Provincetown Historic District

Provincetown Historic District occupies roughly 300 acres along the harbor at the northern tip of Cape Cod, Massachusetts. It contains most of the town's built-up area, with more than 1,200 contributing buildings, along with cemeteries, public landings, monuments and a few wharves. Most are one and two-storey houses, shops, institutional buildings and service buildings dating from the mid-1700s to the mid-1900s. Timber-frame, one-and-a-half-storey cottages with central chimneys are especially numerous, and the oldest is believed to be the Nickerson House of about 1746. Greek Revival and Italianate cottages are also common, while high-style, architect-designed buildings are rare. The street layout grew out of footpaths, town landings and wharves tied to fishing, and Commercial Street was formally laid out in 1835. The town developed from seasonal fishing camps, was largely abandoned during the Revolutionary War, and was resettled from 1783. Its fishing economy shaped the surviving buildings and plan.