The Hyannis Yacht Club and lewis Bay by moonlight. The Yacht club was founded in 1895, and moved to it's present location in 1938. Lewis Bay was formed many years before that.

A view of the water front of Hyannis, looking north. The tall, dark building to the right side is the current Barnstable Town Hall.

This caption shows it's age - the red building on the left here is now the JFK Hyannis Museum! The brown building tucked back on the right is (still) the Hyannis Public Library.

The Universalist Church previously on Main Street in Hyannis, Mass. This church was destroyed in the fire of 1904. It stood where the Federated Church is now.

One of the many scenic vistas of Cape Cod. This one featuring a Cape cottage with red-brown roof and grey siding near a small creek or pond.

The caption here helps us narrow in on the age of this postcard. The building to the right was the Hyannis Normal School, a school for training teachers, until it's final two years when it shared the grounds with Massachusetts Maritime Academy. In 1944, the Normal School (The Hyannis State Teachers College) closed due to lack of enrollment. In 1948, Mass Maritime moved to it's present location in Buzzards Bay.

A view of what today is the Hyannis Town Green, and Barnstable Town Hall. At the time of this postcard the building operated as the Hyannis State Normal school. It has also been grounds for Massachusetts Maritime Academy.

This is a view of Main Street in Hyannis from before these modern days of paved roads. The tallest store sign is that of Megathlins Drug Store (or Pharmacy). It was owned by CW Megathlin, first president of the Chamber of Commerce. His store sat on the north side of the street, so the view is facing east.

A view of Man Street in Hyannis. the style of vehicle is consistent with popular vehicles in the 1930s.

Another view of Hyannis Main Street, this one with some more variation in cars.

Pictured here is the old building housing the Hyannisport Golf Club. Some folks dressed for the day are headed there. This club has a strong connection to the Kennedy family history.

A glimpse of High School Avenue in Hyannis. Some very nice cars on a very nice day.

Cape Cod Hospital as it was before the buildings we know of today. The hospital opened in 1920. For about 30 years, between the 1940s and 1970s, it was also home to the Cape Cod school of Nursing.

The ivy-covered Normal School Campus and Dormitory.

A view from the road of St. Francis Xavier catholic church. This church is still present on South Street.

This view of main street is looking west. On the right, First Baptist Church stands as it still does today. Nowadays, this part of the road is at the intersection of Main Street and High School Rd. To the left would be the Hyannis Inn and a station of the the Barnstable police.

One of the many stately buildings built on Cape Cod, the Iyanough House was a hotel in Hyannis. It was open at least as early as 1893, and in 1899 they constructed a new stable.

An area of Hyannis Maine Street known as the "gift shop section". If you look closely in the road, a small dog is crossing.

This building was built in 1905 as the first permanent structure to house the Barnstable High School.

The old Hyannis Inn, and congregrational church on a tree lines street in Hyannis.

A scenic view of Hyannisport, this picture was taken from the grounds of the former Bellavista hotel. The Bellavista was know for it's wraparound veranda.

Cape Cod has a long history of tourism, and with visitors come places to stay. The Eagleston Inn was open in Hyannis and run by James V. Easgleston for a time.

A street scene showing the Eldredge Inn and another house nearby.

The old Hyannis Inn from the front.

A different view, perhaps later in time, of the old Hyannis Inn. Yellow and red awning with green shutters certainly makes the building stand out on its corner.

This bright image shows a colorful playground which previous inhabited Centerville road in Hyannis.

A bustling business district of Hyannis Main street. The green tower on the right served as the traffic 'light'. The bright yellow and orange sign is for a Woolworth's, which resided where the Puritan store is now.

A Birdseye view of the eastern shore of Hyannisport from Sunset Hill.

Some interesting parking choices here. The 'Autos' at the Bathing Beach in Craigville.

Craigville beach has had many visitors over the years. Not all of them have stared directly at the camera though-(front center)

A view of Craigville beach featuring the beach, the 'bath houses', and cars parked up on the sand.

Despite being known as Hyannis Park since the 1890s, the area pictures is actually in the western part of Yarmouth. Nice beach views either way.

A busy beach day at a beach in Yarmouth.

Authentic Cape Cod sand dunes

Not many people that day at Craigville beach. Maybe it was a bit cold.

Bathing houses at Craigville Beach

A nice beach day in Craigville.

Flowery sand dunes of Cape Cod

The building to the right, on the water, was built in 1903 to house the Camp Opechee restaurant. In 1948, the then vacant building was bought by the Wequaquet Lake Yacht Club, and they still operate from it every year.

Highland Lighthouse was the first Lighthouse on Cape Cod, and twentieth in the United States. In 1904, a Naval radio station was located nearby.

The stately and luxurious Hotel Belmont opened in 1894 on the Dennis-Harwich town lines on the southern coast of Cape Cod. They were hugely successful in it's first year and regularly had to turn customers away. In the 1970s a fire caused so much destruction the building was torn down.

