Mashpee, Massachusetts | |
|---|---|
 Mashpee Town Hall | |
 Flag  Seal | |
 Location inBarnstable County and the state ofMassachusetts. | |
| Coordinates:41°38′54″N70°28′54″W / 41.64833°N 70.48167°W /41.64833; -70.48167 | |
| Country | United States |
| State | Massachusetts |
| County | Barnstable |
| Settled | 1660 |
| Incorporated | May 28, 1870 |
| Government | |
| • Type | Open town meeting |
| • Town Administrator | Rodney Collins |
| Area | |
• Total | 27.2 sq mi (70.5 km2) |
| • Land | 23.4 sq mi (60.6 km2) |
| • Water | 3.8 sq mi (9.9 km2) |
| Elevation | 56 ft (17 m) |
| Population (2020) | |
• Total | 15,060 |
| • Density | 644/sq mi (248.5/km2) |
| Time zone | UTC−5 (Eastern) |
| • Summer (DST) | UTC−4 (Eastern) |
| ZIP Code | 02649 |
| Area code | 508/774 |
| FIPS code | 25-39100 |
| GNIS feature ID | 0618256 |
| Website | www |
Mashpee (/ˈmæʃpi/Wampanoag:Mâseepee[1]) is atown onCape Cod inBarnstable County,Massachusetts. It is bordered bySandwich,Barnstable, andFalmouth, and to the south byNantucket Sound. Settled in 1660 and incorporated on May 28, 1870, Mashpee had a population of 15,060 at the 2020 census.[2] The town is the historic and contemporary home of theMashpee Wampanoag Tribe—federally recognized in 2007—which maintains its headquarters in Mashpee.[3]
Mashpee containsSouth Cape Beach State Park and part of theWaquoit Bay National Estuarine Research Reserve, as well as theMashpee River Reservation.[4][5] The town also containsMashpee Commons, a redevelopment project recognized as an early example ofNew Urbanism, located at the Mashpee Rotary where Routes28 and151 meet.[6][7]
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Cape Cod was occupied for more than ten thousand years byindigenous peoples. The historicAlgonquian-speakingWampanoag were the native people encountered by the Englishcolonists here and in the area of theMassachusetts Bay Colony in the seventeenth century. The Wampanoag also controlled considerable coastal area. These two cultures would interact, shaping each other for decades.
After English colonists arrived, they began to settle the area of present-day Mashpee with the assistance of themissionary Richard Bourne, who established a church there in 1658.[8] The town was officially settled in 1660.[9] In 1660 the colonists allowed those Christian Wampanoag who had been converted about 50 square miles (130 km2) in the English settlement. Beginning in 1665, the Wampanoag governed themselves with a court of law and trials according to English custom (they had long governed themselves according to their own customs).
Following their defeat inKing Philip's War (1675–1676), the Wampanoag of the mainland were resettled with theSakonnet in present-dayRhode Island. Others of the people were brought, together with theNauset, into thepraying towns, such as Mashpee, inBarnstable County. There were also Wampanoag on Martha's Vineyard and other areas.
The colonists designated Mashpee on Cape Cod as the largestIndian reservation in Massachusetts. The town's name is an Anglicization of a native name,mass-nippe:mass is "great", or "greater" (seeMassachusetts), andnippe is "water". The name has been translated as "the greater cove" or "great pond," or "land near great cove", where the water being referenced isWakeby Pond, which is greater at one end.
In the year 1763, the British Crown designated Mashpee as aplantation, against the will of the Wampanoag. Designation as a plantation meant that the area governed by the Mashpee Wampanoag was integrated into the colonial district of Mashpee. The colony gave the natives the "right" to elect their own officials to maintain order in their area, but otherwise subjected them to colonial government. The population of the plantation declined steadily due to the conditions placed upon the Wampanoag. They also suffered from encroachment on their lands by the English.
Following theAmerican Revolutionary War, the town in 1788 revoked Mashpee self-government, which European-American officials considered a failure. They appointed a committee, consisting of five European-American members, to supervise the Mashpee.[citation needed]
In 1833-34,William Apess, aPequotMethodist preacher, helped the Mashpee Wampanoag lead a peaceful protest, known as theMashpee Woodland Revolt, and the governor threatened a military response. The state returned a certain level of self-government to the Wampanoag, although they were not completely autonomous. With the idea that emulating European-American farming would encourage assimilation, in 1842 the state broke up some of the Wampanoag communal land. It distributed 2,000 acres (8.1 km2) of their 13,000-acre (53 km2) property in allotments of 60-acre (240,000 m2) parcels to heads of households, so that each family could have individual ownership for subsistence farming.
