branches also extended off

190-425: A hurricane brings damaging winds and storm surges to the region. Several Category 3 storms have struck Cape Cod since record-keeping began, such as a hurricane in 1869 , the 1938 New England hurricane , and Hurricane Carol in 1954. Strong Category 2 storms, such as the 1869 Saxby Gale , Hurricane Edna in 1954, and Hurricane Bob in 1991, also caused considerable damage. Notable Category 1 storms include

285-400: A home, so they cleared most of Cape Cod of timber early on. They planted familiar crops, but these were unsuited to Cape Cod's thin, glacially derived soils. For instance, much of Eastham was planted with wheat. The settlers practiced the burning of woodlands to release nutrients into the soil. Improper and intensive farming led to erosion and the loss of topsoil. Farmers grazed their cattle on

380-510: A lack of significant waterpower in the area. The Cape developed as a large fishing and whaling center as a result, and also because of its geographic position. After 1860 and the opening of the American West , farmers abandoned agriculture on the Cape. By 1950, forests had recovered to an extent not seen since the 18th century. Cape Cod became a summer haven for city dwellers beginning at the end of

475-485: A light tower that was attached directly to – and centered on the roof of – the keeper's dwelling . A stairway to the lantern room was accessible only from the top floor of the house. This came to be known as a Cape Cod style lighthouse, yet today, the only fully intact specimens are on the west coast of the United States. Most of Cape Cod's lighthouses are operated by the U.S. Coast Guard, with some exceptions, such as

570-678: A limited number of trains. Bourne voted to join the MBTA district in 2015 and began paying an assessment in mid 2016 (for FY 2017), although there was no guarantee that commuter rail service would be provided in the fiscally constrained environment. For FY 2017, Bourne paid $ 41,707 to the MBTA (plus an existing $ 88,429 to the CCRTA for existing bus service). MassDOT began planning a possible commuter rail trial service in October 2015. In February 2016, state representatives and CCRTA administrator Thomas Cahir said that

665-574: A maritime radio station communicating to ships at sea using the callsign WCC . WCC supported the communications of Amelia Earhart , Howard Hughes , Admiral Byrd , and the Hindenburg . Marconi chose Chatham due to its vantage point on the Atlantic Ocean, surrounded on three sides by water. Walter Cronkite narrated a 17-minute documentary in 2005 about the history of the Chatham Station. Much of

760-559: A new fiscal year). The station did not reopen at that time, however, with a date for service restoration not announced. As of February 2022, the Kingston Line has 13 weekday round trips and eight on weekends, while the Middleborough/Lakeville Line has 15 weekday round trips and 10 on weekends. By October 2022, Kingston service was at 69% of pre-COVID ridership, with Middleborough/Lakeville service at 77%. Original plans for

855-412: A number of villages; see Barnstable County for a complete list. Barnstable, the most populated municipality on Cape Cod, is the only one to have adopted a city form of government, whose legislative body is an elected 13-member council . However, like other smaller Massachusetts cities, Barnstable retained its "Town of Barnstable" moniker. All of the other towns elect a 5-member Board of Selectmen as

950-426: A result, the ocean temperatures on the eastern shore of Cape Cod rarely get above 60 °F (16 °C), while along the southern coast ( Nantucket Sound ), water temperatures can sometimes reach 70 °F (21 °C) or higher. The water surrounding Cape Cod moderates winter temperatures nearly enough to extend the humid subtropical climate zone to what could be its northernmost limit in eastern North America, as

1045-565: A summer home in the Gray Gables section of Bourne. Other notable residents of Cape Cod have included actress Julie Harris , US Supreme Court justice Louis Brandeis , figure skater Todd Eldredge , composer and radio personality Canary Burton , and novelists Norman Mailer and Kurt Vonnegut . Influential natives included patriot James Otis , historian and writer Mercy Otis Warren , jurist Lemuel Shaw , and naval officer John Percival . "Lighthouses, from ancient times, have fascinated members of

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1140-449: Is a spit consisting largely of deposited marine sediment that was eroded and transported from farther south along the shore. Those sediments that instead moved south created the islands and shoals of Monomoy. So while other parts of the Cape have dwindled from the action of the waves, these parts of the Cape have grown through the deposition of sediment in just the last 6,000 years. This process continues today. Due to their exposure to

1235-564: Is a concern. In 2023, the state began a nitrogen pollution regulation scheme for Cape Cod and the Islands to address overgrowth of algae, cyanobacteria, and plants. Under the Köppen climate classification , the Cape Cod area has an oceanic climate . Locally, the Cape has a more moderate climate than inland locations in eastern New England. On occasion, it takes the brunt of extreme weather systems such as

