Introduction
The Town of Provincetown is located at the tail end of Cape Cod in Barnstable County, Massachusetts. At the side of the Pilgrims’ Landing of 1620, Provincetown today maintains ferry access to Boston and Plymouth on the opposite side of Massachusetts Bay.
Importance
The Town of Provincetown, Massachusetts, is a regional hub for the LGBTQIA+ community and is associated with the summer season, similar to the numerous communities of coastal Maine. Within Barnstable County, Massachusetts, the Town of Provincetown is also identified as a regional hub for the occasional year-round settlers of the regional population of artists, lesbians, and gays, thus representing a queer haven providing particular safety for the LGBTQIA+ community.
Geography
The Town of Provincetown is effectively located at the tail end of the Cape Cod Peninsula, with the Provincetown Harbor in the vicinity and the general area of the Massachusetts Bay primarily to the west with the open Atlantic Ocean to the north. To the south is the particular portion of the Massachusetts Bay known as the Cape Cod Bay, with the latter identified as defining lie throughout the general Cape Cod region.
Transportation
The Town of Provincetown is primarily served by United States Route 6, accessible from the SouthCoast and surrounding regions, though the ferry services also provide access to Boston and Plymouth opposite the Massachusetts Bay and the Cape Cod Bay, respectively. Though Route 6 serves the role of the principal artery through the town, Commercial Street, a parallel street just to the south, provides the vast majority of amenities for the community.
Attractions
In the outlying areas associated with Provincetown, the extreme end of Cape Cod, Wood End, is home to the Long Point Light Station. Further into the Commonwealth is the site of the Race Point Lighthouse, with the Province Lands Visitor Center and Provincetown Municipal Airport areas located nearby and largely to the east. Now on the eastern end of Provincetown facing the open Atlantic Ocean, the community also contains dune shacks, including the historic district of the Dune Shacks of Peaked Hill Bars. The Fowler, Frenchie’s, and Grail Dune Shacks are located within the limits of Provincetown, while the Ray Wells Dune Shack is located within the town limits of nearby Truro.
Commercial Street (Massachusetts Route 6A)
Along Commercial Street in the Town of Provincetown, the LGBTQIA+-friendly attractions and amenities for the community include nineteenth-century homes as well as lively art galleries, restaurants (particularly the obvious seafood restaurants serving the community), and cafés. At the southern end of Commercial Street is the Pilgrims’ First Landing Park, while at the northern end, also in the relatively outlying area, is the DNA Gallery. The following attractions are located along Commercial Street or Route 6A, from south to north:
- Pilgrims’ First Landing Park
- RSVPtown Gallery and Visitor Space
- Adam Peck Gallery
- Gary Marotta Fine Art
- Memories of ProvincetownM
- Meeting House Plain (accessible via Court Street and side streets near the Winthrop Street Cemetery)
- Seans Birthday Historic Marker
- Thanassi Art Gallery
- Pilgrim Monument and Provincetown Museum
- Provincetown Railway Station
- “They Also Faced The Sea” on Ryder Street at the Provincetown Marina: Portuguese women featured on photos at the end
- Historic Provincetown Main District (Reference Site of the Geographic Center)
- MacMillan Pier and Wharf (home to the ferries to Plymouth and Boston)
- On Center Gallery
- Galeria Cubana (Ptown Location)
- Hilda Neily Gallery
- Greg Salvatori Gallery
- Bowersock Fine Art Gallery
- Simie Maryles Gallery
- Egeli Gallery
- Kylie Court Gallery
- Larkin Gallery
- Four Eleven Gallery
- Packard Gallery
- Alden Gallery
- Outermost
- Rice Polak Gallery
- William Scott Gallery
- Ray Wiggs Gallery
- Marrinan Gallery
- Art Love Gallery
- Gallery 444
- McGuire Studio and Galleries
- Provincetown Art Association and Museum (PAAM)
- Vorse House
- Berta Walker Gallery
- Schoolhouse Gallery
- DNA Gallery
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