History of Harwich, Massachusetts, USA

Harwich, Massachusetts
Barnstable county, on the S. side of Cape Cod, 14 miles E. from Barnstable. Incorporated 1694. Population, 1830, 2,464; 1837, 2,771. On Herring river, the outlet of Long pond, are cotton and other mills. Some vessels are built here and some salt manufactured. The product of the cod and mackerel fishery the year ending April 1, 1837, was $33,000. Harwich is a pleasant town: the village makes a good appearance from the sea.

Harwich once included Brewster, which was the oldest settlement of the two.

Long Pond has an outlet, called Herring River, of which some use is made for mills.

The soil is sandy, and the inhabitants are chiefly employed in the fisheries, or business connected with them.

Distance from Barnstable, 13 miles ; from Boston, by water, 75.

Harwich, a post-township of Barnstable county, Massachusetts, 90 miles S. E. from Boston. Population, 3258.

Harwich Port, a post-office of Barnstable county, Massachusetts.

HARWICH, a township of Barnstable co., in the state of Massachusetts, U.S., 89 m. SE of Boston, bordered on the S by the Atlantic, and watered by Long Island, and its outlet, Herring river. Pop. in 1840, 2,930.

The dwelling of Nathan Dowry, in Harwich, Mass., was destroyed by fire on the evening of the 3d, and his only children, two little girls, aged six and four years, perished. The parents were visiting a neighbor.

Harwich, one of the most characteristic and pleasant of the Cape Cod towns, lies on its south side, about midway of Barnstable County, southeast from Boston, and about 85 miles distant by the Old Colony Railroad. This road has three stations in the town, North Harwich at the northwest, Harwich (centre) and Pleasant Lake, on the north side. The other villages are West Harwich, Harwich Port and South Harwich, on the south side, and East Harwich on Pleasant Bay, which has Orleans on its north side and Chatham on its south. The last-mentioned town is the boundary on the east, Brewster lies on the north, Dennis on the west; while the south side, scarcely deviating from the straight line of the 41º 40' parallel of latitude, is washed by the waters of the Atlantic. The assessed area of this town is 8,670 acres; of which 2,414 acres are occupied by a growth of oak and pine trees.

There are several fresh-water ponds, the largest being Long Pond on the Brewster line; and another is Pleasant...