2005, October:
Total property owners 3188.
Provincetown resident property owners 1442.
Non-resident Provincetown property owners 1746.
Town population 3555.
Retail stores 286.
Restaurants 67, with 7768 seatings.
Licensed inns, hotels, guesthouses, camps & cabins 134, with 1962 rooms for 4748 people.
3 taxi companies.
15 parkings, with 1191 spaces for cars.
Fire department 74 volunteers with part time Chief Michael S. Trovato; 5 fire trucks + the Airport Crash Track.

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Provincetown Fact Sheet
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NARRATIVE

The Town of Provincetown was incorporated in 1727, but its history begins much earlier since its well-protected harbor offered excellent protection from storms.

The European explorer Gosnold recorded a stop in Provincetown as early as 1602 and the harbor was the site of the first landing of the Mayflower. The Pilgrims signed the Mayflower compact in the harbor, to codify the way in which they were going to administer the new colony they intended to establish. Although rich fishing grounds resulted in the seasonal leasing of fisheries with licenses granted for bass, mackerel and cod fishing, the first permanent settlement didn't take place until 1700.

Provincetown grew very slowly during the 18th century and its population fluctuated with the price of fish. Farming was of secondary importance and aside from the fishing industry; there were only some salt works and one mill.

After the Revolution, the town boomed and its population rose 276.6% between 1790 and 1830. Despite its relative lack of good farmland, by the middle of the 19th century, Provincetown had developed as the prime maritime, fishing and commercial center of the Cape.

The Civil War, which destroyed so much New England business, only provided more markets for Provincetown's fish. Portuguese sailors, picked up by American ships in the Azores and Cape Verde Islands to fill out their crews, came to Provincetown to live and additional Portuguese immigrants had moved to town by the 19th century to work on the whaling boats and coastal fishing vessels.

In 1875, there were 25 coastwise and 36 ocean vessels operating in town, more than any community in the state including Boston. Provincetown was a bustling place with all of the ancillary maritime businesses operating, such as ship chandlers, shipwrights, sail makers, caulkers, riggers and blacksmiths.

The picturesque setting and salt air also began attracting artists and writers by the end of the 19th century. This contingent grew and poets, novelists, journalists, socialists, radicals and dilettantes formed a colony which, in 1915, opened the Provincetown Players in a converted fish house on the wharf. Among the writers whose works were performed there was Eugene O'Neill.

When the fishing industry faltered from competition with cheaper Nova Scotia cod, and the Portland Gale of 1898 swept away half of the town's wharves, the resort population of the town provided jobs to take the place of those lost. In the 1920's the artistic and literary productions of the town were of international repute and the abandoned sites of maritime businesses became the new homes of the seasonal visitor as sail lofts, warehouses and barns became studios, galleries and shops.

Today, the wealth of preserved historic buildings combines with the lure of the sea to support a huge tourist and summer home industry. - Narrative based on information Department of Housing and Community Development Mitt Romney, Governor, Jane Wallis Gumble, Director provided by the Massachusetts Historical Commission.

TRANSPORTATION AND ACCESS Provincetown is situated on Cape Cod, a 65-mile long sandy peninsula comprising Barnstable County. The Cape has excellent highway, rail, bus and air connections to other parts of New England. Air, bus, and passenger rail service expand during the summer months to accommodate the large numbers of tourists.

Major Highways: Principal highways are U.S. Route 6, the Mid Cape Highway, and State Route 6A.

Rail: There is no freight rail service, but the network of intermodal facilities serving Eastern Massachusetts and Rhode Island is easily accessible.

Bus: Provincetown is a member of the Cape Cod Regional Transit Authority

(CCRTA), which operates a b-bus demand response service. The Plymouth and Brockton Street Railway Company provides two trips daily between Provincetown and Boston.

Air: The Provincetown Municipal Airport, a Commercial Service (CM) facility located 2 mi. NW of town, has a 3,498'x 100' asphalt runway. Instrument approaches available: Precision and non-precision. The Plymouth and Brockton Street Railway Company provides two bus trips daily between Provincetown and Logan Airport.

GEOGRAPHY Provincetown is situated on the northern tip of Cape Cod, Massachusetts. It is bordered by Truro on the east and surrounded by the Atlantic Ocean on all other sides. It is 49 miles north of Hyannis, 78 miles east of Plymouth, 114 miles southeast of Boston and 290 miles from New York City.

Total Area: 17.47 sq. miles

Land Area: 9.66 sq. miles

POPULATION The 2000 U.S. Census reports that Provincetown's year-round population was 3,431. This is a decrease of 130 persons between 1990 and 2000. In the last 100 years, Provincetown's population peaked at 4,300 in 1910.

CLIMATE Normal temperature in January: 29.4º F -

Normal temperature in July: 70. 7º F - Normal annual precipitation: 43.3 inches

GOVERNMENT

Form of Government: Board of Selectmen, Town Manager, Open Town Meeting

Year Incorporated: 1727

Registered Voters: (from Secretary of State Figures 1994)

Total Registered: 2,832: Democrats: 1,382, Republicans: 162, Other: 0, Independent: 1,288

SCHOOLS Parents in Massachusetts increasingly are benefiting from having a choice of public education alternatives. School choice is one, charter schools are another. Under both programs, parents can seek to send their child to a public school in a district other than the one in which they reside. Participation in school choice is voluntary. Parents do not have to pay any tuition costs. For more information on Massachusetts School Choice visit the Department of Educations website at www.doe.mass.edu

PROVINCETOWN SCHOOL ENROLLMENT:

Elementary School: PreK - 6: 110 students

High School: 7 - 12: 146 students

HOUSING Median Sales Price: (according to The Warren Group):

2004: Jan - Dec. - 1-Family $654,000, Condominium: $329,000, All Sales: $385,000

The Fiscal year 2004 tax rate is $5.45 per thousand dollars of assessed value.

Median Family income according 2000 U.S. Census figures: $39,679

WATER The Provincetown Water Department supplies drinking water to the Town of Provincetown and several areas within the Town of Truro. Provincetown's water supply sources consist of three well fields located in the Pamet Lens of the Cape Cod Aquifer.

Treated water from the well fields is pumped into the water distribution network by means of submersible pumps installed within each well. Water is delivered to the Town of Provincetown by means of 12-inch water transmission mains traveling from South Hollow Road and along Shore Road in North Truro to the Provincetown town line.

(Developed by iamprovincetown.com with cooperation from Provincetown Town Hall and Pilgrim Monument and Provincetown Museum - Updated 10/8/05)