Walking Through Historic Yarmouth Port: The Edward Gorey House & More

Yarmouth Port is one of those places that's easy to underestimate. Tucked along Route 6A, it's home to one of the Cape's most charming historic districts, yet many visitors don't realize just how much there is to discover within a mile or two.

Right outside the front door of our Cape Cod bed and breakfast, you'll find a sea captain's home turned museum, a 1696 tavern, one of the Cape's best independent bookstores, and a soda fountain that's still serving treats behind its original marble counter. You don't need a packed itinerary or even your car for most of it, just a comfortable pair of shoes and a little curiosity.

If you only have time for one stop, make it the Edward Gorey House.

The house itself had quite the story before Gorey even entered the picture. Captain Edmund Hawes built it in 1820, then was lost at sea just eleven years later during a storm. Honestly, it’s exactly the sort of wonderfully gloomy backstory Edward Gorey probably would’ve appreciated.

Illustrator, author, playwright, costume designer, and all-around creative genius, Edward Gorey bought the former sea captain's home in 1979 and lived here until his death in 2000.

Never heard of Edward Gorey? There’s a good chance you’ve seen his work anyway. He illustrated Old Possum’s Book of Practical Cats (the inspiration behind the musical Cats), created the wonderfully eerie opening animation for PBS’s Mystery!, and wrote The Gashlycrumb Tinies, an alphabet book where the children meet decidedly unfortunate fates. He even won a Tony Award for his costume design on Broadway’s Dracula.

The museum changes exhibits every season, so there’s always something new to discover. Inside you’ll find original illustrations, books, theater memorabilia, his famous fur coats, his collection of cast-iron doorstops, and countless nods to his devotion to cats. Every corner tells you something about how his mind worked.

Before you head out, make sure to visit the gift shop. It’s filled with books, prints, cards, and wonderfully unusual gifts that are every bit as charming as the museum itself.

When you’re ready, head back toward Old King’s Highway, better known around here as Captain’s Mile.

More than fifty former sea captains once called this stretch of Yarmouth Port home. As you stroll along, keep an eye out for the small black schooner plaques mounted near many of the front doors. Each one tells you who lived there and serves as a reminder that this quiet village was once one of New England’s busiest maritime communities.

The wealth these captains brought home is still reflected in the beautiful Federal, Georgian, and Greek Revival homes that line the street today.

Half the fun is simply wandering, admiring the architecture, and imagining what life looked like when clipper ships were returning home from ports around the world. But there are a few iconic ones to look for:

At 100 Old King’s Highway lived Captain Asa Eldridge, arguably Yarmouth Port’s most famous mariner.

In 1854, he captained the legendary clipper Red Jacket from New York to Liverpool in just 13 days, 1 hour, and 25 minutes, a transatlantic sailing record that still hasn’t been broken more than 170 years later.

Sadly, his own story ended in mystery when the steamship Pacific disappeared on a return voyage from Liverpool just two years later.

Just a little farther along, you’ll come to the home of Captain Frederick Howes.

If you’ve never heard of the “Howes Rig,” you’re probably in good company. But sailors certainly knew it. This double-topsail design made square-rigged ships easier and safer to sail with smaller crews, and the innovation was eventually adopted around the world.

His fellow captains affectionately called him the “commodore of the captains”.

No, not the Three Sisters Lighthouses in Eastham. These are the Three Sisters Houses, three neighboring homes along Route 6A that got their name because three sisters once lived next door to one another. Like so much of Yarmouth Port, they're a reminder that this wasn't just a village of sea captains; it was also a close-knit community where generations of families put down roots.

Walking past these homes is one thing. Stepping inside a few of them makes the experience even better.

The Captain Bangs Hallet House Museum, home to the Historical Society of Old Yarmouth, is a wonderful place to start. Captain Hallet retired from the China-India trade in 1863 and settled into this handsome 1840 home with his family. Today, the rooms are filled with period furnishings, maritime artifacts, and local history that help bring Yarmouth’s seafaring past to life.

Before you leave, wander around back to see the magnificent European Weeping Beech tree. Its enormous canopy spills toward the ground, creating one of the prettiest little hidden spots in town.

Just beyond the museum, the Historical Society maintains more than fifty acres of walking trails.

Here’s a fun fact most visitors don’t know: those trails were once the Wayside Golf Links, Henry C. Thacher’s private 9-hole course and the very first golf course on Cape Cod.

A little farther down the road, you’ll find the Winslow Crocker House, which has one of the most remarkable stories in the village.