1330-507: Is a park encompassing the site of the first two-way transoceanic radio transmission from the United States. ( Theodore Roosevelt used Marconi's equipment for this transmission.) The Kennedy Compound in Hyannis Port was President Kennedy's summer White House during his presidency, and the Kennedy family continues to maintain residences on the compound. President Grover Cleveland maintained

1425-479: Is a peninsula extending into the Atlantic Ocean from the southeastern corner of Massachusetts , in the northeastern United States. Its historic, maritime character and ample beaches attract heavy tourism during the summer months. The name Cape Cod, coined in 1602 by Bartholomew Gosnold , is the ninth oldest English place-name in the U.S. As defined by the Cape Cod Commission 's enabling legislation, Cape Cod

1520-533: Is also known for a delayed spring season due to the sea remaining cold from the winter; by the same token, the summer heat retained in the sea moderates fall temperatures in comparison to the adjacent inland area. The highest temperature yet recorded on the peninsula was 104 °F (40 °C) in Provincetown, the lowest temperature recorded was −12 °F (−24 °C) in Barnstable. Precipitation on Cape Cod and

1615-502: Is coextensive with Barnstable County, Massachusetts . It extends from Provincetown in the northeast to Woods Hole in the southwest, and is bordered by Plymouth to the northwest. The Cape is divided into fifteen towns , several of which are in turn made up of multiple named villages. Cape Cod forms the southern boundary of the Gulf of Maine , which extends north-eastward to Nova Scotia . Since 1914, most of Cape Cod has been separated from

1710-402: Is no tangible support of the presence of Norse voyagers in Cape Cod, and the view is not generally accepted by archaeologists or historians. Giovanni da Verrazzano approached it from the south in 1524. He named Martha's Vineyard Claudia, after Claude of France , the wife of Francis I of France . In 1525, Portuguese explorer Estêvão Gomes called it Cabo de la Arenas while sailing under

1805-449: Is shown on Southack's map of 1717. The present Cape Cod Canal was slowly developed from 1870 to 1914. The federal government purchased it in 1928. Because of early colonial settlement and intensive land use, the Cape's vegetation was depauperate and trees were scarce by the time that Henry Thoreau saw Cape Cod during his four visits over 1849 to 1857,. The settlers heated by fires, and it took 10 to 20 cords (40 to 80 m ) of wood to heat

1900-508: Is to the east of Cape Cod, and to the southwest of the Cape is Buzzards Bay . The Cape Cod Canal, completed in 1916, connects Buzzards Bay to Cape Cod Bay; its creation shortened the trade route between New York and Boston by 62 miles (100 km). Cape Cod extends 65 miles (105 km) into the Atlantic Ocean, with a breadth of between 1–20 miles (1.6–32.2 km), and covers more than 400 miles (640 km) of shoreline. Its elevation ranges from 306 feet (93 m) at its highest point, at

1995-644: The 1944 Great Atlantic hurricane and Hurricane Donna in 1960. Other notable storms include the Gale of 1815 , which would likely have been rated a strong hurricane on the Saffir-Simpson scale, and the so-called " Perfect Storm " of October 31, 1991. The February 2013 nor'easter produced winds in excess of 80 miles per hour (130 km/h) and dropped over 24 inches (61 cm) of snow on some parts of Cape Cod. The storm knocked out power to tens of thousands of Cape Cod residents, some for up to two weeks. Cape Cod has been

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2090-586: The Blizzard of 2005 and Hurricane Bob . Because of the influence of the Atlantic Ocean on three sides, temperatures are typically a few degrees lower in the summer and often several degrees higher in the winter than the adjacent mainland. Two ocean currents (the Gulf Stream , a warm ocean current from the south, and the Labrador Current , a cold ocean current from the north), meander and interact with each other. As

2185-512: The Boston and Albany Railroad extended the original Charles River Branch Railroad line from Cook Junction to its own main line at Riverside , forming the complete Highland branch. The Needham cutoff opened on November 4, 1906 from West Roxbury to Needham Junction , allowing trains from the former New York and New England Railroad to reach Boston without needing to use the Highland branch. Building

2280-620: The Delineator . Guglielmo Marconi made the first transatlantic wireless transmission originating in the United States from Cape Cod, at Wellfleet . The beach below the bluffs where his station was located is now called Marconi Beach . In 1914, he began construction of a new transatlantic wireless receiver station in Chatham and a companion transmitter station in Marion . In 1920, the stations were acquired by RCA and, in 1921, Chatham began operations as

2375-551: The Nauset Light , which has been owned since 1997 by the Cape Cod National Seashore (National Park Service) and operated since 2004 in partnership between that agency and the non-profit Nauset Light Preservation Society. In 1996, both Highland Light and Nauset Light were moved further from the shore because they were each at risk of being lost due to erosion by the sea. Highland Light, then 110 ft (34 m) from

