Editing Cape Cod (section)

==Geography and political divisions==
[[File:SandyNeckDunes.JPG|thumb|The dunes on [[Sandy Neck Cultural Resources District|Sandy Neck]] are part of the [[Shoal|barrier beach]] that helps prevent [[coastal erosion]].]]

===Physical geography and boundaries===
[[File:CapeCod2022OSM.png|thumb|left|Detailed map of Cape Cod/Barnstable County]]
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 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. Many state and federal agencies, including the Cape Cod Commission and the [[Federal Emergency Management Agency]] (FEMA), treat the Cape as an island with regard to disaster preparedness, groundwater management, and other infrastructure factors.<ref name=USCG>{{cite web|url=http://www.uscg.mil/d1/airstaCapeCod/inboundpersonnel/area-overview.asp|title=Local Cape Cod Information|author=United States Coast Guard}}</ref><ref>{{cite book |last=Vuilleumier |first=Marion R. |title=Sagamore Beach |publisher=Arcadia Publishing |year=2003 |page=7 |isbn=9780738511832}}</ref><ref>{{cite web|url=http://www.capecodcommission.org/econdevel/CEDS/CEDS2009/FINALCEDS09-5YEARUPDATE.doc |title=Comprehensive Economic Development Strategy (CEDS) |author=Cape Cod Commission |access-date=May 17, 2010 |url-status=dead |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20100326161203/http://www.capecodcommission.org/econdevel/CEDS/CEDS2009/FINALCEDS09-5YEARUPDATE.doc |archive-date=March 26, 2010 }}</ref> 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 the mainland – bounded on the north by a line between [[Provincetown]] and [[Marshfield, Massachusetts|Marshfield]]. North of Cape Cod Bay (and Provincetown) is [[Massachusetts Bay]], which contains the [[Stellwagen Bank National Marine Sanctuary]], located {{convert|5|mi|0}} 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 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 {{convert|62|mi}}.<ref>{{cite journal|title=The Opening of the Cape Cod Canal|journal = Bulletin of the American Geographical Society|publisher=Bulletin of the [[American Geographical Society]]|volume=46|issue = 11|date=1914|pages=832–834|doi=10.2307/200951|jstor=200951}}</ref>

Cape Cod extends {{convert|65|mi|km}} into the Atlantic Ocean, with a breadth of between {{convert|1|–|20|mi|km}}, and covers more than {{convert|400|miles}} of shoreline.<ref>{{Britannica|123862}}.</ref> Its elevation ranges from {{convert|306|ft|m}} at its highest point, at the top of [[Pine Hill (Barnstable County, Massachusetts)|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 [[archipelago|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]].

===Towns and villages===
[[File:Deyo-map.jpg|thumb|Barnstable County historical map, 1890]]

Cape Cod incorporates all of Barnstable County, which comprises 15 towns: [[Bourne, Massachusetts|Bourne]], [[Sandwich, Massachusetts|Sandwich]], [[Falmouth, Massachusetts|Falmouth]], [[Mashpee, Massachusetts|Mashpee]], [[Barnstable, Massachusetts|Barnstable]], [[Yarmouth, Massachusetts|Yarmouth]], [[Harwich, Massachusetts|Harwich]], [[Dennis, Massachusetts|Dennis]], [[Brewster, Massachusetts|Brewster]], [[Chatham, Massachusetts|Chatham]], [[Orleans, Massachusetts|Orleans]], [[Eastham, Massachusetts|Eastham]], [[Wellfleet, Massachusetts|Wellfleet]], [[Truro, Massachusetts|Truro]], and [[Provincetown, Massachusetts|Provincetown]]. Each of these towns includes 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 [[city council|council]].<ref name="FormsOfGov">{{cite web |title=Forms of Municipal Government for each community in Massachusetts |url=http://www.mma.org/resources-mainmenu-182/doc_download/26-form-of-government-for-each-community-in-massachusetts |publisher=Massachusetts Municipal Association |date=July 2011 |access-date=May 6, 2013 |format=PDF |url-status=dead |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20130615165415/http://www.mma.org/resources-mainmenu-182/doc_download/26-form-of-government-for-each-community-in-massachusetts |archive-date=June 15, 2013 }}</ref><ref name="CityDates">{{cite web|url=http://www.mma.org/resources-mainmenu-182/doc_download/97-establishment-dates-and-forms-of-city-governments|title=Dates of Incorporation and/or Establishing City Form of Government|date=November 13, 2008|publisher=Massachusetts Department of Housing and Community Development|access-date=May 6, 2013|format=PDF|url-status=dead|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20131004235907/http://www.mma.org/resources-mainmenu-182/doc_download/97-establishment-dates-and-forms-of-city-governments|archive-date=October 4, 2013}}</ref> 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 the executive policy-setting board and utilize [[Town Meeting]]s as their legislative body.<ref name="FormsOfGov" />

