New Page 5

The area now within the limits of Wellfleet was originally part of the grant by the Court of New Plymouth to "those that goe to dwell at Nossett" (Eastham) made in 1644 and later extended in 1654 and 1674 to include virtually all of the Outer Cape. Sometime before 1644, the colonists of Plymouth and Duxbury apparently discovered rich fishing grounds in what is now Wellfleet Harbor, and began to refer to the entire area surround these waters as Billingsgate, after the famous London fish market. The first permanent settlement in this area was made in the 1650’s and the number of dispersed dwellings slowly increased.

By the second decade of the eighteenth century, the inhabitants of the "hamlet of Billingsgate" began to think of establishing themselves as a separate town. A petition for incorporation was denied in 1723, but in that same year, the area between Hatches Creek and the Truro line was established as the North Precinct of Eastham. In 1763 the General Court established the North Precinct as a separate district to be known as Wellfleet. Although there is no Wellfleet in England, the leaders of the new community had hopes that the sales of local shellfish might profit by association or confusion with the then famous Wellfleet oysters produced in the eastern waters of England.

Wellfleet

Ghost Ship around the Shore -Apparition, Sounds

Copyright © 2000-2007 Cape And Island Paranormal Research Society. All rights reserved. All content, graphics, logos, and photos are property of CAIPRS unless otherwise noted. Please direct any questions regarding the website to the webmaster