The legislature passed laws against the encroachments on Wampanoag land by European Americans, but did not enforce them. The competing settlers also stole wood from the reservation. It was a large region, once rich in wood, fish and game, and desired by white settlers, who envied the growing community of Mashpee. This resulted inongoing land loss. The Mashpee Indians suffered more conflicts with their white neighbors than did other more isolated or less desirable Indian settlements in the state.[10]
On May 28, 1870, the Commonwealth of Massachusetts approved the incorporation of Mashpee as atown.[9][11] Ultimately the Wampanoag lost control of their land and self-government. Many of their descendants remain in the area and identify as Mashpee by their communal culture.
In the early 1970s, the Mashpee reorganized and filed a land claim against the state for the loss of lands. While they ultimately did not win their case, the Mashpee continued to develop as an organized community and gained federal recognition as a tribe in 2007.
Today the town of Mashpee is known both for tourist recreation and for its distinctive minority Wampanoag culture. The population is predominately European American in ancestry. As the town attracts numerous summer visitors, there are many seasonal businesses and service jobs to support this tourism.
TheMashpee Wampanoag Tribe maintains its headquarters in Mashpee and was federally recognized in 2007.[3] In 2015 the Department of Interior evaluated taking into trust 170 acres (0.69 km2) in Mashpee as a reservation for the Wampanoag, who already controlled the land, however in 2018 the request was ultimately rejected.[12] This decision also applied to the 150 acres (0.61 km2) in Taunton, Massachusetts, which the Wampanoag tribe had acquired.[13][12]
That action was challenged in October 2016 by a United States District Court decision, reached after a suit was filed earlier that year by opponents to Mashpee Wampanoag's plans to build a gaming casino on their Taunton land.[14][13]
The Wampanoag hold an annualpow-wow at which they display both modern and traditional activities and crafts.[15]
According to theUnited States Census Bureau, Mashpee has a total area of 27.2 square miles (70.5 km2), of which 23.4 square miles (60.6 km2) is land and 3.8 square miles (9.9 km2), or 14.10%, is water.[16]
Mashpee is on the "upper," or western, portion ofCape Cod. It is bounded bySandwich to the north and northwest,Barnstable to the east,Nantucket Sound to the south, andFalmouth to the west. It is approximately 65 miles (105 km) south-southeast ofBoston and 70 miles (110 km) east-southeast ofProvidence, Rhode Island.
Like all towns on the Cape, Mashpee's topography is that of sandy soil, small ponds and inlets, surrounded by the pines and oaks indigenous to the area. The town's shoreline is framed byWaquoit Bay to the west andPopponesset Bay to the east, with several rivers, brooks and small ponds in the area. The town containsSouth Cape Beach State Park along Dead Neck and Waquoit Bay, and the Lowell Holly Reservation, comprising the land between Wakeby and Mashpee Ponds. Part of theWaquoit Bay National Estuarine Research Reserve (administered by theNational Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration) is located in Mashpee.[5]
Mashpee also borders a small area ofOtis Air National Guard Base,Joint Base Cape Cod, andCamp Edwards in the northwest portion of the town.