2470-540: The Needham Line and Greenbush Line . The move came as a part of fare increases and service cuts in order to close the agency's operating budget shortfall for the following year. Weekend service was eliminated beginning July 7, 2012; weekend service was kept for the first week of the new fiscal year to allow for service on the July 4th holiday. Middleborough/Lakeville service continued to operate on weekends. In fiscal year 2013,

2565-566: The Outer Lands , or more obscurely as the "Isles of Stirling". Geologically speaking, Cape Cod is quite young, having been laid down some 16,000 to 20,000 years ago. Most of Cape Cod's geological history involves the advance and retreat of the Laurentide Ice Sheet in the late Pleistocene geological era and the subsequent changes in sea level. Using radiocarbon dating techniques, researchers have determined that around 23,000 years ago,

2660-581: The regional rail -style service introduced in November 2020 was resumed on the Middleborough/Lakeville Line and added on the Kingston Line. Additionally, the last Kingston-bound train of the night departs from Braintree station, with a timed transfer from a Middleborough/Lakeville Line train. Weekend service on the Kingston line and the six other lines resumed on July 3, 2021. In June 2021, the MBTA indicated that Plymouth station would reopen on July 5, 2022 (the start of

2755-628: The 19th century. Improved rail transportation made the towns of the Upper Cape, such as Bourne and Falmouth , accessible to Bostonians . At the beginning of the twentieth century, the Northeastern mercantile elite built many large, shingled "cottages" along Buzzards Bay . The relaxed summer environment offered by Cape Cod was highlighted by writers including Joseph C. Lincoln , who published novels and countless short stories about Cape Cod folks in popular magazines such as The Saturday Evening Post and

2850-623: The Bourne Bridge to the west, and the Sagamore to the east. The bridges form a bottleneck, resulting in traffic backups of several miles during the tourist season - especially going on-cape at the beginning of the weekend and off-cape at the end of the weekend. The entire Cape is roughly bisected lengthwise by U.S. Route 6 , locally known as the Mid-Cape Highway and officially as the Grand Army of

2945-553: The Cape Main Line through Brockton and Middleborough and the Old Colony mainline to Plymouth even after passenger service ended, so the lines were not abandoned when restoration planning began around 1990. Both lines received a full restoration for 59 miles per hour (95 km/h) passenger service, including passing sidings and fully handicapped accessible stations with full-length high-level platforms. Tracks were laid parallel to

Old Colony Lines - Misplaced Pages Continue

3040-418: The Cape as an island with regard to disaster preparedness, groundwater management, and the like. Cape Codders tend to refer to the land on the mainland side of the canal as "off-Cape", though the legal delineation of Cape Cod, coincident to the boundaries of Barnstable County, includes portions of the towns of Bourne and Sandwich that are located north of the canal. Cape Cod Bay lies in between Cape Cod and

3135-420: The Cape. Like Cape Cod itself, the islands south of the Cape have evolved from whaling and trading areas to become resort destinations, attracting wealthy families, celebrities, and tourists. These include the large nearby islands of Nantucket and Martha's Vineyard . Both islands are also famous summer tourist destinations, commonly accessed by ferry from several locations on the cape. The phrases Cape Cod and

3230-607: The East Village, Needham's historical center, because one landowner refused to sell; instead, it was routed to Great Plain station in Great Plain Village further to the east. Highlandville (later Needham Heights ) opened around 1860. The line was used to haul gravel from Needham quarries to fill in the Back Bay from 1859 to the 1880s. The line was extended southwest to Medway in 1861 and to Woonsocket in 1863. In 1886,

3325-725: The Greenbush Line and Saturday service on the Needham Line , resumed on December 27, 2014. Prior to the return of weekend service on the Kingston/Plymouth Line, the MBTA held special weekend service to Plymouth for two weekends leading up to the 2014 Thanksgiving holiday. The two trains per day were intended only for tourists going to Plymouth; they did not run on schedules allowing day trips to Boston. Substantially reduced schedules were in effect from March 16 to June 23, 2020. Schedule changes effective November 2, 2020, added midday service with consistent 60–70 minute midday headways on

3420-483: The Islands and the Cape and Islands are often used to describe the whole region of Barnstable County, Dukes County (including Martha's Vineyard and the smaller Elizabeth Islands ), and Nantucket County. Several small islands right off Cape Cod, including Monomoy Island , Monomoscoy Island , Popponesset Island , and Seconsett Island , are also in Barnstable County. The Forbes family -owned Naushon Island

3515-560: The MBTA Board voted to enact a more limited set of cuts, including indefinitely closing Plymouth and four of the other five stations. That day, temporary reduced schedules were again put into place. On January 23, 2021, reduced schedules went into place with no weekend service on seven lines, including the Kingston/Plymouth Line. Plymouth station closed on April 5, 2021, with the line renamed the Kingston Line . As part of that schedule change,

