The six girls in this group chose to earn their Bronze Award by teaching their peers about their own town of Sandwich, MA. The girls performed three tasks to accomplish this: they wrote a paper about some of the main landmarks and attractions in Town; they interviewed two Sandwich natives about their lifelong experiences here in Sandwich and about how the Town has changed; and they interviewed the Sandwich Board of Selectmen about the governance of the Town and its import to Cape Cod and Massachusetts. They are now sending their peers to this website to educate fellow students about the Town of Sandwich. The written and video results of their research are presented below.

Jump to Sandwich Selectmen Interview

The Landmarks of Sandwich, Massachusetts

The Hoxie House

The Hoxie House, one of Sandwich’s oldest surviving houses, was built by Reverend John Smith in 1675. Smith lived in the ‘saltbox’-style house with his wife and his thirteen children. Then in 1857, a whaling captain named Abraham Hoxie purchased the house from John Smith. Many people knew of Abraham Hoxie owning the house, so it earned its name “The Hoxie House.” Because of the Hoxie House’s age, in 1957 (coincidentally, 100 years after Hoxie bought the house) the town of Sandwich worked on restoring the Hoxie House. George Sherwood was the architect refurbishing the house, along with Henry Cook of the building committee and builder Louis Masaschi. After the renovation was done in 1959, the house became a museum, and somewhat of a landmark for tourists to visit. The Hoxie House remains one of the oldest surviving houses in Massachusetts, and attracts many visitors each year.

The Dexter Grist Mill

The Dexter Grist Mill, now the Dexter Historical Monument, was built in the 1640’s by Thomas Dexter. Once built, it was used for grinding corn meal to be used in cooking. To improve the Mill, the wooden water wheel was replaced by a turbine in 1856. This helped the Mill produce more power than the water wheel in a shorter amount of time. Dexter Grist Mill is still an operating grist mill today where you can buy corn meal still ground at the Mill. It was listed on the National Register of Historic Places in 1975 and continues to be a working mill, even today. The Dexter Grist Mill area on Shawme Pond is 43,560 feet, and is located at 2 Water Street in downtown Sandwich, Massachusetts.

The Nye Family Homestead

The Benjamin Nye Homestead was built in 1678 by Benjamin Nye. This property contains a Grange Hall, a saltbox style home, and a mill. The 2.5 story timber frame house has now become a walk-in museum open from June-October. In 1924 the Nye Homestead was sold to the state of Massachusetts and was threatened by destruction. It was reacquired by the Nye Family and remodeled shortly afterward. The house was listed on the National Register of Historic Places in 1992. The Nye Homestead is located at 85 Old County Road in East Sandwich, MA.

Sandwich Glassworks & Museum

In 1825, the Boston & Sandwich Glass Company was founded by Deming Jarves. Jarves managed to figure out how to manufacture red lead, or lithage, which originally was imported from England. It was one of the first glass companies to manufacture pressed glass. In 1888, there was a glass worker strike, which halted the company. After the strike, there were several attempts to recreate the Sandwich Glass Company, which failed.

The Sandwich Historical Society held an exhibition in 1925 commemorating a century of Sandwich Glass. The group’s exhibitions eventually grew to become the Sandwich Glass Museum. You can visit the Sandwich Glass Museum to learn more about this historical company, and the beautiful glass it made. The Museum is located at 129 Main Street in Sandwich.

Heritage Museum and Gardens

Heritage Museum was founded in 1969 by Mr. and Mrs. Josiah Lilly, III. The gardens are made up of 100 acres of land, including a spectacular array of flowers and shrubs. Attractions in Heritage include a classic car museum and an old-time carousel. The hand-carved carousel was originally built by Charles Looff in 1908 and is still in operation today. That makes the carousel over 100 years old! A beautiful hydrangea garden feature was created in 2010 in collaboration with the Cape Cod Hydrangea Society, and a STEM-based preschool was added in 2014. Heritage Museum and Gardens welcomes 100,000 visitors annually, and is located at 67 Grove Street in Sandwich.

The Sandwich Boardwalk:

The Boardwalk in Sandwich is a great tourist attraction for the town. The 1350+ foot-long boardwalk is made of wooden planks engraved with the names of Sandwich residents. Construction of the structure began in 1875. The initial idea was to give beachgoers a way to cut through Mill Creek marsh and reach Cape Cod Bay. But now the boardwalk has been given another purpose: every summer during high tide, kids and adults line up to jump off the boardwalk! The Sandwich Boardwalk was recently destroyed during a large snow-storm in 2022. The demolition and re-construction will hopefully start in Fall 2022.

In 2020, the Army Corps of Engineers presented a report on beach erosion. It concluded that much of the erosion on Town Neck Beach and Sandwich beaches generally is due to jetties along the Cape Cod Canal. Sandwich beaches are losing more than a foot of shoreline per year.

