Nestled in Massachusetts, Long Point, Massachusetts stands as a testament to America’s ever-changing landscape. Once home to hopeful settlers seeking fortune and opportunity, this ghost town now whispers stories of bygone eras. Its abandoned structures and quiet streets invite visitors to imagine the vibrant community that once thrived here.
County: Barnstable
Zip Code: Not available
Latitude / Longitude: 42°01′37″N 70°10′19″W / 42.027°N 70.172°W / 42.027
Elevation: 24 ft (7 m)
Time Zone: Eastern (EST) (UTC-5)
Established: 1863
Disestablished: 1872
Comments: Historical accounts reveal that long Point is a peninsula located in Provincetown, Massachusetts, at the extreme tip of Cape Cod, as it curls back in on itself to create Provincetown Harbor. The Long Point Light was built on this point in 1827. The lighthouse once shared this peninsula with a settlement of fishermen that came to be known as Long Point, Massachusetts. This Provincetown village grew and thrived from 1818 until the late 1850s. When the settlers decided to leave Long Point, they took most of their houses with them – about 30 homes in all – by floating them across the harbor.
Remains: The site now during the American Civil War, the military established a defensive coastal artillery post and garrison at this location. The Long Point Battery came to be known as “Fort Useless” and “Fort Ridiculous” among the local residents.
Current Status: The former settlement is now today, Long Point is a ghost village – nothing remains, except for the lighthouse and an earthen mound, the last remnant from the earlier military post.
Remarks: The story of Long Point provides valuable insights into Massachusetts’s development and the challenges faced by early settlers. Historians continue to study this site for its significance in understanding the region’s economic and social evolution.
Long Point stands as one of Massachusetts’ most intriguing ghost towns, with a unique history that reflects the dynamic relationship between coastal communities and the sea. Unlike many ghost towns that declined due to resource depletion or economic shifts, Long Point experienced a relatively brief but vibrant existence as a fishing village before its residents chose to relocate, literally taking their homes with them across the water.
Origins and Development
Long Point is located at the extreme western tip of Provincetown, at the very end of Cape Cod. The finger-shaped stretch of sand creates the western border of Provincetown Harbor and extends into Cape Cod Bay. This strategic location, with its proximity to fertile fishing grounds surrounding the tip of Cape Cod, made it an attractive settlement site for fishermen seeking to maximize their catches.
The first house on Long Point was built by John Atwood in 1818. This pioneering structure marked the beginning of what would become a thriving fishing community. In the years that followed, other fishermen recognized the advantages of settling directly on the point, with immediate access to the mackerel, shad, and bass swimming in the surrounding waters.
A significant development in the early history of Long Point was the construction of the Long Point Lighthouse in 1827. This navigational aid was built to guide vessels safely into Provincetown Harbor and represented the government’s recognition of the growing maritime importance of the area. The original lighthouse was later replaced in 1875 by the structure that still stands today.
The settlement’s remote location presented significant challenges for early residents. Before the construction of the West End Breakwater in 1915 (which today allows pedestrians to walk to Long Point from Provincetown), the only way to reach the village was by boat or by traversing the dunes of Race Point. This isolation meant that the community had to be largely self-sufficient, developing its own infrastructure and social institutions.
Community Life at its Peak
Despite its isolation, or perhaps because of the resilience it fostered, Long Point grew steadily through the 1830s and into the 1840s. By 1846, the population had increased to the point that a schoolhouse was needed for the children living on the point. This building also served as the community’s church, fulfilling both educational and spiritual needs of the growing village.
The 1840s marked the height of Long Point’s development and prosperity. During this decade, the village expanded to include a general store, post office, salt works, bakery, and a wharf. Six windmills were constructed, primarily to pump seawater into shallow vats for salt production, an important industry in coastal Massachusetts during this period. The population swelled to approximately 200 people, creating a vibrant community at what is now one of the most remote locations on Cape Cod.
The layout of the settlement, as depicted in historical sketches and described in accounts such as “The Provincetown Book” by Nancy W. Paine-Smith (1922), showed a well-organized village with homes arranged along sandy paths, the lighthouse at the tip, and various commercial structures supporting the fishing-based economy. The community developed its own distinct identity, separate from yet connected to the larger town of Provincetown.
Life on Long Point centered around the fishing industry. Men would venture out in boats to harvest the abundant marine resources, while women and children maintained households and engaged in shore-based activities such as processing fish and maintaining equipment. The salt works provided an important secondary industry, producing salt used for preserving the fish catches.
Decline and Abandonment
The prosperity of Long Point proved to be short-lived. By 1850, a combination of factors began to undermine the viability of the settlement. One significant blow came when the salt works became less profitable due to the discovery of cheaper salt deposits in Syracuse, New York. This economic shift made the labor-intensive process of evaporating seawater for salt production increasingly uncompetitive.
Simultaneously, the waters just offshore began to show signs of overfishing. The very resource that had drawn settlers to Long Point—the abundant fish stocks—was becoming depleted due to intensive harvesting. As catches declined, the economic foundation of the community weakened, prompting many inhabitants to consider relocating back to Provincetown proper.
The remoteness of Long Point, initially accepted as a necessary trade-off for proximity to fishing grounds, became an increasing liability as economic conditions changed. The lack of direct road access to Provincetown meant that villagers had to traverse the sand dunes north to Herring Cove Beach and then back inland to town—a journey of four and a half miles—to access services and supplies not available in the village. This isolation, manageable during times of prosperity, became increasingly burdensome as the community’s economic advantages diminished.