3610-527: The MBTA and the Massachusetts Department of Transportation (MassDOT) ; it uses standard MBTA commuter equipment. The CapeFLYER is the first regular passenger service to Cape Cod from Boston since the 1960s. The relative success of the CapeFLYER has brought new attention to the possibility of extending the Middleborough/Lakeville Line to Buzzards Bay . The possibility was seriously discussed before

3705-511: The Middleborough/Lakeville Line, though a pilot of late-night service was discontinued. The fork at the end of the Kingston/Plymouth Line (which lacks a wye ) creates operational issues – a single train cannot serve both terminal stations efficiently. The MBTA had intended to address this issue with schedule changes since 2015. In November 2020, as part of service cuts during the pandemic, the MBTA proposed to close Plymouth along with five other low-ridership stations on other lines. On December 14,

3800-1196: The Middleborough/Lakeville Line. The existing Middleborough/Lakeville station will be replaced by Middleborough station for commuter service, though it will continue to be served by the CapeFlyer. The proposed Phase 2 of South Coast Rail, planned to open in 2030, would be routed via Stoughton rather than Middleborough. [REDACTED] MBTA Commuter Rail : Fairmount , Framingham/Worcester , Franklin/Foxboro , Greenbush , Needham , and Providence/Stoughton lines; CapeFlyer (seasonal) [REDACTED] MBTA subway : Red Line ; Silver Line ( SL1 , SL2 , SL3 , SL4 ) [REDACTED] MBTA bus : 4 , 7 ,   11 [REDACTED] Intercity buses at South Station Bus Terminal [REDACTED] MBTA subway: Red Line [REDACTED] MBTA bus: 8 , 16 ,   41 [REDACTED] UMass Shuttle Route 1 [REDACTED] LMA Shuttle [REDACTED] MBTA subway: Red Line [REDACTED] MBTA bus: 210 , 211 , 215 , 216 , 217 , 220 , 222 , 225 , 230 , 236 , 238 ,   245 [REDACTED] MBTA subway: Red Line [REDACTED] MBTA bus : 226 , 230 ,   236 Cape Cod Cape Cod

3895-569: The Middleborough/Lakeville line averaged 7,182 and the Kingston/Plymouth Line 6,560 one-way riders per weekday, for a combined daily ridership of 13,742 – a substantial decrease from daily averages exceeding 19,000 several years before. In early 2014, local and state officials began agitating for the return of weekend service on the Plymouth/Kingston Line. Weekend service on the Plymouth/Kingston Line, as well as weekend service on

Old Colony Lines - Misplaced Pages Continue

3990-476: The Needham Line is not a former intercity mainline; instead, it is composed of a former branch line, a short segment of one intercity line (running in the reverse of its original direction), and a 1906-built connector. The Boston and Providence Railroad (B&P) opened its main line from Boston through Toll Gate (Forest Hills) to Providence in 1834. A branch line from Forest Hills to Dedham via West Roxbury

4085-461: The Needham Line was kept as a locomotive-hauled commuter service. During Southwest Corridor construction from 1979 to 1987, the line was closed; upon the initial closure, service levels on the nearby Framingham Line were increased substantially to compensate for the loss of Needham service. Since the New Haven era, the line has had Saturday service but not Sunday service. Experimental Sunday service

4180-514: The Northeast, yet they retain much of the early merchant trading and whaling culture. Cape Cod in particular is a popular retirement area; 31.8% of the population of Barnstable County is 65 years old or older., and the average age of residents is the highest of any area in New England . Cape Cod is majority Democrat , but by a smaller margin than the rest of Massachusetts. The bulk of the land in

4275-569: The Old Colony right-of-way in many sections. The approaches to the bridge over the Neponset River burned soon afterwards, making any restoration of service significantly more difficult. As congestion and pollution became issues on the expressway, projects were undertaken to revive service on these railways. In 1971, the South Shore branch of the Red Line opened to Quincy Center , and, in 1980, it

4370-569: The Providence/Stoughton Line were the only MBTA Commuter Rail routes without Sunday service. On January 23, 2021, reduced schedules went into place with no weekend service on seven lines, including the Needham Line. Service changes on April 5, 2021, added midday service – thus establishing all-day hourly service – as part of a transition to a regional rail model. As part of that schedule change, all Needham Line trains began stopping at Ruggles station after an additional platform there

4465-639: The Red Line along the original right-of-way, including a new two-track bridge over the Neponset River. The first trains ran on September 26, 1997, with full rush hour service on the 29th. The third leg of the project, the Greenbush Line , was planned to reopen at the same time. Due to public opposition, the Greenbush Line did not open until 2007. Weekend and off-peak service on the Old Colony Lines (including

