Learn how Cape Cod got its name and more early history.
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Native Americans first settled Cape Cod more than 9,000 years ago.
In 1602, explorer Bartholomew Gosnold was the first Englishman to sail directly to the New England coast shaving a 1,000 miles and a week of time, hard time, from the trip. He came upon this 65-mile-long peninsula, and named it for the plentiful Cod Fish he found here.
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In 1620 after a two-month voyage, the Pilgrims arrived at present day Provincetown.
They did not even set foot ashore before they wrote and signed the Mayflower Compact, the first important step towards American democracy. After a few days on Cape Cod, Indians attacked them. This incident prompted them to sail to present day Plymouth harbor and found the Plymouth settlement.
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In the last 300 years, there have been more than 3,000 documented shipwrecks along Cape shores.
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