Cape Cod: Exploring a Sense of Place
City dwellers from Boston and other places have been visiting the Cape in large numbers since the late nineteenth century. By the early twentieth century, wealthy Bostonians were building vacation homes on the shore of Buzzards Bay. With the advent of the automobile, more and more people began coming from farther and farther away to spend part of their summers here. Many bought second homes. Soon tourism passed fishing and cranberrying as the Cape’s primary industry.
In the 1950s, the Cape became part of the post-War World II building boom. At the same time, it was being billed as “the Florida of the Northeast” because of its relatively mild winter climate, and promoted as an ideal place to retire. Many of those who had grown up on the Cape and later moved away for school or for work, as well as those who had pleasant memories of summer vacations spent here, did return to the Cape to retire. The trend continues today. According to 2013 census figures, 27.1 percent of the residents of Barnstable County (Cape Cod) were 65 years of age or older, compared with only 14.8 percent statewide.[1]
Some retirees are “snowbirds” who winter in the South and return to the Cape for spring, summer and fall. But many who have retired here are year-round residents. They experience a strong sense of community and cultural identity as permanent residents. Though they usually appreciate the tourists and summer visitors for their importance to the economy, at the same time, many year-rounders look forward to the off season when the restaurants aren’t packed and the roads are easier to navigate.
Having just moved to the Cape myself, I have been reflecting on my own adjustment and acclimation. I was curious about how others who have moved here felt about making the Cape their home, so I asked several friends to write about why they had chosen the Cape, and why they feel at home here. Although this is a totally unscientific survey, I found some interesting common threads in the responses:
1. United States Census Bureau, “State and County Quick Facts,” http://quickfacts.census.gov/qfd/states/25/25001.html Accessed April 20, 2015.
Several people mentioned loving the natural environment and almost all appreciated being near the ocean. All are involved with activities in the community, and attend their Town meeting. Marilyn and Paul have been on the Cape about seven years. Marilyn sings with the Chatham Chorale and takes various classes offered by the library system—the latest is Chinese calligraphy. Both are members of the Cape Cod Bird Club, and Paul serves on its board. He is also a member of the Harwich Land Conservation Trust, and is involved with two different Buddhist groups.
“It took me awhile to call this home,” Marilyn recalls. “I mourned actively for my friends for about six months. . . . I plunged into music, always my solace and joy, right away, and that helped me quite a bit. Thanks to the kindness of the people, I made some new friends and was able to get involved in many activities, most of them new to me. I expanded my horizons and found great solace, interest, and joy in being close to the ocean.” now feels at home on the Cape, and now thinks of it “without question” as her place.
Jane moved to the Cape about four years ago. She joined the Master Gardeners, and both she and her husband are members of the Cape Cod Mushroom Club. She, too, now feels at home here. She likes that she knows her way around and that she now meets people she knows in the stores, something that didn’t happen when she lived in New York and commuted two hours each way to work every day.
Of the non-natives I spoke with, has been here the longest. She first came to the Cape more than 65 years ago to vacation with a friend. “I loved it—the folks were laid back, unhurried—and the place was edged with great beaches!” She returned on her honeymoon and many times afterwards for vacations. Finally she retired here in 1975. She edits the newsletter for the historical society and volunteers in her church.
grew up on the Cape and returned here with her husband more than 40 years ago. She too is deeply involved in the community. She runs a realty business. She serves on an important board at her church, takes ukulele lessons, is part of a poetry workshop, and often attends talks by environmental groups. In the poem she wrote in answer to my request, she speaks of “having a connection to where you came from,” of rootedness, of loyalty to a place, and of belonging to a place.
also returned to the Cape where she was born after more than 40 years of living elsewhere, yet always knowing that she would return here to retire. Alice also mentioned her love for the physical environment of the Cape—especially the sea. She too is involved in many activities and community groups.
The oldest resident and the only lifetime Caper that I spoke with is Mary Gould, who will be 90 this summer. Except for a couple of years away when her husband was in the Coast Guard, she has lived on the Cape all her life, all in East Harwich. When asked why she feels at home here, she spoke of how well she knows the area, and how connected she feels, especially through her church, East Harwich United Methodist. She and her husband run the church thrift shop that has raised considerable money—money which is then donated to several organizations that help the needy on the Cape. “I feel useful here; I can contribute,” she told me. “I feel I can still make a difference.”
In 1993, Lee Cuba of Wellesley and David M. Hummon of Holy Cross College did a study of how residents of Cape Cod developed a sense of home. The study showed varying relations by individuals to dwelling, community, and region, and varying factors that influenced these relationships. However, the responses showed a clear relationship between social participation in the local community and a feeling of "at homeness" and of belonging to community and region. The findings of my totally unscientific and informal survey seem to support Cuba and Hummon’s conclusions.