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The Town of Mashpee includes the
village of New Seabury-02649.
Along with the Towns of Sandwich, Falmouth and
Bourne, Mashpee is also home to a portion of the
Massachusetts Military Reservation, including Otis Air
Force Base and Camp Edwards, which share their own zip
code-02542. |
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History
Mashpee was settled by English colonists
in 1658 with the assistance of the
missionary Richard Bourne from the
neighboring town of Sandwich. In the
year 1763 Mashpee was constituted a
plantation by the king of England,
against the will of the native
Wampanoags. The natives were given
the right to elect their own officials
to maintain order. However, the
population of the plantation declined
steadily due to the conditions placed
upon them. Beacuse of this, and despite
several attempts at self-rule, the
Wampanoags lost their land, and Mashpee
was incorporated as a town in 1870 the
second-to-last town on the Cape to do so
(other than Bourne). Today, the town of
Mashpee is known both as a tourist
destination and for their Native
American culture. Every year, a
pow-wow is held, which offers fine
examples of Wampanoag activites and
crafts.[1]
The town's name is an Anglicization of a
native name that can be segmented as
"mass-nippe," where mass is "great", or
"greater" (see Massachusetts), and nippe
is "water." The name has been translated
as "the greater cove" or "great pond" or
"land near great cove", where the water
being referenced is Wakeby Lake, which
is greater at one end.
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Geography
According to the
United States Census Bureau, the
town has a total area of 70.6
km˛ (27.2
mi˛). 60.8 km˛ (23.5 mi˛) of it is
land and 9.7 km˛ (3.8 mi˛) of it
(13.80%) is water.
Mashpee is considered to be on the
"upper," or western, portion of Cape
Cod. It is bound by
Sandwich to the north and northwest,
Barnstable to the east,
Nantucket Sound to the south, and
Falmouth to the west. It is
approximately sixty-five miles
south-southeast of
Boston and seventy miles
west-southwest of
Providence, Rhode Island.
Mashpee is an average-sized town
compared to the rest of Barnstable
County. Like all towns on the Cape,
Mashpee's topography is that of sandy
soil, small ponds and inlets, surrounded
by the pines and oaks indigenous to the
area. The town's shoreline is framed by
Waquit Bay to the west and Popponesset
Bay to the east, both spawning several
rivers, brooks and small ponds. The town
is also the site of South Cape Beach
State Park, along Dead Neck and Waquit
Bay, and the Lowell Holly Reservation,
comprising the land between Wakeby and
Mashpee Ponds.
There are no freeways in the town of
Mashpee. Major routes include
Route 28,
Route 130 and
Route 151. Route 28, along with
U.S. Route 6 to the north, comprise
the main east-west routes along the
Cape. Route 130's southern terminus and
Route 151's eastern terminus are within
the town, both ending at Route 28, two
and a half miles apart.
There is no rail service in the town.
The nearest airports (Cape Cod Airport,
an airstrip for small planes, and
Barnstable Municipal Airport, the
largest airport on the Cape) can be
found in neighboring Barnstable. The
nearest national and international air
service can be reached at
Logan International Airport in
Boston.
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Demographics
As of the
census2
of 2000, there were 12,946 people, 5,256
households, and 3,652 families residing
in the town. The
population density was 212.9/km˛
(551.4/mi˛). There were 8,325 housing
units at an average density of 136.9/km˛
(354.6/mi˛). The racial makeup of the
town was 90.24%
White, 2.82%
African American, 2.91%
Native American, 0.57%
Asian, 0.02%
Pacific Islander, 1.10% from
other races, and 2.33% from two or
more races.
Hispanic or
Latino of any race were 1.64% of the
population. The only Asian member of the
community is Chelsea Curtis, who
currently attends Georgetown University
in Washington, DC. The Native American
community is a remnant of confinement of
the local
Wampanoag and
Nauset tribes into a praying
village. Most today identify as
Wampanoag, despite more likely being
descended from the closely-related
Nauset tribe, and the town houses both
the people and the churches that served
the community.
There were 5,256 households out of which
30.8% had children under the age of 18
living with them, 55.7% were
married couples living together,
11.1% had a female householder with no
husband present, and 30.5% were
non-families. 25.0% of all households
were made up of individuals and 10.2%
had someone living alone who was 65
years of age or older. The average
household size was 2.44 and the average
family size was 2.91.
In the town the population was spread
out with 24.7% under the age of 18, 4.6%
from 18 to 24, 28.4% from 25 to 44,
23.7% from 45 to 64, and 18.6% who were
65 years of age or older. The median age
was 41 years. For every 100 females
there were 88.9 males. For every 100
females age 18 and over, there were 85.1
males.
The median income for a household in the
town was $50,871, and the median income
for a family was $56,702. Males had a
median income of $43,922 versus $31,416
for females. The
per capita income for the town was
$25,215. About 4.5% of families and 5.5%
of the population were below the
poverty line, including 6.6% of
those under age 18 and 2.7% of those age
65 or over.
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Government, Services & Education
Mashpee is represented in the
Massachusetts House of Representatives
as a part of both the Third and Fifth
Barnstable districts, with the area
around Otis being in the third and the
southern portion of town being in the
fifth. The town is represented in the
Massachusetts Senate as a part of
the Cape and Islands district, which
includes all of Cape Cod, Martha's
Vineyard and Nantucket with the
exception of Bourne, Falmouth, Sandwich
and portions of Barnstable.[2]
The town is patrolled by the Seventh
(Bourne) Barracks of Troop D of the
Massachusetts State Police.[3].
On the national level, Mashpee is a part
of
Massachusetts's 10th congressional
district, and is currently
represented by
Bill Delahunt. The state's senior
(Class I) member of the
United States Senate, re-elected in
2006, is
Ted Kennedy. The junior (Class II)
Senator, up for re-election in 2008, is
John Kerry.
Mashpee is governed by the
open town meeting form of
government, led by an executive
secretary and a
board of selectmen. The town
operates its own police and fire
departments, both of which are
headquartered together near Pine Tree
Corner. The town's post office and
public library are also located nearby,
and the library is a member of the Cape
Libraries Automated Materials Sharing
(CLAMS) Network, the Southeastern
Massachusetts Library System (SEMLS),
and the Massachusetts Board of Library
Commissioners.
Mashpee operates its own school system
for the approximately 2,000 students in
town. The Kenneth C. Coombs School
serves students from pre-kindergarten
to grade 2. The Quashnet School serves
students from grades 3 to 6, and Mashpee
High School serves grades 7 through 12.
Mashpee's athletics teams are nicknamed
the Falcons, and their colors are blue
and white. They compete in the South
Shore League in all sports.
Additionally, high school students may
attend Cape Cod Regional Technical High
School in Harwich free of charge. There
are also private schools in neighboring
Falmouth and Barnstable which students
may attend.
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From
Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia
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Click for large map of the Islands
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