AROUND CAPE COD
Throughout the villages of Barnstable, art flourishes. There are the quaint art shanties of the HyArts Cultural District in Hyannis, the renowned Cotuit Center for the Arts, the Cape Symphony Orchestra at the Barnstable Performing Arts Center at Barnstable High School, and fine art galleries along 6A in Barnstable Village and West Barnstable. Many exhibits and events throughout town are coordinated and publicized by Arts Barnstable, the arts and culture division of the town government. Barnstable is part of the Mid-Cape Cultural Council, which grants funding to local artists for a wide variety of projects. ARTS Barnstable has several museums, including the John F. Kennedy Museum, the Cape Cod Maritime Museum, the Cahoon Museum of American Art, the Coast Guard Heritage Museum, and the Osterville and Centerville Historical Museums. Tales of Cape Cod, based in the Old Colonial Courthouse, preserves Cape Cod’s history. Each village has a public library. The beloved Cape Cod Baseball League features two teams in Barnstable: the Hyannis Harbor Hawks and the Cotuit Kettleers. CULTURE Barnstable has the Enoch Cobb Early Learning Center for preschool children. The town has five elementary schools: Barnstable/West Barnstable, Centerville, Barnstable Community Innovation, Hyannis West, and West Villages. Barnstable United Elementary serves grades four and five, and Barnstable Intermediate School serves grades six and seven. Barnstable High School serves students in grades eight through twelve. Sturgis Charter School in Hyannis offers the International Baccalaureate program through a lottery. Private schools include St. John Paul II School, Trinity Christian Academy, and Cape Cod Academy. Cape Cod Community College is located in West Barnstable. EDUCATION The town of Barnstable is approximately 70 miles southeast of Boston, located in the Mid-Cape. The town has a total area of just over 76 square miles, with around 22 percent of its acreage being water. According to the town of Barnstable, there are 182 freshwater ponds, 93 of which are one acre or more. Also, 25 of its ponds are greater than 10 acres and are thus considered “great ponds.” The largest of these is Wequaquet Lake in Centerville, from which the Centerville River flows. This central part of town has an abundance of pitch pine and oak woodlands, while the northern edge of Barnstable is defined by the dunes of Sandy Neck along Barnstable Harbor. GEOGRAPHY
Barnstable Village
Historic, charming Barnstable Village is oriented along Route 6A, also known as Old King’s Highway, on the north side of the town of Barnstable. Once the busy center of the colonial economy, the village is now home to the Barnstable County Complex, which includes the First District and Superior Courthouses for the county. Barnstable Village has several restaurants and shops, a post office, fire station, small grocery store, yoga studio, and hair salon, as well as a pottery gallery and the century-old Barnstable Comedy Club, a small community theater that stages classic plays and musicals seasonally. Nearby is Barnstable Harbor, which once was a robust epicenter for commercial fishing, shipping, ice- making and canning. Today, the harbor supports a
smaller fishing fleet, plenty of recreational boaters, a popular whale watching vessel, two restaurants, and marine services companies. Homes close to the harbor and its adjacent beaches are sought after summer properties. Stately old houses and vintage inns line Route 6A while the shaded side streets between Old King’s Highway and the harbor are filled with pleasant residences from every era. With historic sites such as the circa 1644 Sturgis Library, Crocker Tavern, and the Olde Colonial Courthouse sharing space with modern eateries and busy county offices, Barnstable Village combines the centuries seamlessly.
Long Pasture Wildlife Sanctuary is part of Mass Audubon. This sanctuary on Bone Hill Road offers gentle trails through butterfly-filled meadows, woodlands, tidal flats, and sandy beaches, leading to an amazing view of Barnstable Harbor and Sandy Neck Barrier Beach.
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