According to theKöppen climate classification system, Mashpee, Massachusetts has a warm-summer, wet year round,humid continental climate (Dfb). Dfb climates are characterized by at least one month having an average mean temperature ≤ 32.0 °F (≤ 0.0 °C), at least four months with an average mean temperature ≥ 50.0 °F (≥ 10.0 °C), all months with an average mean temperature ≤ 71.6 °F (≤ 22.0 °C), and no significant precipitation difference between seasons. The average seasonal (Nov–Apr) snowfall total is approximately 30 inches (76 cm). The average snowiest month is February, which corresponds with the annual peak innor'easter activity. According to theUnited States Department of Agriculture, theplant hardiness zone is 7a, with an average annual extreme minimum air temperature of 0.9 °F (−17.3 °C).[17]
| Climate data for Mashpee, Barnstable County, Massachusetts (1981–2010 averages) | |||||||||||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Month | Jan | Feb | Mar | Apr | May | Jun | Jul | Aug | Sep | Oct | Nov | Dec | Year |
| Mean daily maximum °F (°C) | 37.8 (3.2) | 39.6 (4.2) | 45.1 (7.3) | 54.0 (12.2) | 63.4 (17.4) | 72.9 (22.7) | 78.7 (25.9) | 78.0 (25.6) | 71.8 (22.1) | 61.9 (16.6) | 53.1 (11.7) | 43.4 (6.3) | 58.4 (14.7) |
| Daily mean °F (°C) | 30.1 (−1.1) | 31.8 (−0.1) | 37.5 (3.1) | 46.2 (7.9) | 55.5 (13.1) | 65.2 (18.4) | 71.3 (21.8) | 70.7 (21.5) | 64.0 (17.8) | 53.9 (12.2) | 45.4 (7.4) | 35.8 (2.1) | 50.7 (10.4) |
| Mean daily minimum °F (°C) | 22.4 (−5.3) | 24.1 (−4.4) | 29.9 (−1.2) | 38.4 (3.6) | 47.6 (8.7) | 57.6 (14.2) | 63.9 (17.7) | 63.3 (17.4) | 56.2 (13.4) | 45.9 (7.7) | 37.7 (3.2) | 28.2 (−2.1) | 43.0 (6.1) |
| Averageprecipitation inches (mm) | 4.03 (102) | 3.38 (86) | 5.17 (131) | 4.46 (113) | 3.44 (87) | 3.95 (100) | 3.41 (87) | 3.82 (97) | 3.88 (99) | 4.23 (107) | 4.40 (112) | 4.58 (116) | 48.75 (1,238) |
| Averagerelative humidity (%) | 68.5 | 68.5 | 66.9 | 66.6 | 70.3 | 73.5 | 74.8 | 75.0 | 75.0 | 72.3 | 69.5 | 69.8 | 70.9 |
| Averagedew point °F (°C) | 21.0 (−6.1) | 22.6 (−5.2) | 27.5 (−2.5) | 35.7 (2.1) | 46.0 (7.8) | 56.5 (13.6) | 62.9 (17.2) | 62.4 (16.9) | 55.9 (13.3) | 45.2 (7.3) | 36.0 (2.2) | 26.9 (−2.8) | 41.6 (5.3) |
| Source: PRISM Climate Group[18] | |||||||||||||
According to theA. W. Kuchler U.S.Potential natural vegetation Types, Mashpee, Massachusetts would primarily contain a NortheasternOak/Pine (110) vegetation type with a SouthernMixed Forest (26) vegetation form.[19]
Parts of Mashpee include:
Major roads includeMassachusetts Route 28,Massachusetts Route 130 andMassachusetts Route 151; none of these is a freeway. Route 28, along withU.S. Route 6 to the north, comprise the main east-west routes along the Cape. Route 130's southern terminus lies just outside the town limits inSantuit, a village in the town of Barnstable. Route 151's eastern terminus is within the town of Mashpee; both these roads end at Route 28, 2.5 miles (4.0 km) apart.
The Town of Mashpee is the only one on Cape Cod that never had a railroad constructed to it. According to2.5. Rail Transportation,Joint Base Cape Cod has a railroad track extending into the town.
The nearest airports (Cape Cod Airfield, an airstrip for small planes, andBarnstable Municipal Airport, the largest airport on the Cape), can be found in the neighboring Town of Barnstable. The nearest national and international air service can be reached atLogan International Airport in Boston, or atT. F. Green Airport inWarwick, Rhode Island.
