Town of Mashpee MA
Mashpee - 02649
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.)