4560-555: The Republic Highway. Needham Line The Needham Line is a branch of the MBTA Commuter Rail system, running west from downtown Boston, Massachusetts through Roxbury , Jamaica Plain , Roslindale , West Roxbury , and the town of Needham . The second-shortest line of the system at just 13.7 miles (22.0 km) long, it carried 4,881 daily riders in October 2022. Unlike the MBTA's eleven other commuter rail lines,

4655-615: The Spanish crown. In 1602, Bartholomew Gosnold named the tip Cape Cod, the surviving term and the ninth oldest English place-name in the U.S. Samuel de Champlain charted its sand-silted harbors in 1606, and Henry Hudson landed there in 1609. Captain John Smith noted it on his map of 1614, and at last the Pilgrims entered the "Cape Harbor" and made their first landing near Provincetown on November 11, 1620. They had their first encounter with

4750-644: The Town of Provincetown. No longer in "official" use over the ensuing decades, the name came to mean all of the land east of the Manomet and Scusset rivers – essentially along the line that became the Cape Cod Canal. The creation of the canal separated the majority of the peninsula from the mainland. Most agencies, including the Cape Cod Commission and the Federal Emergency Management Agency (FEMA), treat

4845-535: The adjacent Washington Street Elevated provided more frequent service, was reopened in June 1973. When the plans to replace the Elevated were drawn up in the 1960s, the new Orange Line was planned to continue past Forest Hills to Needham Heights, replacing the Needham Line. However, as the project was stalled over the next few decades, funding was found only to complete the replacement portion to Forest Hills in 1987, and so

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4940-517: The area is glacial terminal moraine and represents the southernmost extent of glacial coverage in southeast New England; similar glacial formations make up Long Island in New York and Block Island in Rhode Island. The name "Cape Cod", as it was first used in 1602, applied only to the very tip of the peninsula. It remained that way for 125 years until the "Precinct of Cape Cod" was incorporated as

5035-565: The coast with no obstruction. Consequently, the sediment and sand from the beaches are being washed away and deposited elsewhere. While this destroys land in some places, it creates land elsewhere, most noticeably in marshes where sediment is deposited by flowing water. Cape Cod's aquifer consists of six hydrologically independent lenses from which all the towns on the Cape obtain drinking water (except Falmouth, which, in 2015, drew 43.5% of its water from Long Pond). Contamination with industrial chemicals and pharmaceutical drugs from septic systems

5130-509: The cutoff required a significant length of difficult rock cuts – "one of the heaviest pieces of short railroad construction ever attempted in New England" – reaching a depth of 57 feet (17 m) at Great Plain Avenue. Originally Needham Junction was the only stop on the cutoff; Bird's Hill opened as an infill station in 1917. The segment from West Roxbury to Dedham was subsequently abandoned;

5225-431: The early 20th century) is claimed by some to have been visited by Leif Eiriksson , and a stone wall discovered in Provincetown in 1805 is also claimed to have been built by his younger brother Thorvald Eiriksson around AD 1007, when the keel of his ship was repaired in the harbor, according to Norse sagas . He was killed later in the same journey and is said to have been returned to this spot for burial. However, there

5320-518: The east-facing Atlantic seacoast of Cape Cod consists of wide, sandy beaches. In 1961, a significant portion of this coastline, already slated for housing subdivisions, was made a part of the Cape Cod National Seashore by President John F. Kennedy . It was protected from private development and preserved for public use. Large portions are open to the public, including the Marconi Site in Wellfleet . This

5415-562: The end of its first summer season. In September 2013, the Wareham Chamber of Commerce announced that, based on the success of the CapeFLYER, the Chamber supported the extension of commuter rail service to Buzzards Bay. The Buzzards Bay town selectmen similarly supported the idea later that year, and a public forum was held in January 2014. Bourne's Transportation Advisory Committee began studying

5510-401: The executive policy-setting board and utilize Town Meetings as their legislative body. To the south of Cape Cod lie Nantucket Sound ; Nantucket and Martha's Vineyard , both large islands; and the mostly privately owned Elizabeth Islands . For most of the 18th, 19th, and 20th centuries, Cape Cod was considered to consist of three sections (see map): "East of America, there stands in

5605-573: The federal government in 1975 and again in 1990 for official recognition of the Mashpee Wampanoag as a tribe. In May 2007, the Wampanoag tribe was federally recognized. Cape Cod was a landmark for early explorers. It may have been the "Promontory of Vinland " mentioned by the Norse voyagers (985–1025), although this is disputed. The Manomet River area (taken up by the western end of the Cape Cod Canal in

