Editing Wellfleet, Massachusetts (section)

== History ==

The area was originally settled by Europeans in the 1650s as Billingsgate (after the famous [[Billingsgate Fish Market|fish market]] in East London). In 1717, the pirate [[Samuel Bellamy|"Black Sam" Bellamy]] was sailing nearby when his ship, the ''[[Whydah Gally|Whydah]]'', sank offshore, together with over {{convert|4.5|ST|abbr=off|lk=on}} of gold and silver and all but two of its 145 men. The wreck was discovered in 1984, the first of only two confirmed pirate shipwrecks ever to have been discovered.<ref name="MA-SC">{{cite court |litigants=Commonwealth of Massachusetts v. Maritime Underwater Surveys, Inc. |vol=403 |reporter=Mass. |opinion=501 |court=Mass. Supreme Court |date=1988 |url=https://scholar.google.com/scholar_case?case=2602674804977561500&hl=en |access-date=15 October 2012 }}</ref>

Wellfleet was part of neighboring [[Eastham, Massachusetts|Eastham]] until 1763 when it achieved town status after nearly 30 years of petitioning. Wellfleet's oyster beds drove the early economy, as did [[whaling]] and fishing. The town was home to 30 whaling ships at the time of the [[American Revolution]].

Because of the decline of whaling and the [[mackerel]] catch in the late 19th century, the fleet declined, being completely free of [[schooner]]s by 1900. The oyster fleet continued, however, and many types of shellfish continue to be harvested. Despite this decline, a church near the town center continues to operate a clock that chimes [[Ship's bell|ship’s time]].<ref>{{Cite web|last=Maguire|first=James "Jerry"|title=Wellfleet's Tower Clock|url=https://www.wellfleetchurch.org/wp-content/uploads/2020/01/Wellfleets-Tower-Clock1.pdf |archive-url=https://ghostarchive.org/archive/20221009/https://www.wellfleetchurch.org/wp-content/uploads/2020/01/Wellfleets-Tower-Clock1.pdf |archive-date=2022-10-09 |url-status=live|access-date=2021-03-02|website=wellfleetchurch.org|language=en-US}}</ref>

[[Image: Remains of the Marconi Station in Wellfleet.jpg|thumb|left|The remains of Marconi's station]]
[[Guglielmo Marconi]] built the USA's first transatlantic radio transmitter station on a coastal bluff in South Wellfleet in 1901–1902. The first [[wireless telegraphy|radio telegraph]] transmission from the United States to England was sent from this station on January 18, 1903, a ceremonial telegram from President [[Theodore Roosevelt]] to [[Edward VII|King Edward VII]]. Most of the transmitter site is gone, however, as three quarters of the land it originally encompassed has been eroded into the sea. The South Wellfleet station's first [[call sign]] was "CC" for Cape Cod.<ref>{{cite web|url= http://www.stormfax.com/wireless.htm|title= Marconi Wireless On Cape Cod|access-date= 2008-10-19|archive-url= https://web.archive.org/web/20081024192918/http://www.stormfax.com/wireless.htm|archive-date= 2008-10-24|url-status= live}}</ref><ref>{{cite web|url= http://www.oldradio.com/archives/jurassic/marconi.htm|title= Broadcast Archive, Marconi section|access-date= 2008-10-18|archive-url= https://web.archive.org/web/20080705032129/http://www.oldradio.com/archives/jurassic/marconi.htm|archive-date= 2008-07-05|url-status= live}}</ref>

In 1961, President [[John F. Kennedy]] created the [[Cape Cod National Seashore]], which encompasses most of the Atlantic shoreline of Cape Cod. In Wellfleet, the territory circles the town, from Jeremy Point through the marshes and "islands" along the [[Herring River (Wellfleet, Massachusetts)|Herring River]], includes [[Cahoon Hollow Beach]], and extends the length of the Atlantic shore of the town.

Construction of the [[Chequessett Inn]] in the late 19th century contributed to the development of a tourist economy in Wellfleet. The town has the second greatest concentration of art galleries on Cape Cod, right after [[Provincetown, Massachusetts|Provincetown]]. It is also a popular retirement spot.<ref>{{Cite web |url=http://www.wellfleetma.org/Public_Documents/WellfleetMA_WebDocs/about.shtml#history |title=History of Wellfleet, from WellfleetMA.org |access-date=2007-02-28 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20070214143237/http://www.wellfleetma.org/Public_Documents/WellfleetMA_WebDocs/about.shtml#history |archive-date=2007-02-14 |url-status=live }}</ref><ref>''Cape Cod, Martha's Vineyard and Nantucket Street Atlas.'' South Easton, MA: Arrow Maps Inc., 2004, p. 87.</ref>