Sandwich, MA

How to Get There

From Boston (approximately 50 miles, 1–1.5 hours): Take MA-3 S to US-6 E across the Sagamore Bridge; take Exit 2 (Route 130) immediately after the bridge — Sandwich village center is less than 2 miles from the highway. Sandwich is the first town you reach on Cape Cod from the mainland.

Overview

Sandwich is the oldest town on Cape Cod, founded in 1637 at the entrance to the Cape Cod Canal, and it is known for its historic village, its glass-making history, and its quiet beaches on Cape Cod Bay. The town has a New England village green, a mill pond with a duck-filled stream, a historic grist mill, and a boardwalk across the marsh that leads to a beach. It is the first Cape Cod town visitors reach after crossing the Sagamore Bridge, and it is a popular stop for history lovers.

Visitors come to Sandwich for the Sandwich Glass Museum, for Heritage Museums & Gardens, and for the Sandwich Boardwalk, which stretches 1,350 feet across a salt marsh to Town Neck Beach. They also come for the Hoxie House, thought to be the oldest house on the Cape, for the Dexter Grist Mill, and for biking along the Cape Cod Canal.

History

Sandwich was settled in 1637 by colonists from Saugus and named for Sandwich, England, one of the first towns in Plymouth Colony. It was a farming and fishing community, and in 1825 Deming Jarves founded the Boston and Sandwich Glass Company, which became a major producer of pressed glass for 63 years and attracted skilled glassmakers from Europe. The glass works closed in 1888 after a labor dispute and competition from the Midwest, and the town later became a quiet resort. The Cape Cod Canal, completed in 1914, cut through the town and turned the Cape into an island.

Sightseeing and Popular Landmarks

The Town Hall Square historic district has the village green, the First Church of Christ, and the Sandwich Glass Museum, and the Dexter Grist Mill, dating from 1654, is a working water-powered mill. The Hoxie House, built around 1675, is a saltbox house furnished as a seventeenth-century home, and the Thornton W. Burgess Museum honors the author of Peter Rabbit-style children's stories who lived in the town. The Sandwich Boardwalk, rebuilt after a hurricane, is a half-mile-long wooden walkway across a marsh.

Culture and Museums

The Sandwich Glass Museum has the largest collection of Sandwich glass in the world, with demonstrations by glassblowers, and Heritage Museums & Gardens has a collection of antique cars, folk art, and a carousel, set among gardens and rhododendrons. The Hoxie House and the Thornton Burgess Museum show colonial and nineteenth-century life.

Parks

Town Neck Beach, reached by the boardwalk, is a long sandy beach on the bay, and Scusset Beach State Reservation has a beach, a campground, and a fishing pier at the canal. The Cape Cod Canal Bikeway runs for 7 miles along the canal, and Shawme-Crowell State Forest has trails and camping. Heritage Museums & Gardens has 100 acres of gardens and the Dexter's Rhododendron Garden.

Seasons and Weather

Sandwich has a humid continental climate moderated by the ocean. Summers are warm, with highs in the upper 70s°F, and winters are cold, with highs in the 30s°F and about 35 inches of snow. Summer is the busiest season, and spring brings blooming rhododendrons at Heritage Gardens.

This article uses material from Wikipedia as well as information from official tourism and institutional sources. Key references include Town of Sandwich, Sandwich Glass Museum, Heritage Museums & Gardens, Cape Cod Chamber of Commerce, and National Weather Service Boston/Norton. Wikipedia material is from the article "Sandwich, Massachusetts", and is available under the Creative Commons Attribution-Share-Alike License 3.0.