During the summer of 1962, Nathan Baggs of Dartmouth, Nova Scotia, was glancing at the latest edition of National Geographic Magazine, when he came across a lengthy feature on Cape Cod. Flipping through the pages, the 66-year-old retired sea captain saw a photograph that took him back 41 years. The photograph was of young children frolicking about on a sunny day across the sands of Nauset Beach in Orleans. One of the kids was jumping off the skeletal remains of the Montclair,

When Freeman Doane Mayo was scanning Nauset Beach one day in April 1852, his intent was to find wreckage from the shipwreck of the British brig Margaret, which ran aground and had broken up. What he never counted on was finding someone who would start a long line of descendants that would stretch all across the Lower Cape. In the surf, Mayo spotted a mast from the Margaret — and on that mast was none other than a 14-year-old boy from Great Yarmouth, England, named John Fulche

In addition to my regular “Henry Beston’s Cape Cod” Thursday night programs for the “Outermost House at the Schoolhouse” exhibit, I’ve added two other presentations to be held at the Eastham Historical Society’s 1869 Schoolhouse Museum this summer. NEPTUNE RISES ON THE DUNES: THE BLIZZARD OF ’78 ON THE OUTER CAPE / Wednesday, July 13, and Wednesday, Aug. 24, both at 7 p.m.: On February 6-7, 1978, New England was struck by one of the greatest weather events in history, when th

As many of you have probably heard, the Henry Beston Society and I are in the middle of producing a feature-length documentary film about Henry Beston and the story behind his Cape Cod nature classic, "The Outermost House." This Sunday, the public will have a chance to see where we're at with a rough cut screening of footage from this independent grass roots project. Thanks to Rebecca Alvin and the Cape Cod Film Society, I'll be presenting a program on "Henry Beston's Cape Co

The list of wrecks along the outer beach of Cape Cod is a lengthy one, with several tragedies registered during the winter of winter of 1926-27. One of the most memorable disasters of that season occurred on this day 89 years ago, with the wreck of the Montclair. “There has just been a great wreck, the fifth this winter and the worst,” Henry Beston wrote in his book, “The Outermost House.” “On Monday morning last, shortly after five o’clock, the big three-masted schooner Mont

Earlier today, a post by Peter Fay on the Eastham Cape Cod Community Facebook page suggested that, due to new washovers from recent storms on the northern tip of Nauset Beach, nature may have created a new island: Nice to see the sun out again today for 3 minutes. This is the spot on the Eastham/Orleans town line where the storm broke through the beach. If it keeps washing out, Eastham will own a new island. Seal island? Someone will have to come up with a name. Suggestions q