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Harwich is located in southeastern Massachusetts, on the southeast portion of
Cape Cod. Bordered by Dennis on the west,
Brewster and Orleans on the north, Chatham
on the east, and Nantucket Sound on the
south. Harwich is about 12 miles from
Hyannis, 70 miles east of Fall River, 82
miles southeast of Boston, and 260 miles
from New York City.
- Total Area: 33.15 sq. miles
- Land Area: 21.04 sq. miles
- Population: 10,275
- Density: 488/sq mile
The Town of
Harwich is a resort and residential
community located on the south side of the
Cape peninsula, with an extensive shoreline
on Nantucket Sound. It was settled around
1665, and incorporated in 1694. Its early
economy included agriculture and maritime
industries and its history has included boom
and bust cycles from the earliest days of
the community.
When the
whaling industry collapsed with the
discovery of oil, the community's emphasis
shifted to cod fishing. By 1802, 15 to 20
ships were shore fishing and another four
ships were cod fishing in Newfoundland and
Labrador, and by 1851, there were 48 ships
employing 577 men and bringing in thousands
of tons of cod and mackerel. The eventual
decline of the fishing industry in Harwich
by the latter part of the 19th century was
caused by increases in the size of ships
which eventually outstripped the shallow
port's ability to house them. Residents
turned to the development of cranberry bogs
and resorts for summer visitors, working
side-by-side with Portuguese immigrants. The
first resort hotel opened in 1880 and both
the cranberry and the tourist industries
remain substantial parts of Harwich's
economy in the present.
In 1775, when
Separatists and Baptists outnumbered
Orthodox Congregationalists, Harwich
burghers felt independent enough to refuse
to support a minister with public tax monies
and they continued refusing to do so for 18
years. The town showed religious diversity
from the first, including residents who are
Baptists, Methodists, Reformed Methodists
(anti-episcopal), Wesleyans and Catholics,
among others.
Commercial,
motel and condominium development has been
intense along the Route 28 corridor and
suburban development has significantly
decreased the remaining agricultural
landscape, but the town retains much of its
19th century character, including period
Portuguese farmhouses. | 
