AROUND CAPE COD
Main Street in Chatham features over a dozen art galleries and studios. The Creative Arts Center offers year-round classes in various media, and the Chatham Drama Guild hosts live performances. The historic Chatham Orpheum Theater, reopened in 2013, screens first-run and local films. Each summer, Chatham Art in the Park showcases painted wooden pieces by local artists. ARTS Chatham’s historic sites include the Atwood Museum, Marconi Maritime Center, Railroad Museum, and Josiah Mayo House. The Eldredge Public Library, built in 1894, stands on Main Street. Chase Park houses the 1797 Godfrey Windmill, and Chatham Lighthouse continues to guide vessels over the Chatham Bar. HISTORY Chatham and its neighboring town of Harwich are both part of the Monomoy Regional School District. Chatham has its own elementary school, Chatham Elementary School, on Depot Road for students in pre-kindergarten through fourth grade. Chatham children in grades five through twelve attend Monomoy Regional Middle School, located in Chatham, and Monomoy Regional High School in Harwich. Also in Harwich is Cape Cod Regional Technical School, another public school option for Chatham teens. EDUCATION
Orleans
As the only town on Cape Cod without an English or Native American name, Orleans is thusly called in honor of Louis Philippe II, Duke of Orléans, in acknowledgement of the assistance France provided the colonies during the American Revolution. Positioned where the Lower Cape bends toward the Outer Cape, Orleans is truly a magical merging of land and sea. The town takes environmental preservation seriously, just as residents and visitors rejoice in the wide variety of recreational activities available on ponds, in parks, and especially on the scenic stretches of ocean and bay beaches.
From the fun and surf of Nauset Beach on the Atlantic to the stunning sunsets and tidal pools of Skaket Beach on the bay, Orleans is replete with aquatic opportunities. An early economy based around salt and fish has led to a modern-day emphasis on kayaking, paddleboarding, ecotourism, boating, and other water sports. Landlubbers have plenty to relish as well, with acres of forested woodlands, meadows, marshes, and bogs in which to stroll, bike, birdwatch, and relax.
GEOGRAPHY
Chatham is located at the elbow of Cape Cod on the southeastern corner of the peninsula. With the Atlantic Ocean to the east, Nantucket Sound to the south, and Pleasant Bay on its northeastern edge, Chatham has only one land neighbor, the town of Harwich, which wraps around its western and northern borders. The eight-mile-long spit of land that is Monomoy Island extends southwest from Chatham and is home to the Monomoy National Wildlife Refuge. Shifting sandbars and eroding barrier beaches are a regular feature of the entrances to Chatham Harbor. The town is also home to rivers, creeks, and salt and freshwater ponds.
POINTS OF INTEREST
• Academy of Performing Arts
• French Cable Station Museum
• Rock Harbor
• Addison Art Gallery
• Jonathan Young Windmill
• Skaket Beach
• Cape Cod Rail Trail
• Nauset Beach
• Town Cove
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