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Cape Cod Museums & Historic Sites

Cape Cod has more museums and historic sites than anyone can realistically see in a month, let alone in a one- or two-week vacation.

So instead of giving you a directory of every museum and historic site on the Cape, I've chosen some of my favorites to show you. 

Popular Picks

If you'll only have time to visit one or two museums and historic sites while you're on the Cape, here are a few of the "big names" that top most visitors' must-see list. 

The Whydah Pirate Museum

Hearing the name, you might think this is just a hokey attraction for kids. Not true.

The Whydah Pirate Museum is the real deal! It's home to hundreds (maybe thousands?) of artifacts and treasures recovered from the wreck of Captain “Black Sam” Bellamy’s pirate ship, the Whydah Gally, that went down off the coast of Wellfleet in 1717.

What really boggles the mind here is the condition of the objects themselves. When you’re looking at a silk ribbon that’s been buried under the seabed for nearly 300 years, and you can still see its delicate decoration, you can’t help but wonder how that’s even possible.

Visiting the on-site laboratory to see the conservation process first-hand adds a whole other dimension to the experience. 

• Whydah Pirate Museum →

Heritage Museums & Gardens

Heritage is always on my list of places to take our out-of-town guests. I’ve also been known to spend three or four hours there on my own, wandering through the gardens and checking out the latest exhibits in the art, history, and vintage auto museums.

With kids in tow, Hidden Hollow — Heritage's nature-based play area — is a big hit, too.

• Heritage Museums & Gardens →

Cape Cod Museum of Natural History

CCMNH is so much more than a museum. In a single visit, you might find yourself walking through a life-size gray whale, watching bees at work on a live hive, spotting all sorts of unique sea life in the aquarium, or joining one of their many fun and educational programs ("Mudflat Mania", anyone?!).

Outdoors there are miles of trails to wander, past a butterfly habitat and pollinator garden, through salt marshes and woodlands, all the way to Cape Cod Bay.

You can easily spend a couple hours here and still feel like there’s more to see.

• Cape Cod Museum of Natural History →

Sandwich Glass Museum

Sandwich Glass Museum tells the story of the glass industry that once made Sandwich famous. The museum's galleries mix local history with displays of historic glasswork, so you’re not just looking at pretty objects without context.

Live glassblowing demonstrations run regularly throughout the day. And if you want to try it yourself, the museum also offers hands-on glassworking classes from time to time. My hubby and I took their "Glass Experience" class, and it gave us a real appreciation for how much skill goes into even a small piece!

• Sandwich Glass Museum →

John F. Kennedy Hyannis Museum

The JFK Hyannis Museum focuses on our late President John F. Kennedy’s connection to Cape Cod and the years his family spent in Hyannisport.

Kennedy enthusiasts travel from all over to visit this museum and to walk the nearby, self-guided Kennedy Legacy Trail around Hyannis.

The museum's exhibits include a short introductory film, vintage photographs, and personal memorabilia, giving you a sense of the President and Mrs. Kennedy's daily life and public moments on the Cape.

*FYI: Even if you’re not especially into the "Kennedy mystique", this small museum makes for a quick, interesting stop while you’re exploring downtown Hyannis.

• John F. Kennedy Hyannis Museum →

Pilgrim Monument

The Pilgrim Monument is impossible to miss. When you’re in Provincetown, just look at the skyline and you’ll see it rising above the town. Standing at the base of the monument, it really hits you how massive it is.

I’ve never climbed to the top. (No way I’m tackling 100+ stairs. Plus, I don't do well with heights!) But everyone I know who has done it talks about the views from the top and how, on a clear day, you can see the Boston skyline.

• Pilgrim Monument →
  
  

Beyond the Big Names

Are you into exploring lesser-known museums and historic sites? These are some of my favorites across the Cape. 

Mashpee Wampanoag Museum

This is the Mashpee Wampanoag tribe's own museum. So there's no better place to get an authentic look at the history of "The People of the First Light" on Cape Cod going back 10,000+ years. 

The museum's exhibits walk you through daily life, survival, and major turning points in Wampanoag history, including how things changed when English settlers arrived.

Out back is a wetu, a traditional dome-shaped Wampanoag home. One of the highlights of my last visit was spending time in the wetu with my guide, Courtney (in the photo above), talking about her heritage, tribal customs, and what everyday life is like for Wampanoag families on Cape Cod today.

Kids almost always make a beeline for the wetu, and it usually ends up being one of their favorite parts of the visit.

