Harwich MA

Harwich is a resort community located on the Cape's south side with an exclusive Nantucket Sound waterfront. It has great beaches situated on Nantucket Sound, Pleasant Bay and many local freshwater ponds. The town's harbors, Wychmere, Saquatucket and Allen, are some of the most scenic on the Cape.

Harwich was incorporated in 1694. When the whaling industry collapsed at the end of the 18th century, the community's emphasis shifted to cod fishing. 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 here was caused by an increase in the size of ships which eventually outgrew the shallow port's ability to acommodate them.


Residents then turned to the development of cranberry bogs and tourism for summer visitors foe economic sustenance. The first resort opened in 1880 and both the cranberry and the tourist industries have remained substantial portions of Harwich's economy into the present.

Commercial, motel and condominium development here has been intense along the Route 28 corridor and suburban development has significantly reduced the existing agricultural landscape. And yet Harwich still retains much of its 19th Century charm and character.