5700-400: The first service to Plymouth , which is not served during rush hours) began as planned on November 29, 1997, two months after rush hour service began. Greenbush service included weekend and off-peak service from the beginning of operations. In May 2010, the MBTA announced a plan to temporarily stop all weekend service and to replace non-peak weekday service with buses. The shutdowns were for

5795-583: The grassy dunes of coastal Massachusetts, only to watch "in horror as the denuded sands 'walked' over richer lands, burying cultivated fields and fences." Dunes on the outer Cape became more common, and many harbors filled in with eroded soils. By 1800, much of Cape Cod's firewood had to be transported by boat from Maine . The paucity of vegetation was worsened by the raising of merino sheep that reached its peak in New England around 1840. The early Industrial Revolution occurred through much of Massachusetts and Rhode Island , but it mostly bypassed Cape Cod due to

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5890-438: The home of the indigenous Wampanoag for centuries prior to European colonization . They lived from the sea and were accomplished farmers. They understood the principles of sustainable forest management , and were known to light controlled fires to keep the underbrush in check. They helped the Pilgrims , who arrived in the fall of 1620, survive at their new Plymouth Colony . The Wampanoag gradually lost their lands during

5985-451: The human race. There is something about a lighted beacon that suggests hope and trust and appeals to the better instincts of mankind." Edward Rowe Snow Beginning in 1797, lighthouses were erected along Cape Cod to aid in navigation. Highland Light (or Cape Cod Light) is the oldest and tallest of these, and remains as one of a number of working lighthouses on Cape Cod and the Islands. Many of Cape Cod's earliest lighthouses featured

6080-420: The ice sheet reached its maximum southward advance over North America, and then started to retreat. Many kettle ponds – clear, cold lakes – were formed and remain on Cape Cod as a result of the receding glacier. By about 18,000 years ago, the ice sheet had retreated past Cape Cod. By roughly 15,000 years ago, it had retreated past southern New England. With so much of Earth's water locked up in massive ice sheets,

6175-407: The islands of Martha's Vineyard and Nantucket is the lowest in the southern New England region, averaging slightly less than 40 inches (100 cm) a year (most parts of New England average 42 to 46 inches (110 to 120 cm)). This is due to the maritime influence inhibiting summertime thunderstorm development and maintenance. The region does not experience a greater number of sunny days, however, as

6270-583: The line has 16 round trips on weekdays and 8 on weekends. By October 2022, the line had 4,881 daily riders – 73% of pre-COVID ridership. An infill station at the West Roxbury Education Complex was proposed in 2023 as part of plans to move the John D. O'Bryant School of Mathematics & Science to the site. A station at the adjacent Gardner Street Landfill site (now Millennium Park ) had previously been proposed in 1970. The school relocation plan

6365-455: The line to the Old Colony stockholders; however, this drove the Old Colony, which had not run trains in over thirty years, to bankruptcy in one day, and the New Haven was forced to run the trains by court order, with a provision that, if losses exceeded a certain amount, they could abandon the line. The Old Colony Division enjoyed a brief renaissance in the early 1950s under the pro-commuter term of President Frederick C. Dumaine, Jr.; however, this

6460-578: The main lines. These included branches to Hull , East Bridgewater, West Bridgewater, North Hanover, and Fairhaven. None of these branches are currently operational. Passenger service along the Old Colony Railroad was discontinued in 1959. Despite high ridership, this line had been a source of problems for the New Haven Railroad , which leased the system. In 1935, the bankrupt New Haven attempted to default on its lease and return ownership of

6555-438: The mainland by the Cape Cod Canal . The canal cuts 7 miles (11 km) roughly across the base of the peninsula, though small portions of the Cape Cod towns of Bourne and Sandwich lie on the mainland side of the canal. Two highway bridges cross the Cape Cod Canal: the Sagamore Bridge and the Bourne Bridge . In addition, the Cape Cod Canal Railroad Bridge carries railway freight and provides limited passenger service onto

6650-416: The mainland – bounded on the north by a line between Provincetown and Marshfield . North of Cape Cod Bay (and Provincetown) is Massachusetts Bay , which contains the Stellwagen Bank National Marine Sanctuary , located 5 miles (8 km) north of Provincetown. Cape Cod Bay and Massachusetts Bay are both part of the Gulf of Maine, which includes the waters between the Cape and Nova Scotia. The Atlantic Ocean

6745-452: The native inhabitants in nearby Eastham . Cape Cod was among the first places settled by Puritan colonists in North America. The Cape's fifteen towns developed slowly, aside from Barnstable (1639), Sandwich (1637), and Yarmouth (1639). The final town to be established on the Cape was Bourne in 1884, breaking off from Sandwich. Provincetown was a group of huts until the 18th century. A channel from Massachusetts Bay to Buzzards Bay