As these factors converged, the population of Long Point began to decline rapidly throughout the 1850s. Families made the decision to return to Provincetown, where infrastructure, services, and alternative economic opportunities were more readily available. What makes the abandonment of Long Point particularly unique in the annals of ghost towns is the manner in which many residents departed: they took their houses with them.
These homes, known locally as “floaters,” were literally floated across Provincetown Harbor on scows (flat-bottomed boats). Once they reached Provincetown, the structures were placed on new foundations and integrated into the existing town. Today, these relocated buildings can be identified by blue and white plaques on their facades, marking their unusual journey across the water. One notable example is the former Long Point post office, which now stands at 256 Bradford Street in Provincetown.
Civil War Era and Beyond
By 1861, at the outbreak of the American Civil War, Long Point had been largely abandoned. Only two houses and the lighthouse remained occupied. The strategic location of the point, however, gave it a new purpose during the conflict. The site was converted into a Civil War battery, with men stationed there to defend the harbor entrance.
Military personnel were housed in barracks constructed on the point, and one of the remaining houses was repurposed as officers’ headquarters. Earthen mounds were built as part of the defensive works, one of which remains visible today. This mound is now topped with a wooden cross, serving as a memorial to Charles Darby, a Provincetown resident who was killed in action during World War II.
When the Civil War ended, Long Point was once again largely deserted. The final chapter in its history as a functioning community came in 1875, when the wharf originally built by John Atwood was repurposed by Jonathan Cook for the Cape Cod Oil Works. This enterprise was established to extract usable products from the carcasses of whales and fish, continuing the area’s tradition of marine-based industry, albeit in a different form.
After Cook’s death, the business was purchased by Lorenzo Richardson of Boston in 1885. Richardson changed the name to the Cape Cod Oil Company in 1889, but this final industrial use of Long Point eventually ceased operations as well, leaving the area to the elements and occasional visitors.
Current Status and Remains
Today, Long Point stands as one of the most remote and isolated locations on Cape Cod. The lighthouse, maintained by the Coast Guard until it was automated, continues to operate as a navigational aid. The Charles Darby Memorial Cross stands near the lighthouse, a solitary monument to sacrifice and remembrance.
Physical remnants of the once-thriving village are sparse but still discernible to the careful observer. A few pilings from the original wharf can be seen along the eastern shore of the point, along with the skeletal remains of a brig hull. These weathered wooden structures serve as tangible connections to the maritime activities that once defined life on Long Point.
The landscape itself has changed significantly since the village’s heyday. What was once a bustling community with dozens of structures is now a windswept, sandy environment dominated by dunes, beach grass, and the occasional shrub. The natural processes of erosion and deposition continue to reshape the point, gradually altering the very land upon which the village once stood.
Access to Long Point today is primarily by foot via the West End Breakwater (also known as the Provincetown Causeway), a stone walkway built in 1915 that extends from the western end of Commercial Street in Provincetown. Visitors can also reach the point by boat or by walking the beach around the harbor at low tide. The journey to Long Point is approximately 2¼ miles from Provincetown’s West End, making it a significant hike that requires preparation and an awareness of tide schedules.
Historical Significance and Legacy
Long Point represents a unique chapter in Massachusetts’ history of ghost towns. Unlike mining communities that collapsed when resources were depleted or farming settlements abandoned due to environmental challenges, Long Point was a deliberate creation and a deliberate abandonment. Its residents chose the location for its specific advantages and later chose to leave when those advantages no longer outweighed the challenges of isolation.
The practice of floating houses across the harbor represents an unusual approach to community relocation, demonstrating both the resourcefulness of the residents and their attachment to their homes. These “floaters,” still standing in Provincetown, serve as living artifacts of Long Point’s history and the continuity between the abandoned settlement and the town that absorbed its population.
Long Point also illustrates the dynamic relationship between human settlements and natural resources. The village flourished when fish stocks were abundant and salt production was profitable, then declined when these economic foundations weakened. This pattern of resource-based boom and bust has been repeated in various forms throughout Massachusetts’ history, though rarely with such a dramatic physical relocation of structures.
The brief military use of Long Point during the Civil War connects this small ghost town to the broader currents of American history, demonstrating how even remote locations could play strategic roles during times of national conflict. The later industrial use by the Cape Cod Oil Works similarly ties the site to the evolution of marine-based industries in New England.
Today, Long Point serves as a destination for hikers, history enthusiasts, and nature lovers. Its isolation and minimal development have preserved it as a place where visitors can experience the natural beauty of Cape Cod’s tip while contemplating the human history that briefly flourished there. The lighthouse and memorial cross stand as sentinels, marking this remote outpost that once housed a vibrant community but now exists primarily in historical records and in the relocated “floater” homes of Provincetown.
Sources:
1. CapeCod.com. “Hidden Cape Cod: A Village That Used to Exist in Provincetown.” https://www.capecod.com/lifestyle/hidden-cape-cod-a-village-that-used-to-exist-in-provincetown/
2. History of Massachusetts Blog. “Ghost Towns in Massachusetts.” https://historyofmassachusetts.org/ghost-towns-massachusetts/
3. Lost Massachusetts. “Long Point & Wood End, Mass.” https://lostmassachusetts.com/a-lost-place/f/details-for-episode-1-long-point-and-wood-end
4. Coastal Neighborhoods. “Long Point Village – Provincetown’s Lost Neighborhood.” https://www.coastalneighborhoods.com/blog/long-point-village-provincetowns-lost-neighborhood/
5. Paine-Smith, Nancy W. “The Provincetown Book.” Tolman Print, 1922.
6. Cape Cod Times. “Curious Cape Cod: The lost village of Long Point.” https://www.capecodtimes.com/story/news/2021/06/02/curious-cape-cod-lost-village-long-point-provincetown/7515695002/