Tour the Villages: Yarmouth Port

Tour the Villages
Yarmouth Port

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Capt. Bangs Hallet House	Yarmouth New Church, Swedenborgian	Looking west to Summer St.	Looking west on Old King's Highway

Crocker's Store	Mill Pond	Old King's Highway, looking east toward Dennis	441 Old King's Highway

The town now known as Yarmouth Port, located on the north side of Cape Cod, was originally known simply as Yarmouth. Called Mattacheese by the Indians, Yarmouth saw its first European settler arrive in 1638 when the Plymouth Colony gave permission to Mayflower passenger Stephen Hopkins to erect a house and winter his cattle. The following year, ten more settlers arrived and were allowed to "take up freedom at Yarmouth". Several of the families built houses around the present Mill Pond area, while others established homesteads farther east, near the first meeting house. In ensuing generations, farmers turned to the sea for sustenance and trade. In the late 18th century, the hub of maritime activity centered around Bass Hole and the village boasted a ropewalk, tavern, two windmills, stores, saltworks, and small-scale shipbuilding. By the 1830s, however, the harbor area had begun to silt in due to storms and shifting sands. Maritime enterprises and packet services were moved further west, to the "port" area of Yarmouth. This brought with it the building of shops, businesses, and many new homes. From 1800 to 1850, at the height of maritime activity, many sea captains built their stately homes along what is now Route 6A, nestled among the more modest Cape farmhouses of previous generations. Thanks to zoning and preservation efforts, a drive down scenic Route 6A today evokes a strong feeling of the past. If you close your eyes, you can almost hear the pounding of the blacksmith's anvil, and the clop clop of horses' hooves.