6840-647: The north side of the Cape Cod Canal opposite Bourne ), including several intermediate stops. However, other projects (such as the restoration of service on the Greenbush Line ) received priority, and the extension to Buzzards Bay was not constructed. The CapeFLYER service to Hyannis on Cape Cod via the Middleborough/Lakeville Line began in May 2013. The service is operated by the Cape Cod Regional Transit Authority (CCRTA), in collaboration with

6935-402: The number of cloudy days is the same as inland locales, in addition to increased fog. On average, roughly 27 inches (69 cm) of snow, which is about 17 inches (43 cm) less than Boston, falls in an average winter. Once every five or six years, a tropical storm , accompanied by very high and potentially damaging winds and heavy rain, will strike the region. About once every 11 or 12 years

7030-479: The ocean, was moved 450 ft (140 m) to the west, and Nauset Light, 37 ft (11 m) from the bluff, was moved 300 ft (91 m) west. The lighthouses of Cape Cod include: Cape Cod is connected to the mainland by a pair of canal-spanning highway bridges, the Bourne and Sagamore that were constructed in the 1930s (replacing a 1912 drawbridge). The two parallel road bridges are four miles apart, with

7125-605: The open Atlantic the last fragment of an ancient and vanished land. Worn by the breakers and the rains, and disintegrated by the wind, it still stands bold." Henry Beston , The Outermost House The bulk of the land on Cape Cod consists of glacial landforms , formed by terminal moraine and outwash plains . This represents the southernmost extent of glacial coverage in southeast New England; similar glacial formations make up Long Island in New York and Block Island in Rhode Island . Together, these formations are known as

7220-404: The open ocean, the Cape and islands are subject to considerable coastal erosion . Due to erosion, the Cape will be completely submerged by the sea within several thousand years. This erosion causes the washout of beaches and the destruction of the barrier islands; for example, the ocean broke through the barrier island at Chatham during Hurricane Bob in 1991, allowing waves and storm surge to hit

7315-485: The peninsula is split between USDA hardiness zones 7a (Upper and Mid Cape) and 7b (Lower and Outer Cape). Consequently, many subtropical indicator plant species typically found in more southerly latitudes are grown there, including Camellias , Ilex opaca , Magnolia grandiflora and Albizia julibrissin . However, Cape Cod falls below the 72 °F (22 °C) threshold, as the warmest month, July, averages around 68.25 °F (20.14 °C). Cape Cod's climate

7410-535: The period of European incursion through land cessions and violent conflict with white settlers. The documentary Natives of the Narrowland (1993), narrated by actress Julie Harris , shows the history of the Wampanoag people through Cape Cod archaeological sites. In 1974, the Mashpee Wampanoag Tribal Council was formed to articulate the concerns of those with Native American ancestry. They petitioned

7505-569: The possibility in mid-2014, with the addition of work by MassDOT 's Central Transportation Planning Staff (CTPS) in November 2014. A Local Impact Report released in April 2015 proposed an 800 foot (240 m) high-level platform and two parking alternatives: a 120-space modification of the existing lot, or a 400-to-600-space structure (including a realignment of Academy Drive). The CTPS data estimated ridership at 875 daily riders if all Middleborough trains were extended to Buzzards Bay, or slightly fewer with

7600-545: The purposes of replacing defective concrete ties (which had begun failing far earlier than expected) with wooden ones. Tie replacement started in March 2011 and was substantially complete by September, although the full project – which includes grade crossing and bridge work – was expected to take until the summer of 2012. The project was fully completed by May 26, 2012. On March 28, 2012, the MBTA announced that Plymouth/Kingston Line service would no longer operate on weekends, as with

7695-573: The reopening of the Middleborough/Lakeville Line in the 1990s called for service to Wareham or beyond; however, plans were scaled back, and, when the line reopened in 1997, service was restored only to Middleborough/Lakeville . In 2007, the Boston Region Metropolitan Planning Organization released a report evaluating the possibility of extending regular full-year commuter rail service to Buzzards Bay (on

7790-402: The sea level was high enough to start eroding the glacial deposits that the vanished continental ice sheet had left on Cape Cod. The water transported the eroded deposits north and south along the outer Cape's shoreline through a process known as longshore drift . Those reworked sediments that moved north went to the tip of Cape Cod. The entire town of Provincetown, at the extreme tip of the Cape,

7885-473: The sea level was lower. Truro's bayside beaches used to be a petrified forest before it became a beach. As the ice began to melt, the sea began to rise. Initially, sea level rose quickly, about 15 metres (49 ft) per 1,000 years, but then the rate declined. On Cape Cod, sea level rose roughly 3 metres (9.8 ft) per millennium between 6,000 and 2,000 years ago. After that, it continued to rise at about 1 metre (3.3 ft) per millennium. By 6,000 years ago,