TheCape Cod Regional Transit Authority serves Mashpee. The Sealine bus route stops at South Cape Village andMashpee Commons, in addition to other flag stops. It is also serviced by the ADA on-call services of CCRTA (DART).[20]
| Year | Pop. | ±% |
|---|---|---|
| 1870 | 348 | — |
| 1880 | 346 | −0.6% |
| 1890 | 298 | −13.9% |
| 1900 | 303 | +1.7% |
| 1910 | 270 | −10.9% |
| 1920 | 242 | −10.4% |
| 1930 | 361 | +49.2% |
| 1940 | 434 | +20.2% |
| 1950 | 438 | +0.9% |
| 1960 | 867 | +97.9% |
| 1970 | 1,288 | +48.6% |
| 1980 | 3,700 | +187.3% |
| 1990 | 7,884 | +113.1% |
| 2000 | 12,946 | +64.2% |
| 2010 | 14,006 | +8.2% |
| 2020 | 15,060 | +7.5% |
| 2023* | 15,396 | +2.2% |
| * = population estimate. Source:United States Census records andPopulation Estimates Program data.[21][22][23][24][25][26][27][28][29] | ||
As of the 2020census, the population was 15,060 people comprising 6,853 total households. The racial makeup of the town was 85.14%White, 6.82% from two or more races, 2.74%Native American, 2.38%African American, 1.76% fromother races, 1.15%Asian, and 0.00%Pacific Islander.Hispanic orLatino of any race were 2.68% of the population.[2]
There were 6,853 households, including 4,289 family households of which 14.6% were households with children under 18 years of age. 48.8% weremarried couples living together, 29.6% had a female householder with no spouse present, and 15.1% had a male householder with no spouse present. The average household size was 2.2, and the average family size was 2.71.[2]
The foreign-born population accounts for 4.5%. Veterans make up 7.1% of residents. In terms of educational attainment, 98.2% of residents hold ahigh school diploma or higher. 44.2% attained abachelor's degree or higher.[2]
The town's per capital income was $61,411. The median household income was $95,852 and for families was $128,781. About 5.0% of the population were below thepoverty line, including 8.7% of those under 18 years and 3.1% of those 65 years and over.[2]
Mashpee is represented in theMassachusetts House of Representatives as part of the Third Barnstable district. The town is represented in theMassachusetts Senate as a part of the Cape and Islands district, which includes all of Cape Cod, Martha's Vineyard and Nantucket, with the exception of Bourne, Falmouth, and Sandwich.[30] The town is patrolled by the Seventh (Bourne) Barracks of Troop D of theMassachusetts State Police.[31]
On the national level, Mashpee is a part ofMassachusetts's 9th congressional district, and is currently represented byBill Keating. The state's senior (Class II) member of theUnited States Senate, elected in 2012, isElizabeth Warren. The junior (Class II) senator, elected in 2013, isEd Markey.
Mashpee is governed by theopen town meeting form of government, led by an executive secretary and aboard of selectmen. The town operates its own police and fire departments, both of which are headquartered together near Pine Tree Corner. The town's post office and public library are also located nearby, and the library is a member of theCape Libraries Automated Materials Sharing library network.
| Party | Number of Voters | Percentage | |
|---|---|---|---|
| Democratic | 2,715 | 27.20% | |
| Republican | 1,636 | 16.39% | |
| Unaffiliated | 5,600 | 56.11% | |
| Libertarian | 30 | 0.30% | |
| Total | 9,981 | 100% | |
Mashpee has two elementary schools, one middle school, and one high school located in the town. The middle school is located in the same building as the high school, operates under the same administration and has its own wing strictly for the 7th and 8th grade students. The building also houses theTechnology "Center of Excellence". It has been recognized at several statewide conferences for its industry education and innovative course offerings.
Mashpee operates its own school system for the approximately 1,700 students in town. The Kenneth C. Coombs School (Also known as the K. C. Coombs School) is for pre-school to grade 2, the Quashnet School is for grades 3 to 6, andMashpee Middle-High School is for grades 7–12. Before Mashpee High opened its doors in 1996, students residing in Mashpee attended nearbyFalmouth High School.
Mashpee's athletics teams are named the Falcons, and their colors are royal blue, white, and black. They compete in theSouth Shore League, which participates in the Division 3 & 4 level of competition. Mashpee High School's main rivals areMonomoy Regional High School,Abington High School,Sandwich High School, andCohasset High School.
From 1999 to 2003 Mashpee played Sandwich High School in an annual Thanksgiving football game rivalry. From 2003–2009, Mashpee playedCape Cod Regional Technical High School. In 2009, Mashpee dropped the Thanksgiving rivalry with Cape Cod Tech and has since renewed the Thanksgiving rivalry with Sandwich, which is effective in the year 2010.
Mashpee's football team is regarded as one of the premier small-school programs in the state. the Falcons have won 4 state championships (2011, 2015, 2016, 2017) under the leadership of head coach Matt Triveri.
Additionally, high school students may attendCape Cod Regional Technical High School in Harwich free of charge. Students from Mashpee may also attend the two Catholic high schools that serve the area,Bishop Stang High School inDartmouth, or the newly openedPope John Paul II High School inHyannis.
Private schools located in nearby communities includeFalmouth Academy inFalmouth,Cape Cod Academy inBarnstable, andTabor Academy, a private-prep boarding school in nearbyMarion.
AWampanoag language Immersion school calledWôpanâôt8ây Pâhshaneekamuq is expected to open in Mashpee in 2016, serving preschool students in its first year and kindergarten students starting in 2017.[33]
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