This adorable little house is called the Hoxie House. It is presumed to be the oldest 'Saltbox' style house on Cape Cod. Saltboxes are named so because of the shape of their roofs, lending the house to have two stories in the front and one in the rear. The Hoxie was house was built around 1675. It's second family of residents, headed by Captain Abraham Hoxie who was a whaling captain, give it its name. The house remained without central heat, indoor plumbing, or electricity until the early 1950s.

Joseph Crosby Lincoln was a prominent author, specifically of novels about quaint life on Cape Cod. He built 'Cross Trees' to be his summer home when he was 46. It is what’s called a 'Shingle Style' house.

The Race Point Station is one of the nine original U.S. Life Saving stations built on Cape Cod in 1872/1873. The current (pictured) central building was built in 1931 to replace the demolished original building. The tower pictured on the right was built in 1932 and demolished sometime around 1960. The Station here closed in 1978 and was replaced by Station Provincetown, though the buildings remain and are owned by the National Park Service.

In 1881, Howard Marston built his Marston Estate on Main Street in Centerville. It is an excellent example of a Queen Anne, shingle-style home, and was a bed and breakfast in the later part of the 20th century called the Fernbrook Inn. It's second owner, after Howard and his wife Ella, was Dr. Herbert Kalmus, the inventor of technicolor. He, and several owners after him all had very famous guests.

A view of the gardens of the Martson Estate. Howard and Ella were known for enjoying the outdoors, picking berries and wearing sunhats. Their original gardens were designed by Frederick Law Olmstead.

This house was built in 1680 when John Thacher was 41 years old. He was an officer in the militia and earned the rank of Colonel. He was also a selectman in Yarmouth, a representative to the General Court, and was an assistant to the governor of Massachusetts. He was elected to the provincial council after the charter of William and Mary and served for 20 years. He was married twice and had about 20 children.

The Barnstable county courthouse was built in 1831 and designed by Alexander Parris in the Greek Revivial style. It has been expanded five times, each addition using Quincy granite in an attempt to match the original structure.

The Oyster Harbors Club was founded in 1926 and features an 18-hole golf course. This appears to be the old building.

The former gardens at the Cape Cinema in Dennis.

One of the same founders of the Cape Cinema founded the Cape Playhouse. Its goal was the be a summer theater of Boston, and they drew many famous actors from the summer heat of New York as well. Many familiar names have performed there over the years.

The Cape Cinema in Dennis was founded in 1930. It is designed in the Art Deco style and has a 6,400 square-foot mural on the ceiling of the theater. In 1939, the Cinema hosed the worldwide premier (before Hollywood) of the Wizard of Oz.

Cape Cod was created by glaciers. When the glaciers left, bogs and ponds and wetlands formed the perfect environment for cranberry vines to start growing. By the 1880s, Plymouth and Barnstable counties had thousands of acres dedicated to growing cranberries, and by 1900 the number of acres had tripled. The later half of that century and into the next saw an increase in the Finnish and Cape Verdean immigrant workforce on Cape Cod, many working in agricultural fields or bogs.

A view of the Cape Cod Canal from the mainland side. The Sagamore bridge stands in the back, and the winding road to the left is what is now a section of Route 6.

The railroad bridge over the Cape Cod Canal. When it was built it was the largest vertical lift span in the world. It is now the second largest. The old railroad bridge that stood in it's place weighed about 2,200 tons. The current bridge's center section (the span) also weighs about 2,200 tons.

Long Point light was completed in 1827, but looked very different and was a 'Cape Cod style' lighthouse. The Lantern (room at the top) sat atop a two story house. The current tower was built in 1875. Today the tower is closed and the keepers house is no longer present, but the grounds are open to the public. In 1981 it was fitted to run on solar power.

A view of both the Bourne and Railroad bridges over the Cape Cod Canal. (Railroad is far and small to the right). It's pictured quite nice here- there’s no traffic.

A Shore view of Hyannisport. The back in the middle of the image thee stands a tower with a large house next to it. The tower was originally constructed to be a water tower, and became so well known as to be a landmark for sailors travelling in Nantucket Sound. The house was built as a summer estate for a M. George B. Holbrook. Today it is a still a private residence.

A shore scene in Lewis bay. the large building on the far left is believed to be the old Hyannis Yacht club. The Club's building is now in a different location.

Another shore scene of Lewis Bay, this one from Daisy Bluffs. The tallest building in the back was the Normal School, now Town Hall. Towards the right, behind the ships' masts is where the Cape Cod Maritime Museum stands today!

The entrance to the Cape Cod Canal from Sandwich. A large ship with three masts appears to be headed in. When the Canal was originally dug, the engineers knew it would fill back up with sand and silt from the ocean if they didn't build something like the breakwater to prevent it.

A long boardwalk pier previously in Hyannisport.

Little Neck Clam is another name for Quahog ("co-hog"). These little guys live all around Cape Cod, and are served in many restaurants. They are distinguished from "steamers" by their tougher shells.