Harwich’s history is
mostly unwritten
The public archives hold only 4 old photos of Harwich. The rest are in attics, shoeboxes and the historical society. Help start the collection.
The story
from WikipediaRead it all ↗Harwich was first settled by Europeans in 1670 as part of Yarmouth. The town was officially incorporated in 1694, and originally included the lands of the current town of Brewster. Early industry involved fishing and farming. The town is considered by some to be the birthplace of the cranberry industry, with the first commercial operation opened in 1846. There are still many bogs in the town, although the economy is now more centered on tourism and as a residential community. The town is also the site of the start/finish line of the "Sail Around the Cape", which rounds the Cape counter-clockwise, returning via the Cape Cod Canal.
Text from Wikipedia, licensed CC BY-SA 4.0.
Timeline
built from the dates on the items belowStart Harwich’s collection
The first neighbors to add old photos shape how Harwich’s history is told.
1 of 10 decades since 1900 have photos 🔁Retake an old viewHotel Belmont, West Harwich-by-th…, 1898: stand where they stood+15 📦Share a family photoSign in to add one+10Harwich, decade by decade
1990s
Then & now
No then-and-now pairs yet. Take a photo from the same spot as Hotel Belmont, West Harwich-by-the-Sea, Mass., View from Hotel Looking East (1898) and it appears here side by side.
🔁 Retake this view · +15Historic places
National Register · via Wikidata
From Wikimedia Commons (4) and the National Register (2). Images are copied here with their credits and licenses, shown on each photo’s page. Refreshed monthly.