Long Point | |
|---|---|
Village | |
&sq=&lang=&file=File:Long_Point_Light_and_Outer_Battery.jpg) Long Point Light and remains of a Civil War artillery battery. Also shown is the Darby cross erected by the Beachcombers club. | |
&sq=&lang=&file=File:USA_Mass_Cape_Cod_location_map.svg)  Long Point Long Point, the tip of Cape Cod, Massachusetts | |
| Coordinates: 42°01′37″N 70°10′19″W / 42.027°N 70.172°W | |
| Country | United States |
| State | Massachusetts |
| County | Barnstable |
| Town | Provincetown |
| Village settled | 1818 |
| Lighthouse built | 1827 |
| Village disbanded | circa 1857–1863 |
| Battery built | 1863 |
| Battery abandoned | 1872 |
| Area (roughly 150 acres) | |
• Total | 0.2 sq mi (0.6 km2) |
| Highest elevation | 24 ft (7 m) |
| Lowest elevation | 0 ft (0 m) |
| Population (1850) | |
• Total | 260 |
| • Density | 1,100/sq mi (430/km2) |
| • Current pop. | 0 |
| Time zone | UTC-5 (Eastern (EST)) |
| • Summer (DST) | UTC-4 (E. Daylight (EDT)) |
| GNIS feature ID | 616615[1] |
Long Point is a peninsula located in Provincetown, Massachusetts, United States, at the extreme tip of Cape Cod, as it curls back in on itself to create Provincetown Harbor. The Long Point Light was built on this point in 1827. The lighthouse once shared this peninsula with a settlement of fishermen that came to be known as Long Point, Massachusetts. This Provincetown village grew and thrived from 1818 until the late 1850s. When the settlers decided to leave Long Point, they took most of their houses with them – about 30 structures in all – by floating them across the harbor.[2][3]
During the Civil War, the military established a defensive coastal artillery post and garrison at this location. The Long Point Battery[4] came to be known as "Fort Useless" and "Fort Ridiculous" among the local residents.[5][6]
Today, nothing remains of the village of Long Point, except for the lighthouse and an earthen mound, the last remnant from the earlier military post.[3]
- ^ "Long Point". Geographic Names Information System. United States Geological Survey, United States Department of the Interior. Retrieved May 31, 2012.
- ^ Jennings, Herman A. (1890). Provincetown or Odds and Ends From the Tip End. Peaked Hill Press. pp. 78–79.
- ^ a b Cite error: The named reference
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PT-Histwas invoked but never defined (see the help page). - ^ Cunningham, Michael (2002). Land's end: a walk through Provincetown (1st ed.). New York: Crown journeys. p. 37. ISBN 9780609609071. Retrieved May 15, 2012.
... as volunteers stood guard day after day and night after night over an uncontested stretch of salt water, the fortresses came to be known as Fort Useless and Fort Ridiculous.