{"nrhp_refnum":"12000132","name":"Dune Shacks of Peaked Hill Bars Historic District","other_names":[],"category":"district","location":{"address":"Inner Dune, Snail, & High Head Rds.","address_restricted":false,"city":"Provincetown","county":"Barnstable County","state":"MA","lat":42.07431950000003,"lon":-70.17394822247049,"geom_source":"nps_gis"},"listed_date":"2012-03-15","is_nhl":false,"nhl_designated_date":null,"areas_of_significance":["Art","Literature","Entertainment/Recreation","Architecture","Historic - Non-Aboriginal"],"significance_levels":["national","state","local"],"summary":{"what_it_is":"An approximately 1,960-acre oceanfront cultural landscape of 18 contributing dune shacks and one contributing site on the back shore of Provincetown and Truro, Massachusetts, within Cape Cod National Seashore. The shacks were built between the 1920s and early 1950s.","why_significant":"The nomination presents the district as an isolated, informal seasonal retreat used through the twentieth century for recreation, fishing, artistic inspiration and contemplation. Writers and artists, including poet Harry Kemp and others tied to the Provincetown literary and artistic community, are associated with it. The simple, impermanent shacks and the dune landscape together form a distinctive architectural and cultural entity.","narrative":"Along more than five miles of undeveloped Atlantic coastline in Provincetown and Truro, a scattering of weathered wood shacks sits among shifting sand dunes. This district covers roughly 1,960 acres within Cape Cod National Seashore and includes 18 contributing shacks built between the 1920s and early 1950s, plus the dune landscape itself. The shacks are small, unornamented, shingled buildings, usually a single room, set on piers and altered over time as sand eroded or accreted. Several have been moved back from the shoreline, and their parts are often salvaged or reused. Access is by unmarked sand tracks, which adds to the sense of isolation. The area is recognized as a seasonal retreat used from 1920 to 1991 for recreation, fishing, artistic inspiration and contemplation, with ties to writers and artists such as poet Harry Kemp. The shacks, the dunes and the open views together convey that rustic, maritime and creative heritage. Eleven small modern outbuildings are counted as noncontributing.","period_of_significance":"1920-1991","architect_builder":null,"architectural_style":"OTHER: Waterside Shelter","criteria":[],"status_note":"All shacks are owned and managed by the National Park Service, with maintenance done by longtime dune dwellers and non-profit community groups; some shacks have been rebuilt or moved back from the shoreline.","vacant_flag":null,"machine_generated":true,"model":"claude-sonnet-5-5","prompt_version":"v1.0-2026-10-29","generated_at":"2026-10-29 02:10:51.558935-05","source_pdf":"https://s3.amazonaws.com/NARAprodstorage/opastorage/live/35/7939/63793935/content/electronic-records/rg-079/NPS_MA/12000132.pdf"},"photo":null,"district":null,"sources":{"nps_snapshot_date":"2026-05-22","nara_catalog":"https://catalog.archives.gov/id/63793935","wikipedia":"https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Dune_Shacks_of_Peaked_Hill_Bars_Historic_District","wikidata":"https://www.wikidata.org/wiki/Q15215385"},"indexable":true,"url":"https://nationalhistoricalregister.com/massachusetts/barnstable-county/dune-shacks-of-peaked-hill-bars-historic-district-12000132/"}