Bourne

History

Bourne was first settled in 1640 by Ezra Perry as a part of the town of Sandwich. Prior to its separation from Sandwich, the area was referred to as West Sandwich. It was officially incorporated in 1884, the last town to be incorporated in Barnstable County. It was named for Jonathan Bourne Sr. (1811–1889), whose ancestor Richard Bourne represented Sandwich in the first Massachusetts General Court and was the first preacher to the Mashpee Wampanoag on Cape Cod. The town lies at the northeast corner of Buzzards Bay and is the site of Aptucxet Trading Post, the nation's oldest store. It was founded by the Pilgrims in 1627 at a site halfway between the two rivers which divided Cape Cod from the rest of the state. It was out of this location that the Cape Cod Canal was formed, in order to save time and lives by eliminating the need to sail around the hazardous eastern shores of the Cape. Because of the canal, Bourne is now considered the "first" town on the Cape, as all three bridges (the Bourne, Sagamore, and the Cape Cod Canal Railroad Bridge) are located within the town. All of Bourne is on Cape Cod, Buzzards Bay and Sagamore Beach being the villages that are on the mainland side with Buttermilk Bay forming the western edge of the peninsula (cape) and the Bourndale Road forming the northern boundary to the cape. Bourne is the site of the Massachusetts Maritime Academy, a maritime college located at the southern mouth of the canal on the western shore. Otis Air National Guard Base is partially located in the town. The Air Force Space Command system PAVE PAWS northeast radar is located within Bourne's borders inside Otis Air National Guard Base. Bourne is home to an archaeological curiosity known as the Bourne Stone, featuring markings whose origin and significance…

Geography

Bourne is located at the western end of Cape Cod, with the Cape Cod Canal cutting across the northern portion of the town. It is bordered by Sandwich to the east, Falmouth to the south, Marion and Wareham to the west, and Plymouth and Cape Cod Bay to the north. The town lies approximately west of Barnstable, south-southeast of Boston, and the same distance east of Providence, Rhode Island. The border with Plymouth and Wareham in Plymouth County constitutes the only landed border between Barnstable County and any other county (the borders with Dukes and Nantucket counties lie in Nantucket Sound). Major localities of Bourne include Bournedale and Buzzards Bay on the west side of the Cape Cod Canal, Sagamore, which straddles the canal, and Bourne village, Monument Beach, Pocasset, and Cataumet on the east side of the canal. According to the United States Census Bureau, the town has a total area of , of which is land and , or 23.11%, is water. Bourne's geography was formed around its location on Buzzards Bay and the Cape Cod Canal. There are several necks (the local term for a peninsula), including Wings Neck and Scraggy Neck, and islands along the shore, which create several small coves and harbors. There are also several small ponds and rivers, all of which (except the Herring River, which feeds directly into the Canal) feed into Buzzards Bay. The largest of these inlets, Buttermilk Bay, lies along the border with Wareham. Because of the large parcel of land occupied by Otis A.N.G.B. in the eastern part of the town, the majority of settlement is either along the shores of the Canal or along Buzzards Bay. There is also a small neighborhood (South Sagamore) located between the Canal and the northern boundaries of the base. Bourne has a town forest and a small portion…

Race & ethnicity

Most-observed species

• Song Sparrow

  Melospiza melodia (A.Wilson, 1810) · Aves
  23,251
• American Crow

  Corvus brachyrhynchos C.L.Brehm, 1822 · Aves
  20,640
• Black-capped Chickadee

  Poecile atricapillus (Linnaeus, 1766) · Aves
  20,566
• Blue Jay

  Cyanocitta cristata (Linnaeus, 1758) · Aves
  20,246
• American Robin

  Turdus migratorius Linnaeus, 1766 · Aves
  18,953
• Northern Cardinal

  Cardinalis cardinalis (Linnaeus, 1758) · Aves
  18,951
• Tufted Titmouse

  Baeolophus bicolor (Linnaeus, 1766) · Aves
  16,587
• American Goldfinch

  Spinus tristis (Linnaeus, 1758) · Aves
  14,540

Largest nearby schools

• Sandwich Middle High School
  High · East Sandwich · 928 students · 9.3:1 ratio
• Upper Cape Cod Vocational Technical
  High · Bourne · 769 students · 9.3:1 ratio
• Falmouth High
  High · Falmouth · 766 students · 10.9:1 ratio
• Oak Ridge
  Elementary · East Sandwich · 674 students · 12:1 ratio
• Mashpee Middle-High School
  High · Mashpee · 655 students · 9.6:1 ratio
• Forestdale School
  Elementary · Sandwich · 540 students · 10.2:1 ratio
• Bourne Middle School
  Middle · Bourne · 431 students · 9.6:1 ratio
• Bournedale Elementary School
  Elementary · Bournedale · 402 students · 12.2:1 ratio

Most recent

• M 3.6 — 2020-11-08
  10 km S of Bliss Corner, Massachusetts
• M 2.5 — 2005-11-17
  4 km S of Plymouth, Massachusetts
• M 2.5 — 2002-06-07
  3 km NNW of Hopedale, Massachusetts