Mashpee MA

Mashpee, Massachusetts is located in the mid-section of the Upper Cape and is the only town in Cape Cod that has both municipally governed and Native American governed sections. With sixteen square miles of land given back to the Wampanoag Indians in 1660, the first Native American reservation in the United States was created and named Mashpee Plantation. Many ancient traditions of the tribe live on in the 600 residents directly descended from the original Wampanoags. The Old Indian Meeting House, the oldest church standing in Cape Cod, is still used by the tribe for meetings and worship. The town of Mashpee was founded in 1870.

The town center today contains the Mashpee Commons mall and is a bustling commercial center offering around 80 businesses consisting of art galleries, boutiques and chain stores, restaurants and a megaplex movie theater. At the Mashpee Commons website, a complete calendar of upcoming sales, exhibits and craft demonstrations can help the dedicated shopper plan their trip.

The town of Mashpee has worked extensively with Massachusetts architect Randall Imai to bring to fruition the Mashpee Commons Master Plan. In the 1980’s, residents and visitors alike became worries about the spreading commercialism on Cape Cod and began to self-regulate urban sprawl in their area in the hope of keeping the small town, New England feel while still offering aesthetically pleasing sites for goods and services as well as residential areas. Mashpee has succeeded in this endeavor.

The landscape of the Cape is what makes it such a wonderful destination and Mashpee is no exception with more than five miles of sandy beach bordering Nantucket Sound and many freshwater ponds for recreational use. There are many wooded areas lush with pine, azaleas and rhododendrons for hiking and strolling. Guided tours and family oriented hikes are offered through the Mashpee Conservation Commission.

For the music lover, the Boch Center for the Performing Arts delivers big name entertainment as well as the New England Jazz Festival every August. Mashpee is a fine example of the “old world” charm of Cape Cod meeting the “brave new world” of capitalism and co-existing peacefully.