7980-508: The segment from Needham Junction to Cook Junction saw reduced passenger service. Loop service jointly run by the B&;A and the New Haven operated over the cutoff and the Highland branch via Needham from 1911 to 1914; after that, most Needham trains originated at Needham Heights or Newton Highlands. Service between Newton Highlands and Newton Upper Falls ended in 1927, and between Needham Heights and Newton Upper Falls in 1932, leaving Needham Heights as

8075-523: The single Budd RDC used for the shuttle being coupled to a Needham Heights train for the remainder of the journey to South Station. On April 11, 1966, a two-car inbound train from Needham derailed at Gardner Street in West Roxbury, injuring 61 aboard, due to a tampered switch. The remaining line was purchased by the MBTA from Penn Central on January 27, 1973, along with most of the other southside lines. The stop at Forest Hills , not used since 1940 as

8170-499: The state wished to begin trial service during FY 2017—possibly by the end of 2016. While such trial service was ultimately not implemented, the MBTA began conducting a study in late 2020 to evaluate the feasibility of implementing Buzzards Bay commuter rail service in conjunction with the currently-underway South Coast Rail project. The first phase of the South Coast Rail project, expected to open in 2025, will be an extension of

8265-432: The terminus of the line. Spring Street station on the line to Dedham was closed on July 18, 1938, as part of the 88 stations case . West Roxbury–Dedham service ended effective May 6, 1940. The West Medway branch shared the line from Forest Hills to Needham Junction until 1938 and from 1940 to 1955; from 1955 to 1967, the line operated as a shuttle from West Medway ( Millis after April 1966) to Needham Junction, with

8360-668: The top of Pine Hill , in the Bourne portion of Joint Base Cape Cod , down to sea level. Cape Cod and the Islands form part of a continuous archipelagic region consisting of a chain of islands running from Long Island to the tip of the Cape. This region is historically and collectively known by naturalists as the Outer Lands . Cape Cod incorporates all of Barnstable County, which comprises 15 towns: Bourne , Sandwich , Falmouth , Mashpee , Barnstable , Yarmouth , Harwich , Dennis , Brewster , Chatham , Orleans , Eastham , Wellfleet , Truro , and Provincetown . Each of these towns includes

8455-499: Was completed. Additionally, the final Needham-bound train on weekdays began operating as a shuttle from Forest Hills station , with a transfer there from a Providence/Stoughton Line train. Weekend service on the Needham Line and the other six lines resumed on July 3, 2021, with both Saturday and Sunday service. In May 2021, the town had considered having weekend service run only between Needham Junction and South Station to avoid train horns in downtown Needham. As of February 2022 ,

8550-438: Was extended to Braintree . The line, with state-of-the-art park-and-ride stations, proved an instant success, lending strength to proposals to restore commuter rail service to the Old Colony lines via Braintree. The Cape Cod and Hyannis Railroad ran passenger service from Cape Cod to Braintree (and briefly to Attleboro ) in the 1980s, but failed when its state subsidy was ended amid budget cuts. Freight service continued on

8645-469: Was first purchased by John Murray Forbes . Naushon is one of the Elizabeth Islands, many of which are privately owned. One of the publicly accessible Elizabeths is the southernmost island in the chain, Cuttyhunk Island , with a year-round population of 52 people. Several prominent families have established compounds or estates on the larger islands, making these islands some of the wealthiest resorts in

8740-584: Was not to last. The New Haven's accountants used somewhat dubious practices to shift a greater amount of debt to the Old Colony Division, and the railroad announced that all passenger service would end in 1958. An emergency subsidy was approved by the Commonwealth of Massachusetts for another year, and service finally ended in 1959 with the opening of the Southeast Expressway , which runs alongside

8835-479: Was opened on July 14, 1849 by the B&P. South Street ( Roslindale ), Central ( Bellevue ), and West Roxbury all opened with the branch; Highland was added around 1855. On June 1, 1853, the Charles River Branch Railroad was extended from Newton Upper Falls into Needham as the first stage of a line to Dover and beyond. The railroad was not able to follow its original plan to go through

8930-407: Was operated from July 11, 1992 until February 14, 1993 along with other new southside weekend service, some of which was made permanent. As part of systemwide service cuts due to budget shortfalls, Saturday service was eliminated on July 7, 2012. Saturday service on the Needham Line, as well as weekend service on the Greenbush Line and Plymouth/Kingston Line , resumed on December 27, 2014. The line

9025-560: Was shut down on weekends in September through November 2017 for the installation of Positive Train Control equipment in order to meet a 2020 federal deadline. Substantially reduced schedules due to the COVID-19 pandemic were in effect from March 16 to June 23, 2020. These temporary systemwide reductions were put in place again on December 14, 2020. Until 2021, the Needham Line plus some parts of

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