September 04, 2008

Cape Cod Geography (History?) Lesson

Cape Cod -- is:?

(a) An Island
(b) A peninsula
(C) Shaped like a codfish
(d) None of the above

For the answer, please visit my web page http://www.joemcgann.com or email me at jmcgann@jackconway.com

Kidding, just kidding, the answer is................(b)!

Surprised? Most visitors are.

Cape Cod, now separated from the Massachusetts mainland by the aptly named and man-made Cape Cod Canal, is actually a peninsula and is still officially classified as such.

An enterprising industrialist, August Belmont, built the canal with his own money. It took five years, from 1909 to 1914, to complete. His intention was to cut down both the time and the danger involved transporting goods bound for East Coast ports through "The Graveyard of the Atlantic," the coast off Chatham and Orleans, where hundreds of cargo ships and seafarers have perished.

During the sailing ship era, more than 50,000 ships a year passed by or through Cape Cod on their way to other East Coast ports, so protecting ships and cargo was very important to men like Belmont. As he well understood, time is money and he knew that shipping interests would be happy to pay the Canal tolls rather than risk their cargo to the elements "on the outside". Believe it or not, a canal was first proposed by Myles Standish back in the 1600s to make trade with the Native Americans easier. Now there was a forward thinking guy!

In 1928 the United States purchased the Canal from Belmont for more than $11 million and The Army Corps of Engineers doubled its width to its present size, then built the Bourne, Sagamore and railroad bridges. The Corps continues to manage these facilities to this day.

It will probably also surprise you to know that it is the widest man-made waterway in the world. The Panama Canal, although much much longer at 50 miles than the 17-mile length of the Cape Cod Canal and its entrances, is only a freighter ship wide, while two ships can easily pass one another in "our" canal.

Today the Canal is used by both recreational boaters and commercial shipping, so next time you cross the bridge to our "peninsula" slow down and check out the traffic on this scenic waterway that has come to symbolize the start of both vacations and new lives. Or better yet, bike or walk the paths that line both sides.

Posted By: Joe McGann