===Cape Cod and the Islands===
To the south of Cape Cod lie [[Nantucket Sound]]; [[Nantucket]] and [[Martha's Vineyard]], both large islands; and the mostly privately owned [[Elizabeth Islands]].

===Sections===

{{Cape Cod overlay map|width=275|columns=3}}
[[File:Old Harbor Life Saving Station, Sunset.JPG|thumb|Old Harbor Life Saving Station, in the [[Cape Cod National Seashore]]]]

For most of the 18th, 19th, and 20th centuries, Cape Cod was considered to consist of three sections (see map):
* The '''Upper Cape''' is the part of Cape Cod closest to the mainland, comprising the towns of [[Bourne, Massachusetts|Bourne]], Sandwich, Falmouth, and Mashpee. Falmouth is the home of the famous [[Woods Hole Oceanographic Institution]] and [[Marine Biological Laboratory]] as well as several other research organizations, and is also the most-used ferry connection to Martha's Vineyard. Falmouth is composed of several separate villages, including [[East Falmouth, Massachusetts|East Falmouth]], [[Falmouth (CDP), Massachusetts|Falmouth Village]], [[Hatchville, Massachusetts|Hatchville]], [[North Falmouth, Massachusetts|North Falmouth]], [[Teaticket, Massachusetts|Teaticket]], Waquoit, [[West Falmouth, Massachusetts|West Falmouth]], and [[Woods Hole, Massachusetts|Woods Hole]], as well as several smaller hamlets that are incorporated into their larger neighbors (e.g., Davisville, Hatchville, Falmouth Heights, Quissett, Sippewissett, and others).<ref>{{cite web |url=http://www.falmouthchamber.com/documents/FalmouthVillages.pdf |title=Archived copy |website=www.falmouthchamber.com |access-date=14 January 2022 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20060512012921/http://www.falmouthchamber.com/documents/FalmouthVillages.pdf |archive-date=12 May 2006 |url-status=dead}}</ref> [[Bourne, Massachusetts|Bourne]] is home to the [[Massachusetts Maritime Academy]], in the village of [[Buzzards Bay, Massachusetts|Buzzards Bay]], along the canal, [[Joint Base Cape Cod]], [[Aptucxet Trading Post]],<ref>{{cite web |url=http://bournehistoricalsociety.org/aptucxettradingpost.html |title=Aptucxet Trading Post Museum {{pipe}} |website=Bournehistoricalsociety.org |access-date=May 13, 2016 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20130831172223/http://bournehistoricalsociety.org/aptucxettradingpost.html |archive-date=August 31, 2013 |url-status=dead }}</ref> the annual [[Bourne Scallop Festival]] in September, and, until 1884, was part of Sandwich. Sandwich, the oldest town on Cape Cod, founded in 1637, is home to the [[Dexter Grist Mill]], the historic [[Hoxie House]], [[Heritage Museums and Gardens]], and the [[Sandwich Glass Museum]]. [[Mashpee, Massachusetts|Mashpee]], is the home of the [[Mashpee Wampanoag Tribe]] of Native Americans.
