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Overview
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Mashpee is the one
of the fastest growing towns in the Commonwealth. Along with the Martha's
Vineyard town of Gay Head, it is one of the remaining homes of the Wampanoag
Nation, the Native American tribe which met the Pilgrims at Plymouth.
Although now outnumbered by new residents, the Wampanoag continue to play
a significant role in defining the character of the community through
the town's Indian Museum, the annual July Pow Wow, and other ongoing activities
of the Tribal Council.
Mashpee features over
five miles of sandy beaches on Nantucket and Vineyard Sounds, extensive
water frontage on Waquoit and Popponesset Bays, four of the largest freshwater
ponds on Cape Cod, the championship golf courses of New Seabury and Willowbend
and numerous other visitor amenities such as the nationally recognized
Mashpee Commons project. Mashpee has become a prime resort, seasonal home
and retirement community offering both a relaxed pace of life and a complete
range of services.
With enhancement of
its economic base in mind, the town is actively seeking both environmentally
friendly industrial and commercial development and increased tourist facilities.
As part of that effort, the Board of Selectmen has officially embarked
on a "green tourism" development project focusing on enhanced access and
programming at the town's 1,000-plus acres of conservation lands as well
as South Cape Beach State Park, the Waquoit Bay National Estuarine Research
Reserve and the Lowell Holly and Mashpee River Reservations. In addition,
2200 acres in Mashpee have been proposed for inclusion in a new National
Wildlife Refuge. All of these efforts are intended to insure that the
town remains true to its Native American heritage, maintains its economic
vitality, and protects its natural resources and the sense of tranquility
that makes residents feel it is one of the best places in the Commonwealth
to live, work and visit. (Narrative in part courtesy of the Massachusetts
Department of Housing and Community Development.)
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