From Dave Brigham:
I just realized that the headline on this piece makes it sound like I was cat burgling around the easternmost tip of Cape Cod. I promise you, dear reader, that I was not. Not that I couldn't have, given how quiet it was when I visited on a cold and cloudy day this past February.
I've been to Provincetown -- aka P-town -- each of the last three summers, but only for short periods of time. I picked up my wife there after she completed the Pan-Mass Challenge bike ride, a massive event that raised bajillions of dollars for the Dana-Farber Cancer Institute.
The streets of the funky resort town -- a very LGBTQ+-friendly enclave -- are jammed with tourists, summer residents and PMC participants and their friends and families the first weekend of August. Bottom line: since we don't stick around long after the ride, I don't get to soak in the atmosphere and make photos of all the great buildings and such.
So I figured a Saturday in the dead of winter was my opportunity to explore.
I stuck mostly to Commercial Street, which, if you haven't been to P-town and/or don't know what the word "commercial" means, is the main retail/restaurant thoroughfare. After parking next to town hall, the first thing that caught my eye was the trio of windows on the second floor above The Cotton Gallery, a shop stocked with tons of funny t-shirts, novelty items and souvenirs.
MACRIS indicates that the common name for this circa-1840 Greek Revival building is Scrimshaw. I'm not sure if that was a restaurant or a retail store. Over the decades this place has been occupied by a furniture store, a restaurant and a post office.
I continued west-southwest. I found the sign for Marine Specialties to be quite charming in a no-frills way.
The store, which bills itself as "Provincetown's Landmark 'Army Navy Store,' has been in business since 1961. It is located in a pre-fab warehouse building that dates to the 1930s, per MACRIS. Previous uses include a gas or service station.
Next up, the hard-to-miss Ladyslipper, "a cocktail spot," per its minimal web site.
This little Greek Revival building is known commonly as The Little Shop, according to an old MACRIS report, which doesn't indicate the date it was built.
There are so many great old buildings along Commercial Street, but I didn't make photos of every one. The next one I found to be camera-worthy was an old firehouse.
"Constructed around 1868 under the direction of John D. Hilliard, Chief of the Board of Engineers, 189 Commercial Street served as the 'Excelsior' Engine #4 so named after the fire engine," per MACRIS. "The original engine was built in Boston by Hunneman & Co. in 1854."
These days the old station houses public restrooms.
I continued in the same direction along Commercial Street for a bit before doubling back. The Kiehl's store facade looked good to me.
The skincare store is one of dozens located around the country. The brand dates to 1851.
As for the building, it dates to 1920 and is known as the Provincetown Advocate / Advocate Press building, after newspapers that were located here from the 1940s to the 1970s, according to MACRIS. Also of note: this was also the location of Gallery 200, which in the 1940s "exhibited many famous painters including first showing of Jackson Pollock," per MACRIS.
Currently occupied by Cape Tip Sportswear, the Second Empire building at 224 Commercial Street was built in 1865 as King Hiram's Lodge, a Masonic hall.
"King Hiram's Lodge was organized on December 12, 1795," according to MACRIS. "It is one of the oldest lodges in the country, and certainly one of the oldest in Massachusetts. The Charter of King Hiram's Lodge was signed by Paul Revere on December 12, 1796." The Masons evidently still meet in this building.
At this point, I was back next to Ladyslipper, looking up at the sign for The Provincetown Bookshop, which has been in business since 1932.
The shop has been in various locations over the decades, only moving to 229 Commercial Street in 2022. The book store is located in a circa-1916 Classical Revival building known commonly as Treasure n' Trash, MACRIS indicates. I'm guessing that was a second-hand store. MACRIS also reports that the building was "formerly the Consolidated Cold Storage plant for fish freezing."
Always cool to uncover a connection to part of a town or city's past that many people, especially tourists, know nothing about. I'll get to another such place in a minute.
On the side of the aforementioned Marine Specialties building is a fantastic work of art I dubbed the Wolf Mural.
It's actual title is Time and the Town, and it was painted in 2021 by Esteban del Valle, a Brooklyn-based artist originally from Chicago. And those are foxes, not wolves, according to the artist, who I guess should know.
"Early on I realized that it was impossible to physically represent the wide range of people that have and continue to pass through Provincetown in its history," del Valle says in this article. "Normally some community murals take a selective icon approach, where they’re picking and choosing historical figures or community figures to focus and highlight. And I just wanted to talk more about the spirit of the place and less about specific people, so foxes became a great way to kind of talk about different time periods, different people passing through, and the overall history versus focusing on individuals," he said.
The mural takes its title from Mary Heaton Vorse's 1942 memoir, Time and the Town: A Provincetown Chronicle.
Between the book shop and the Army-Navy store there is an alley that leads to a harbor-front beach. So of course I had to walk that way. And I'm glad I did.
Ladies and gentlemen, the Lewis and Brown Fish Shed.
Built in 1870, this ramshackle place has served as a lumber wharf, a coal shed and a restaurant down through the years, according to MACRIS. There are remnants of a pier in the harbor adjacent to this property. After a pair of fires in recent years, the building was condemned. A developer has pitched a plan to raze this structure and redevelop the site, along with the building housing the book store.
Across Commercial Street from the book shop and the Army-Navy store is the fabulous Benjamin Lancy House, with a storefront tacked on the front.
