Museums

 

1869 Schoolhouse Museum
25 Schoolhouse Road
This museum is a one-room schoolhouse built in 1869. Exhibits depict the area’s history and include a model schoolroom, farming and household implements, shipwreck treasures, old paper currency, information on the Life Saving Service, Native American artifacts, and a 13-foot jawbone from a 65-foot finback whale. *NRHP

Swift-Daley House
2375 State Highway 6
The Swift-Daley House was built in 1741 by Joshua Knowles. Its bowed roof, wide board floors, deep kitchen fireplace and narrow stairways are typical of early houses built by ship’s carpenters. The house is completely furnished; its collections include examples of period furniture, clothing, china, and quilts. *NRHP

Chester Ranlett Tool Museum
2375 State Highway 6 (behind the Swift-Daley House)
Hundreds of tools and implements from the area are on display, including a wooden crankshaft from the old saltworks, a foot-operated grindstone, cranberry sorters and doorposts from the First Eastham Meeting House.

The Olde Gift Shop
2375 State Highway 6 (behind the Swift-Daley House)
The museum gift shop is filled with fascinating treasures from antiques to hand-crafted items from local artisans.

 

Dill Beach Camp
2375 State Highway 6 (behind the Swift-Daley House)
This dune shack is a survivor of the great storm of 1978 that ravaged Eastham’s ocean coastline.
For specific hours,visit Eastham Historical Society
Admission is free, but donations are appreciated.

Captain Penniman House
70 Fort Hill Road
(508) 255-3421
The 1868 French Second Empire style house holds the Penniman family’s written records and artifact collections, which provide glimpses of the places and people that the family visited on their whaling voyages. Theirs is a true life whaling story representative of hundreds of other whaling captains and their families that traveled the globe to pursue whale fishery. Call for tour information. *NRHP

 
Cape Cod National Seashore Salt Pond Visitor Center
50 Nauset Road
(508) 255-3421
Along with a popular recreation of a Native American village, this museum and visitor center also features exhibits that elucidate the varied array of natural and cultural characteristics that are central to the history and nature of the Cape Cod region. There is a bookstore and a theater, showing four different short films on local history and the environment of the area. Open All Year 9 – 4:30 pm daily, extended hours in the summer.

Cape Cod National Seashore Park Map

*National Register of Historic Places