Places to Visit

First Encounter Beach

The Pilgrims set out again in the shallop from Provincetown Harbor to explore the bay of Cape Cod, making camp at the mouth of Eastham’s Herring River. It was there they made their first encounter with Nauset warriors, and engaged in the form of early morning combat. The Nauset men cried out a warning before letting arrows fly at the party of Englishmen, who were vulnerable because they had just scattered, some to the shore to tend the shallop while others remained at their camp. Taken by surprise, they took their weapons and answered the barrage of arrows with musket shot. Edward Winslow wrote that he was among four men at the camp, “which was first assaulted. They thought it best to defend it, lest the enemy should take it and our stuff.”

photo credit: capecodgravestones.com

Cove Burying Ground

This is the oldest cemetery in Eastham and the site of the original Congregational Church. Most of the people buried there are related to Mayflower families and were instrumental in the founding of the area. In this churchyard are the marked graves of three Mayflower passengers:

Lt. Joseph Rogers 1608 – 1678
Constance Hopkins 1605 – 1677
Giles Hopkins 1607 – 1690

photo credit: findagrave.com

Skiff Hill

Reached by footpath from the Penniman House parking lot, or via a paved walkway from Hemenway Landing, offers magnificent vistas of Nauset Marsh. Exhibit panels describe marsh life, Native Americans and Champlain’s visit to the area in 1605. The Skiff Hill site also contains a sharpening rock used by native people for tool maintenance.

photo credit: hikecapecod.blogspot.com

Doane Rock

The boulders found randomly across Cape Cod are the result of glacial activity. Doane Rock – named for one of the first settlers in Eastham, Deacon John Doane – is believed to be the largest of the glacial boulders on the Cape and possibly the largest in southeastern New England.

photo credit: capecod.com