Sandwich State Fish Hatchery

The Sandwich fish hatchery is operated by MassWildlife. About 600,000 trout are stocked into

Massachusetts waterways during spring and fall each year. The Sandwich fish hatchery contributes fish to this effort as one of five hatcheries in Massachusetts. It is the only hatchery in eastern Massachusetts. The Sandwich Fish hatchery is located at 164 Route 6A in Sandwich, and is open daily. It is fun to visit the hatchery at different stages of the trout’s growth cycle before they are released into the wild. You also can buy some fish food and feed the trout while you are there.

Historic Downtown Sandwich

The churches and town buildings of Sandwich make up much of downtown Sandwich. As you may know, Sandwich is popular with summer tourists. Town buildings and churches serve as a great ‘history lesson’ as tourists venture through Sandwich.

Sandwich Town Hall

The Sandwich Town Hall is located at 130 Main Street and is the oldest town hall on Cape Cod. The building dates back to 1834, and was built during a Greek architectural revival. The entire building was restored to its former glory in 2009.

First Church United Church of Christ

The First Church was built in 1638, making it one of the oldest buildings on Cape Cod. First Church was the background of Elvis Presley’s 1967 gospel album, “How Great Thou Art.”

St. John’s Episcopal Church

The Reverend Thomas Flowers was the first rector for services at St. John’s Episcopal, beginning in 1854. Before the church was actually built, people gathered with Rev. Flowers at its eventual site for Sunday services every month. Those meetings went on for 45 years before in 1899, construction actually began on the church building.

Sandwich Natives Interview

The Sandwich History Group met with Joan Russell-Osgood and Kathy Ellis-Knowles, women who grew up in Sandwich and still live in the Town. Both are also members of the Friends of the Sandwich Town Archives (FOSTA), and were kind enough to share many memories of their childhoods here in Sandwich with the girls. Special thanks to FOSTA President, Kaethe Maguire, for facilitating the meeting. Some of the girls’ interview questions are typewritten below, with Joan and Kathy’s responses available in video clips.

Q1. What schools were here when you were young? Where did you go to school?

Q2. Were there uniforms or a dress code at your school here in Sandwich? How did kids our age dress differently than they do today?

Q3. What did you do for fun here in town? What were your favorite places to go or hang out when you were our age? (Four responses – A, B, C and D – were given, below)

Q4. Were you treated differently as young girls than boys your age? Were you not allowed to do something that a lot of girls do now?

Q5. Do you see things now that are considered normal or typical that would have been considered weird when you were young? What types of things (fashion, hair, etc.)?

Q6. Was there a Girl Scout program in Sandwich when you were young? Were you Girl Scouts, or did you know anyone who was?

Q7. Did a lot of people grow their own food in gardens?

Q8. Was there any such thing as ‘fast food’ in Town? What types of restaurants were here in Sandwich?

Q9. What were some of the big issues being discussed you when you were our age?

Q10. Was the Boardwalk at Town Neck Beach? Was it smaller or different in any way? Was it a big deal to jump off of it like it is now, or at least until recently?

Q11. Why have you chosen to stay here in Sandwich? Did you ever live anywhere else, and if so, what made you come back here?

Sandwich Selectmen Interview

The Board of Selectmen for the Town generously gave the girls in the History Group a private audience to ask questions about Sandwich and its governance. A link to the entire interview – with the girls approaching the bench and asking their questions from the public microphone – follows below. The text of the questions that the girls came up with on their own and actually asked over the course of the interview follows that link. Many thanks especially to Selectmen Michael Miller (Chair), Charles Holden, and David Sampson for making themselves available for the interview, which preceded a public meeting of the Board.

Questions formulated and asked by the girls in the group over the course of the interview are listed below, along with the approximate time on the video where each is addressed:

Question #1 – How did you become a Selectman?

Question #2 (1:50) – How many Selectmen are there, and how long do you get to be one?

Question #3 (3:55) – Do you know why the Town has Selectmen rather than a mayor, and is this typical for Cape or Massachusetts towns? Is there any way a town could change from a Selectmen system to a mayor?

Question #4 (6:25) – Do you know when the Selectmen were first founded in Sandwich? Do you know what type of government was in place in Sandwich before the Selectmen system was chosen?

Question #5 (7:45) – Do you know if the Sandwich Town lines were bigger or smaller when the Town was originally founded?

Question #6 (10:55) – We know the glassworks was influential in the development of our town, but what were some other businesses important in shaping Sandwich?

Question #7 (14:15) – Why and how is the glassworks and glass museum still important to Sandwich?

Question #8 (17:00) – What are some of the most popular and fastest growing businesses in Sandwich now?

Question #9 (19:20) – Why do you think Sandwich and its businesses are important to Cape Cod and Massachusetts as a whole?

Question #10 (22:50) – How does your role as Selectmen affect the people of Sandwich?

Question #11 (34:15) – From your perspective as Selectmen, what are the most significant Sandwich landmarks, and what is your favorite landmark or place here in Sandwich?

Question #12 (38:05) – What do you think is the best thing about Sandwich, and what is the most challenging?