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Sandwich is a town in Barnstable County, Massachusetts, and is the oldest town on Cape Cod. The town motto is Post tot Naufracia Portus, "after so many shipwrecks, a haven". The population was 20,259 at the 2020 census. [edit] History
Cape Cod was inhabited for thousands of years by Native Americans prior to European colonization. In the contact period, Sandwich was occupied by the Eastern Algonquian speaking Wampanoag who aided the Pilgrims of Plymouth Colony in the 1620s. Despite significant losses of life and cultural heritage due to virgin soil epidemics, King Philip's War, and conversion and assimilation efforts that pushed them into Praying Towns, the Mashpee Wompanoag still live on Cape Cod and efforts are underway to revive the Wompanoag language. A group of English settlers from Saugus, Massachusetts colonized Sandwich in 1637 with the permission of the Plymouth Colony. It is named for the seaport of Sandwich, Kent, England. It was incorporated in 1639 and is the oldest town on Cape Cod, together with Yarmouth, Massachusetts. The western portion of the town was separated from the original Town of Sandwich and became the town of Bourne in 1884.
Early industry revolved around agriculture, with fishing and trading also providing for the town. Later, the town grew a small industrial component along the Scusset River and Old Harbor Creek and its tributaries. Today, most of its industry revolves around tourism.
The Cape Cod Canal was constructed through the town starting in 1909, opening for travel in 1914. The Canal Generating Plant went online in 1968. [edit] Research Tips
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