* The '''Mid-Cape''' area includes the towns of Barnstable, Yarmouth and Dennis. The area features many beaches, including warm-water beaches along [[Nantucket Sound]], e.g., Kalmus Beach in Hyannis, which gets its name from one of the inventors of [[Technicolor]], Herbert Kalmus. This popular windsurfing destination was bequeathed to the town of Barnstable by Dr. Kalmus on condition that it not be developed, possibly{{clarify|date=June 2024}} one of the first instances of open-space preservation in the US. The Mid-Cape is also the commercial and industrial center of the region. There are seven villages in Barnstable, including [[Barnstable (village), Massachusetts|Barnstable Village]], [[Centerville, Massachusetts|Centerville]], [[Cotuit, Massachusetts|Cotuit]], [[Hyannis, Massachusetts|Hyannis]], [[Marstons Mills, Massachusetts|Marstons Mills]], [[Osterville, Massachusetts|Osterville]], and [[West Barnstable, Massachusetts|West Barnstable]], as well as several smaller hamlets that are incorporated into their larger neighbors (e.g., [[Craigville, Massachusetts|Craigville]], [[Cummaquid, Massachusetts|Cummaquid]], [[Hyannis Port, Massachusetts|Hyannis Port]], Santuit, Wianno, and others).<ref>[http://www.town.barnstable.ma.us/InformationSystems/GIS/VILLAGES.PDF Barnstable, Massachusetts GIS Maps (Retrieved December 21, 2006 E911 Map – Town of Barnstable]. Town.barnstable.ma.us.</ref> The villages of Yarmouth are [[South Yarmouth, Massachusetts|South Yarmouth]], [[West Yarmouth, Massachusetts|West Yarmouth]] and [[Yarmouth Port, Massachusetts|Yarmouth Port]]. There are five villages in Dennis, including [[North Dennis, Massachusetts|North Dennis]], [[East Dennis, Massachusetts|East Dennis]], [[West Dennis, Massachusetts|West Dennis]], [[Dennis Port, Massachusetts|Dennis Port]], and [[South Dennis, Massachusetts|South Dennis]].<ref>{{Cite web|url=http://www.town.dennis.ma.us/aboutus.htm|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20100324134318/http://www.town.dennis.ma.us/aboutus.htm|url-status=dead |title=Dennis town website (Accessed: May 3, 2009)|archive-date=March 24, 2010}}</ref>
* The '''Lower Cape & Outer Cape''' traditionally includes all of the rest of the Cape, or the towns of [[Harwich, Massachusetts|Harwich]], [[Brewster, Massachusetts|Brewster]], [[Chatham, Massachusetts|Chatham]], [[Orleans, Massachusetts|Orleans]], [[Eastham, Massachusetts|Eastham]], [[Wellfleet, Massachusetts|Wellfleet]], [[Truro, Massachusetts|Truro]], and [[Provincetown, Massachusetts|Provincetown]]. In the present day, the four outermost towns (Provincetown, Truro, Wellfleet, and Eastham) are more commonly and collectively known as the '''Lower Cape'''. This area is home to the [[Cape Cod National Seashore]], a national park that encompasses much of the Lower Cape, including the entire east-facing coast from Orleans to Provincetown. The Lower Cape is home to popular beaches such as Nauset Light Beach and Coast Guard Beach in Eastham, Race Point Beach in Provincetown, Ballston Beach in Truro, and Skaket Beach in Orleans. This area is less populated than the rest of Cape Cod, though Provincetown can have a crowded, city-like atmosphere during the summer season. Provincetown has become a major gay & lesbian resort destination &ndash; the town is regarded as one of the largest [[LGBT]] resort communities in the United States. Provincetown is also renowned for its historic fishing fleets and [[Stellwagen Bank]], a popular fishing ground and [[whale watching]] destination, is located a few miles north of Race Point.