Town of Harwich

Includes the villages of Harwich, East Harwich, Harwichport, North Harwich, Pleasant Lake, South Harwich, West Harwich.

History

Harwich was first settled in 1670 as the eastern parish of the town of Yarmouth. The town was officially incorporated in 1694, and originally included the lands of the current town of Brewster. Early industry involved fishing and farming. The town is considered by some to be the birthplace of the cranberry industry, with the first commercial operation opening in 1846. There are still many bogs in the town, although the economy is now more centered on tourism and as a residential/retirement community. The town is also the site of the start/finish line of the "Sail Around the Cape," which rounds the Cape counter-clockwise, returning via the Cape Cod Canal.

Year Round Population: 12,837

Summer Population: 37,500

Tax Rate: $6.25 (2009)

Median Home Sale: $360,000

Median Condo Sale: $205,000

Schools & Education:

Harwich Elementary School (preschool-4)
Harwich Middle School (5-8)
Harwich High School (9-12)
Cape Cod Regional Vocational Technical High School (9-12)

Harwich operates its own school system for approximately 1,400 students. Harwich Elementary School serves students from pre-kindergarten through fifth grade, Harwich Middle School serves grades 6-8, and Harwich High School serves grades 9-12. Harwich's teams are known as the Rough Riders, and their colors are blue and gold. Harwich is known for its excellent boys basketball, girls basketball, girls field hockey and baseball teams.

In addition to public schools, Harwich is also the site of Cape Cod Regional Vocational Technical High School, which serves most of Cape Cod. The town is also home to Holy Trinity Regional School, a Catholic school which serves pre-kindergarten through fifth grades.

Geography

According to the United States Census Bureau, the town has a total area of 33.2 square miles, of which, 21.0 square miles of it is land and 12.1 square miles of it (36.53%) is water. The seven villages of Harwich are: Pleasant Lake, North Harwich, East Harwich, South Harwich, Harwich Center, Harwich Port and West Harwich. These villages are also referred to as the Harwiches.

Harwich is on the southern side of Cape Cod, just west of the southeastern corner. It is bordered by Brewster to the north, Orleans and Chatham to the east, Nantucket Sound to the south, and Dennis to the west. Harwich is approximately twelve miles east of Barnstable, twenty-eight miles east of the Cape Cod Canal, thirty-five miles south of Provincetown, and eighty miles southeast of Boston.

Cape Cod's largest inland body of water, Long Pond, lies on the Brewster border as well as several other smaller bodies of water. The shore is home to several harbors and rivers, including the Herring River, Allens Harbor, Wychmere Harbor, Saquatucket Harbor, and the Andrews River. The town is also the home to the Hawksnest State Park, as well as a marina and several beaches, including two on Long Pond.

Demographics

As of the census of 2000, there were 12,386 people, 5,471 households, and 3,545 families residing in the town. The population density was 588.6 people per square mile. There were 9,450 housing units at an average density of 449.1/sq mile. The racial makeup of the town was 95.41% White, 0.71% Black or African American, 0.19% Native American, 0.22% Asian, 0.05% Pacific Islander, 2.03% from other races, and 1.40% from two or more races. 0.96% of the population were Hispanic or Latino of any race.

There were 5,471 households out of which 21.3% had children under the age of 18 living with them, 53.4% were married couples living together, 9.0% had a female householder with no husband present, and 35.2% were non-families. 29.8% of all households were made up of individuals and 16.9% had someone living alone who was 65 years of age or older. The average household size was 2.20 and the average family size was 2.72.

In the town the population was spread out with 18.3% under the age of 18, 4.2% from 18 to 24, 22.1% from 25 to 44, 25.8% from 45 to 64, and 29.6% who were 65 years of age or older. The median age was 49 years. For every 100 females there were 84.5 males. For every 100 females age 18 and over, there were 79.7 males.

The median income for a household in the town was $41,552, and the median income for a family was $51,070. Males had a median income of $38,948 versus $27,439 for females. The per capita income for the town was $23,063. About 2.9% of families and 5.5% of the population were below the poverty line, including 8.4% of those under age 18 and 4.1% of those age 65 or over.

Government

Harwich is represented in the Massachusetts House of Representatives as a part of the Fourth Barnstable district, which includes (with the exception of Brewster) all the towns east and north of Harwich on the Cape. The town is represented in the Massachusetts Senate as a part of the Cape and Islands District, which includes all of Cape Cod, Martha's Vineyard and Nantucket except the towns of Bourne, Falmouth, Sandwich and a portion of Barnstable. The town is patrolled by the Second (Yarmouth) Barracks of Troop D of the Massachusetts State Police.

Harwich is governed by the open town meeting form of government, led by a town administrator and a board of selectmen. Harwich has its own police and fire departments, with two fire stations; Headquarters (next to the police station) in Harwich Center and Station Two East Harwich at the intersection on Routes 137 and 39. There are post offices, in Harwich Center, Harwich Port, South Harwich, West Harwich, and East Harwich. There are three libraries in the town. The municipal library, the Brooks Free Library in Harwich Center, is the largest and is a member of the Cape Libraries Automated Materials Sharing (CLAMS) network. There are two smaller non-municipal libraries - the Chase Library on Route 28 at the Dennis town line, and the Harwich Port Library on Lower Bank St. in Harwich Port. Harwich is also the site of the Long Pong Medical Center, which serves the southeastern Cape region.

Transportation

Two of Cape Cod's major east-west routes, U.S. Route 6 and Route 28, cross the town. The town is also the southern termini of Routes 39 and 124 as well as a portion of Route 137, pass through the town. A portion of the Cape Cod Rail Trail, as well as several other bicycle routes, are in town. Other than the occasional sea plane landing on the pond, the nearest airport is in neighboring Chatham; the nearest regional service is at Barnstable Municipal Airport; and the nearest national and international air service is at Logan International Airport in Boston. In recent years parts of Cape Cod have introduced bus service, especially during the summer to help cut down on traffic.

Copyright (c) 2009 brianserpone.com. Permission is granted to copy, distribute and/or modify this document under the terms of the GNU Free Documentation License, Version 1.2 or any later version published by the Free Software Foundation; with no Invariant Sections, no Front-Cover Texts, and no Back-Cover Texts.

Brian Serpone can be reached in the Harwich office of Today Real Estate at 508-568-8104.