Bourne

CLAIMS TO FAME: Gateway to Cape Cod; home of the nation’s oldest store; the “Cape Cod” rotary hedges welcoming Cape-bound travelers over the Bourne Bridge

HISTORICAL BRAGGING RIGHTS: Both the oldest and the youngest town (used to be part of Sandwich, which is the oldest town); settled by Pilgrims as early as 1620s

BEACHES: Monument Beach; Gray Gables Beach; Picture Lake; Sagamore Beach; Squeteague Harbor; Hen Cove

DON’T MISS: Watching boats (and a rare whale) go by from the Canal; Canal Bikeway; Pairpont Glassworks; National Cemetery

Named after political figures Johnathan Sr. and father Richard Bourne when it was settled in 1640, the town of Bourne lies at the northeast corner of Buzzards Bay. Travelers to Cape Cod go through Bourne when they cross over the Bourne, Sagamore or Railroad bridges, and even beforehand if they travel through Buzzards Bay from Rt. 25.

Bourne is comprised of 10 villages: Bourne Village, Bournedale, Buzzards Bay, Cataumet, Gray Gables, Monument Beach, Otis Air Base, Pocasset, Sagamore and Sagamore Beach.
The town has a rich history often overshadowed by monumental Cape Cod towns: Pilgrims settled here as early as 1627; it is home to the nation’s first store (Aptucxet Trading Post); Sagamore was once a major freight car producer; President Grover Cleveland frequented Gray Gables. It was first marked off as a part of Sandwich in 1640 and kept that denomination until 1884, making it the youngest town on Cape Cod.

Monument Beach, a public beach off of Shore Road, offers scenic views of Buzzards Bay and has full facilities and some free parking. There are numerous quiet harbors and inlets for boating, fishing, shell fishing and swimming. The Scenic Park beneath the Bourne Bridge is a comfortable location for those seeking to enjoy the Canal and its many activities, and the Cape Cod Canal bike path is a 14 mile trail that runs on both sides of the canal for avid cyclists, runners and walkers. The town is also home to the John Gallo Ice Arena, open to the public from September to March and on a more limited basis during the summer.

Bourne is home to the National Marine Life Center, an independent, non-profit rehabilitation and release hospital for the treatment of stranded sea turtles and seals, with future plans to expand to treat dolphins, porpoises and small whales.

The town operates its own school department with two elementary, one middle and one high school. Upper Cape Cod Regional Technical School, which serves Bourne, Falmouth, Sandwich, Wareham and Marion, is located in Bourne, as is the Massachusetts Maritime Academy, a maritime college in Buzzards Bay.