Dennis

History

Indigenous peoples have been living in the Cape Cod region for at least 9,000 years. The historic Algonquian-speaking Wampanoag are one of 69 tribes of the original Wampanoag Nation. After being settled by English colonists of the New Plymouth Colony in 1639 as part of the town of Yarmouth, Dennis became known as the East Precinct. The Cape Playhouse in northern Dennis, established in 1927, is the oldest summer theater in the United States. Notable past and present Dennis residents include author Mary Higgins Clark, actress Bette Davis, and actress Amy Jo Johnson.

Geography

The town of Dennis spans the width of Cape Cod, with Cape Cod Bay to the north, Brewster to the northeast, Harwich to the southeast, Nantucket Sound to the south, and Yarmouth to the west. The town is about east of Barnstable, east of the Sagamore Bridge, and southeast of Boston. According to the United States Census Bureau, the town has a total area of , of which is land, and , or 7.88%, is water. Kelly's Pond was probably named after David and Elihu Kelly, who lived nearby in the early 1800s. The area between Kelly's Pond and the Bass River is known as Wrinkle Point. Wrinkle is another word for periwinkle. Uncle Barney's Road, which runs up Wrinkle Point parallel to the Bass River, was named after Barnabas Baker, who had a salt works in the area in the 1800s. The area between Weir Creek and Swan River was once known as Battletown and Lower County Road was called Battle town Road. It was said by a late 1800s resident of the road, Anthony Gage, that "Men used to raise sons to sender down her to fight." South Village was a fishing hamlet in West Dennis during its early days. The name is memorialized by South Village Road, Lane, Circle, Drive, and Beach. At one end of South Village Road is Trotting Park Road, which took its name from the popular race track that was off the street in the late 1800s. At the northern end of the road is a house named Jericho. It was built by Captain Theophilus Baker in 1801 and was purchased in the 20th century by Virginia Gildersleeve and Elizabeth Reynard. They gave the house its present name because its walls were about to come "tumbling down". Repairs were made and the house was given to the town in 1962.

Race & ethnicity

Most-observed species

• Song Sparrow

  Melospiza melodia (A.Wilson, 1810) · Aves
  41,015
• American Crow

  Corvus brachyrhynchos C.L.Brehm, 1822 · Aves
  36,880
• Black-capped Chickadee

  Poecile atricapillus (Linnaeus, 1766) · Aves
  35,418
• American herring gull, Smithsonian Gull

  Larus smithsonianus Coues, 1862 · Aves
  35,196
• Blue Jay

  Cyanocitta cristata (Linnaeus, 1758) · Aves
  34,228
• Northern Cardinal

  Cardinalis cardinalis (Linnaeus, 1758) · Aves
  32,319
• American Robin

  Turdus migratorius Linnaeus, 1766 · Aves
  28,939
• American Goldfinch

  Spinus tristis (Linnaeus, 1758) · Aves
  28,132

Largest nearby schools

• Barnstable High
  High · Hyannis · 1,763 students · 11.5:1 ratio
• Dennis-Yarmouth Regional High
  High · South Yarmouth · 888 students · 11:1 ratio
• Sturgis Charter Public School
  High · Hyannis · 830 students · 9.4:1 ratio
• Monomoy Regional High School
  High · Harwich · 702 students · 11.7:1 ratio
• Cape Cod Region Vocational Technical
  High · Harwich · 666 students · 10.6:1 ratio
• Barnstable Intermediate School
  Middle · Hyannis · 651 students · 11.8:1 ratio
• Harwich Elementary School
  Elementary · Harwich · 477 students · 10.8:1 ratio
• Dennis-Yarmouth Middle School
  Middle · South Yarmouth · 476 students · 10.3:1 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 3 — 2002-03-12
  52 km E of Chatham, Massachusetts