Sandwich is a town in Barnstable County, Massachusetts and is the oldest town on Cape Cod. The town motto is Post tot Naufracia Portus, "after so many shipwrecks, a haven". The population was 20,259 at the 2020 census.
History
Cape Cod was inhabited by American Indians prior to European colonization. Sandwich was occupied by the Eastern Algonquian speaking Wampanoag tribe who aided the Pilgrims of Plymouth Colony in the 1620s. The Mashpee Wampanoag Tribe still live on Cape Cod and are making efforts to revive the Wampanoag language.
A group of settlers from Saugus, Massachusetts colonized Sandwich in 1637 with the permission of the Plymouth Colony. It is named for the seaport of Sandwich, Kent in England. It was incorporated in 1639 and is the oldest town on Cape Cod together with Yarmouth, Massachusetts. The western portion of the town was separated from the original Town of Sandwich and became the town of Bourne in 1884.
Sandwich was the site of an early Quaker settlement and today hosts the oldest continuous Quaker Meeting in the U.S.
Early industry revolved around agriculture, with fishing and trading also providing for the town. Later, the town grew a small industrial component along the Scusset River and Old Harbor Creek and its tributaries. Today, most of its economy is centered on tourism.
Deming Jarves founded the Boston & Sandwich Glass Factory in 1825. Sandwich had proximity to a shallow harbor, was a possible canal site, and had local supplies of timber to fuel the furnaces. The glass works primarily made lead glass and was known for its use of color. Jarves received several patents for his improvements in glass mold designs and pressing techniques. The factory declined after the American Civil War due to competition from Ohio, Pennsylvania, and West Virginia companies that produced less expensive pressed soda-lime glass tableware.
The Cape Cod Canal was constructed through the town starting in 1909, opening for travel in 1914. The Canal Generating Plant went online in 1968.
Geography
According to the United States Census Bureau, the town has a total area of , of which is land and , or 3.32%, is water. Sandwich is bordered by Cape Cod Bay to the north, Barnstable to the east, Mashpee and Falmouth to the south, and Bourne to the west. It is approximately south-southeast of Boston.
Sandwich is the site of the Cape Cod Bay entrance to the Cape Cod Canal. The northern point of Sandwich, where Sagamore Hill and Scusset Beach State Reservation lie, is divided from the rest of the town by the canal. The town is also the location of the Shawme-Crowell State Forest and the Massachusetts State Game Farm. The town is home to six beaches along the shores of Cape Cod Bay. The rest of the town's geography is typical of the rest of the Cape, with many small ponds and hills, with most of the trees being pine or oak. Sandwich is also the site of Old Harbor Creek, a large inlet with several other small creeks feeding it, which once served to provide a safe harbor for ships.
Climate
According to the Köppen climate classification system, Sandwich, Massachusetts has a warm-summer, wet all year, 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 around 30 in (76 cm). The average snowiest month is February which corresponds with the annual peak in nor'easter activity. According to the United States Department of Agriculture, the plant hardiness zone is 6b with an average annual extreme minimum air temperature of −0.7 °F (−18.2 °C).
Ecology
According to the A. W. Kuchler U.S. Potential natural vegetation Types, Sandwich, Massachusetts would primarily contain a Northeastern Oak/Pine (110) vegetation type with a Southern Mixed Forest (26) vegetation form.
Transportation
U.S. Route 6, also known as the Mid-Cape Highway on Cape Cod, passes through the town to the north of Otis Air National Guard Base as a four-lane divided freeway. There are three exits off this route within town. Massachusetts Route 6A passes through town to the north of Route 6, and is the town's main local road. The northern terminus of Massachusetts Route 130 is near the intersection of Routes 6 and 6A within town. The road passes along the eastern side of Otis on its way towards Mashpee.