• Mashpee Wampanoag Museum →

Chatham Railroad Museum

Visiting the Chatham Railroad Museum is like time-warping back to the days when most visitors came to Cape Cod by train.

The fully restored Chatham Depot is filled with old railroad artifacts and memorabilia, model train displays, and old-school modes of communication like a manual typewriter, rotary phones, and a Morse Code simulator you can try for yourself.

An early-1900s caboose sits next to the depot. Inside the caboose you’ll see the cooking area, benches, tables, and workspace the railroad crews relied on during long runs. A challenging way to earn a living, for sure!

• Chatham Railroad Museum →

Marconi RCA Wireless Museum

Before visiting Marconi RCA Wireless Museum, many visitors weren't aware that this was one of the most important ship-to-shore radio stations protecting Cape Cod and the entire country during wartime. (I'm embarrassed to admit that I hadn't known that, either.)

This site was a hub for the wireless telegraphy that tracked ships at sea and handled critical communications. Seeing the old wireless equipment and learning about the people who operated it really drives home how much had to happen behind the scenes for a single message to get through.  

It's a real eye-opener for anyone who’s never known life without smartphones! 

• Marconi RCA Wireless Museum →

Edward Gorey House

This was the private home of world-famous illustrator, author, and costume designer Edward Gorey until his death in April 2000.

Walking through Mr. Gorey's home, it feels like you're looking at his life — because you pretty much are. Every nook and cranny is packed with his stuff, from his first-known drawing at just 18 months old to the urn that held his ashes until they were floated out to sea on Cape Cod Bay.

If you're a die-hard Gorey fan, you'll recognize little details like the doll falling head-first down the stairway. (If you know, you know!)

But even if you're not familiar with Mr. Gorey or his work, you'll still walk away appreciating his creative brilliance and the unconventional way his mind worked.

• Edward Gorey House →

Cape Verdean Museum & Cultural Center

Cape Verdeans have been part of Cape Cod for a very long time. Unfortunately, that history often gets overlooked. This museum does a good job of correcting that.

This is a relatively small space, but it covers a lot of ground: work, family life, music, migration, political upheaval, and what it means to be a part of their community on Cape Cod.

Tours here are led by a Cape Verdean who takes time with visitors, telling stories and answering questions — even from the most inquisitive young ones.

• Cape Verdean Museum & Cultural Center →

Old Harbor Life-Saving Station

In the late 1800s and early 1900s, the men of the U.S. Life-Saving Service lived in this station and patrolled our Atlantic coastline on foot, around the clock, even in raging storms.

It might sound trite to say that history comes alive here. But it really does, especially during the station's "breeches buoy demonstrations" when costumed volunteers re-enact what it took, more than 100 years ago, to rescue the crew of a ship in distress offshore from Cape Cod.

Inside the station you'll see vintage rescue boats and equipment and the living spaces where the crew slept, cooked, ate, and carried out their daily routines.

No matter how many times I've been here, I always come away imagining what it must have been like to do this work day after day, knowing that a real rescue could be called for at any moment.

• Old Harbor Life-Saving Station →

The Old Jail

Built around 1690, The Old Jail (a/k/a “Olde Gaol”) is the oldest wooden jail in the United States. It’s small, stark, and very much what you’d imagine a 17th-century jail to be.

On a tour you'll hear stories of the people who were locked up here, what they were accused of, and punishments they endured — many of which are hard to wrap your head around today.

When you see some of the things prisoners carved into the jail's walls, it reminds you that these were real people, not just stories from the past. 

FYI: The Old Jail is said to be one of the most haunted jails in the country. Depending on your point of view, that reputation will either creep you out, intrigue you, or maybe a bit of both. (Personally, there’s not a snowball’s chance in hell I’d go inside at night!)

• The Old Jail →

Crosby Mansion

If there were ever an award for the ultimate husband-and-wife compromise, Crosby Mansion would win it.

In the late 1800s, Albert Crosby brought his much-younger bride, Matilda, back to Brewster to make their summer home. She dreamed of an elegant mansion where she could host lavish parties. He was perfectly content with the modest family house he’d grown up in, and he couldn’t imagine tearing it down.

So he didn’t. Instead, he built a 35-room mansion around the original house.

You can still see both today. Walking through the grand rooms and then stepping into the much smaller, older home tucked inside, Albert and Matilda's story tells itself. It’s wealth and restraint, ambition and nostalgia — all under one roof.

• Crosby Mansion →
  
  

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