Originally built around 1780 in West Barnstable, the entire house was purchased in the 1930s by antiques collector Mary Thacher, carefully taken apart piece by piece, numbered, moved six miles down the Old King’s Highway, and reassembled beside her family’s ancestral home.

Just a few steps away sits the Benjamin Gorham Cobbler Shop. Once a working cobbler’s shop, it’s now home to the Historical Society’s archives and offers a glimpse into the everyday trades that helped early Cape Cod communities thrive.

A few more landmarks worth stopping for:

·    Thacher Hall began life in 1870 as the Church of the New Jerusalem. When the congregation eventually dissolved, a group of neighbors famously bought the building for just one dollar and spent nearly twenty years restoring its soaring Gothic architecture, colorful frescoes, and rare 1872 tracker pipe organ.

·    The First Congregational Church traces its roots all the way back to 1639. The current building is actually the fourth church to stand on the site, and its white steeple has welcomed generations of sailors home to Cape Cod Bay.

·    The Colonel John Thacher House, built around 1680, belonged to a family with twenty-one children. Twenty-one. Suddenly, sharing a bathroom doesn’t seem quite so bad.

·    Kelley Chapel, built in 1873 by Quaker David Kelley, still contains its original eighteenth-century pews and is still a popular venue for wedding ceremonies and other special events.

·    Lyceum Hall once hosted lectures, concerts, and community gatherings at the heart of village life. Today it’s a private residence, but it’s still one of the prettiest historic buildings you’ll pass.

By now you've earned a break.

Fortunately, Yarmouth Port has plenty of places to refuel that double as historic landmarks.

Parnassus Books is an independent bookstore owned by the Muse family for three generations (a brilliant pun, considering Mount Parnassus was the mythical home of the muses in Greek lore).

Inside you'll find creaky wood floors, floor-to-ceiling shelves, and staff recommendations tucked between the books. Before you leave, check out the honor-system book cart outside. It's open around the clock, so even if the shop is closed, you can still pick up your next beach read.

The Old Yarmouth Inn has been welcoming travelers since 1696, making it the oldest inn and restaurant on Cape Cod. It originally served as a stagecoach stop between Boston and Provincetown, and over the centuries, it's welcomed everyone from weary travelers to local legends.

Speaking of legends...you may hear stories about Goodie Hallet, Yarmouth's infamous "witch" and the rumored sweetheart of pirate Samuel "Black Sam" Bellamy. Local lore says she worked here for a time, though exactly how much of the story is fact and how much has grown over the last three centuries is anyone's guess.

Today, it's simply one of our favorite places for lunch or dinner. The historic dining rooms are full of character, the menu celebrates New England classics, and if the weather's nice, the patio is hard to beat.

Hallet's Store has been part of Yarmouth Port since 1889, when T.T. Hallet opened it as a pharmacy complete with a marble soda fountain that’s still there today.

Order an old-fashioned ice cream soda if you've never had one before, or a black cherry and sarsaparilla soda, which they bottle themselves.

The free museum upstairs is small, but packed with vintage photographs, artifacts, and pieces of Yarmouth history that many visitors never discover.

While you're in the area, take a quick look across the street at the corner of Summer Street. One of Yarmouth Port's last remaining hand-operated village pumps has stood there since the late 1800s.

End your day the same way many of us do, with a trip to Gray's Beach.

Today, Gray's Beach and the Bass Hole Boardwalk are among the best places on Cape Cod to catch a sunset. Long before people gathered here with cameras and beach chairs, though, this was Yarmouth Port's original harbor. Fishing boats and trading schooners once launched from these waters, helping build the prosperous maritime community you've spent the day exploring.

There's even a local legend that Viking explorers sheltered here around the year 1003 during their voyages to North America. Historians still debate that story, but there's no debate about Bass Hole's place in Yarmouth's history.

One quick heads-up before you go: the Bass Hole Boardwalk is currently closed while it undergoes repairs from recent storm damage. The marsh views are still beautiful, and Gray's Beach remains one of our favorite places to end the day.

One of our favorite things about Yarmouth Port is that none of these places feel like tourist attractions. They're simply part of everyday life here.

You can spend the morning exploring the Edward Gorey House, wander Captain's Mile, browse a family-owned bookstore, linger over lunch in a 300-year-old inn, sip an old-fashioned ice cream soda, and finish the day watching the sun sink below the marsh at Gray's Beach, all without spending much (or any) time in the car.

That's one of the reasons we love calling Yarmouth Port home, and we think you'll love it too.

When you're ready to experience one of Cape Cod's most charming villages, book your stay at the Inn on Main. We'll happily point you toward our favorite historic homes and let you in on a few more local stories once you arrive.