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    • Wampanoag Nation: People of the First Light
    • Joan Pereira: Former Artist in Residence
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    • Vintage Maps
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    • “Grace Darling” print available for sale!
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Mark Adams: Past and Future Landscapes of Truro and the Outer Cape

On Wednesday, March 9, 2022, Mark Adams will join us to present a fascinating look at the dynamic coastal changes that have been shaping the outer Cape for thousands of years and will continue to do so into the future.
Truro is fine vantage point to consider the dynamic coastal changes that have been shaping the outer Cape for thousands of years. Coastal processes will continue in the future but how will they change with climate, storms and sea level rise? Artists and scientists both offer ways to visualize the past and contemplate the future.
Native people came to the Cape when it was a new landscape and adapted their lifeways to match the marine forest and wetland habitats that survive today in diminished forms. The First People saw sea level change and the post glacial-boreal forests gradually become more temperate during the ~10,000 years before Europeans arrived and ocean waves reworked the coast continually. Modern development and organized agriculture quickly produced the artificial landscape of shifting sands described by Henry David Thoreau in the 1850s. Some of that development compromised nature’s environmental gifts – draining wetlands and armoring coastlines, clearing forests and introducing contaminants. Now the Cape faces the task of restoring natural processes to tidal marshes and reconfiguring our building practices to allow the coasts to move as they have throughout the modern geological period. Now scientists know the shape of groundwater lenses, the requirements of fish and shellfish communities and the way sand is moved by waves, tides and currents. Truro’ future choices might include coastal retreat and adaptation, groundwater protection, sustainable agriculture and tidal restoration, allowing nature to build resiliency in the face of change. Cape Cod could offer a laboratory for communities that live in an appreciative response to a renewed understanding of nature that honors the way of life of its First People.
Mark Adams bio
Cartographer and coastal geologist with the Cape Cod National Seashore and environmental artist in New England and elsewhere since 1991. Exhibiting at Schoolhouse Gallery, Provincetown. Retrospective at Provincetown Art Association Museum in 2017. Volunteering with immigrant and asylum issues in the Mediterranean and at the Mexican border since 2019. Special interest in visualizing human well-being in the context of ecological systems and natural processes. Truro resident since 1999.

In Memory of Susan Howe

With great sadness, the Truro Historical Society Board of Directors announces the death of our
wonderful president, Susan Howe.

Susan brought immense creativity, energy, time and passion to our organization. She loved Truro,
and was totally committed to preserving our history and culture and the well-being of her beloved
town. She was committed to the community and besides the Truro Historical Society, she was very
involved in many organizations, including the Truro Commission on the Disabled, Community
Preservation Committee and the Walsh Committee.

Susan was a bright light in our organization and in our town. She was loved by so many of us, and
we will miss her forever.

CLICK HERE TO DONATE IN MEMORY OF SUSAN HOWE

 

Vintage Maps for Sale

The Museum has reproductions of vintage maps of Cape Cod and the Outer Cape for sale. Visit our “Vintage Maps” page to see our collection. Contact [email protected] for more information.

Notecards Now on Sale


Share your love of Truro with every note you write! Notecards for sale made from vintage postcards from the Truro Historical Society collection – Sets of 4 for $10. Share your love of Truro with every note you write! Click HERE to order yours today! Pictured here: Ballston Beach, Truro, Mass

Visit the Highland House Museum

Highland House Museum
6 Highland Light Road North Truro, MA 02652
Museum Hours
June 1 through September 30
Sundays and Mondays: Closed
Tuesdays: 10 AM to 2 PM
Wednesday-Saturday, 10 AM to 4:30 PM
508.487.3397
Image by Chuck Steinman

“Grace Darling” print available for sale!

 


Reproduction for sale for $40 each
To order yours, contact [email protected].

Grace Darling was one of the Victorian era’s most celebrated heroines.

The painting of Darling is credited to Thomas Brooks, 1818-1891, no date given. It was sufficiently popular. that it was copied in oils by a French artist, Emile Chasse in 1884, as well as giving rise to the 1873 engraving. The engraving reproduced here was printed in Boston in 1873 from a lithograph.

Visit the Cobb Archive


The Cobb Archive houses maps, charts, books, photographs, family memorabilia, and other historical documents. This 1912 building was designed in the Arts and Craft style and  originally served as the town’s first public library. Located in Truro Center, the Cobb Archive is accessible to the public for research.
Open by appointment, Tuesdays and Thursdays, 9:30 AM-12 PM
13 Truro Center Road
508-349-0200
To schedule an appointment, send an email to [email protected].

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Cobb Archive

13 Truro Center Road Truro, MA 508.349.0200
9:30 – 12:00 Tuesday and Thursday

Highland House Museum

6 Highland Light Road North Truro, MA 02652 508.487.3397
Monday through Saturday: 10:00 AM to 4:30 PM

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