Cape Cod Named Today, 404 Years Ago

Is it time for the fourth post of the day having to deal with the rain? Yes. It is. This one, unlike the others, has historical context and an eye towards the sunshine that will be upon us sometime this summer. While we’ve been soaking up the rain, building our ark, and missing the rays of sunshine, we’re thinking about what we’ll be doing this summer. Like many in the Bay State we plan to spend at least one weekend on the Cape. We were reminded today that the Cape, named for the abundance of a certain type of fish, was named on the fifteenth of May, 1602 by Bartholomew Gosnold.

According to MassMoments – our daily email/website of historical facts – the Concord set sail for the United States from Falmouth, England (are you sensing the city-name relevance that we are?). The Captain, Gosnold, attended Cambridge University before setting sail. The Cape was named in honor of the bounty of the fish found there some 18 years before the pilgrims would land at Plymouth. We’ll take the history lesson on a wash out day like today and start thinking about those wonderful days in July when the bay side of the Cape will be warm and wonderful for our swimming and summer vacationing pleasure.