This Second Empire gem dates to 1874. It was built for Benjamin Lancy, a merchant and ship owner, per MACRIS, who also owned the wharf across the street that I discussed above. For a time last century, this architectural marvel was home to the Provincetown Historical Society. Current tenants include Cortile Gallery, Sol Optics and Henna Tattoo.
Continuing north-northeast, I passed Whalers Wharf, which I had paid little attention to when I'd walked by earlier. This is an open-air arcade that features small shops and eateries, as well as an intimate movie theater. The original building rose in 1919, but was destroyed by a fire in 1998. A new structure was erected on the same spot.
Below are some images taken inside the arcade.
Across Commercial Street from Whalers Wharf is the Unitarian Universalist Meeting House of Provincetown (on the right in image below).
This house of worship was erected in 1847 and is the oldest extant church in town. On the left in that photo is a lovely Italianate / Victorian Eclectic building with, I believe, a gallery and art studio on the ground floor. I assume the upper floors are residential. In the middle of that image is a small blue outbuilding that MACRIS says dates to 1970. I like how it mirrors the architectural style of the main house. I'm guessing that smaller building may also be a studio.
I walked past the old Scrimshaw building again, and noticed a crusty ghost sign on the side facing Gosnold Street.
Given its location on the side of a building that currently houses a gift shop, I'm guessing The Family Jewels was a similar type of store going back a bit in time.
At this point, I was back to where I parked, in front of the beautiful town hall.
Built in 1886, this Queen Anne stunner was built on land that "was partly donated...and partly bought," according to MACRIS. "[I]t had business buildings fronting Commercial St., an apple orchard on the northern end."
I continued east-northeast on Commercial Street, across Ryder Street, until I was in front of the wildest storefront in P-town, which was created by artist Joey Mars.
Shop Therapy calls itself an alternative lifestyle emporium, and sells "Beads, Bells, Incense, Clothing, Tie Dye, Jewelry, Tobacco Shop, Patches, Stickers, Posters, Sun Glasses, Tapestries & Way More," per its web site.
The store is located at 286 Commercial Street, a place with a colorful history. "In 1912 the 'Star' was born, Provincetown's first movie theater, in time converted into 'Bowlaway' Candlepin Lanes, where the tid-bit diner was a favorite of Capt. Manuel 'Sea Fox' Zora, a legendary rumrunner," according to the Historical Marker Database. "In 1983 Isaac Saada (aka Zukie) introduced his Rubber Chickens. Other tenants included the Hatbox, Cheap Thrills, and Bored Stiff. In 2012 Zukie sold the property to Ron Hazel, who moved Shop Therapy, an 'Antiestablishment,' here."
Hazel passed away in May 2025.
Next door to the eye-popping storefront is Bob Gasoi Memorial Alley.
"This vibrant alley...contains jig sawed figures from murals by artist Bob Gasoi that once adorned the old Shop Therapy store from 1987 to 2010," per this Atlas Obscura article. Prior to moving to this address in 2012, Shop Therapy was located elsewhere on Commercial Street.
Born in 1931, Gasoi earned a degree from The Cooper Union for the Advancement of Science and Art in Manhattan. He moved to P-town in 1983, and was commissioned by Ron Hazel to create art for the original Shop Therapy store.
"The murals were a collaboration. Shop Therapy’s owner Ronny Hazel would feed stories about his own world travels and experiences to the artist Gasoi who would regurgitate the tales into scenescapes from the Renaissance, The Bible, Alice in Wonderland, 60’s psychedelia, Eastern erotica, comic books and science fiction," according to this Camp Provincetown article.
"There were cherubs, men wearing nothing but wristwatches, lactating figures (an ode to the Giambologna’s Fountain of Neptune), monsters crushing the Pilgrim Monument, mermaids, flesh-eating aliens and men holding fruit trays. Faces and bodies were morphed into the likeness of members of the Shop Therapy family along with local hangers-on, local politicians and members of local law enforcement."
Many of the local muckety-mucks were not happy with such artistic expression, but the works remained in place.
Gasoi passed away in 1997, in Mexico.
A little further along, on the south side of Commercial Street, is the Post Office Cafe & Cabaret.
From the venue's web site: "It was home to the original Lands End Marine Supply in 1940, and converted into the Wreck Club in 1960. In 1974, Phyllis Schlosberg, a theatre MFA and former educator, brought the Post Office to life. Phyllis would go on to launch many artists’ careers from the Cabaret’s stage, including Provincetown’s long-reigning drag sensation Varla Jean Merman, as well as camp queen Elvira, Mistress of the Dark."
I will discuss Lands End Marine Supply below.
As for the building, it dates to 1870 and was presumably at some point a post office, although neither the club's web site nor MACRIS make any mention of such a function.
Upon reaching Standish Street, I headed southeast toward Provincetown Harbor. On the corner, I spied a plain but nevertheless eye-catching sign for John's Foot Long Hot Dogs.
The eatery, which serves a lot more than just hot dogs, seems to have been in business for quite a few years.
The building dates to 1860 and is known commonly as Turner's Candies Store, per MACRIS.
On the MacMillan Pier, I was charmed by numerous small, shingle-covered buildings.
(I think this building is used for storage.)
(Irene's Little Art Shop is one of several art shacks on the pier.)
Back on Commercial Street I made a photo of the legendary Lobster Pot looking a little less iconic, but still gorgeous, with piles of hard-packed snow gathered at its base.
The restaurant's neon sign is well-known on the Cape and far beyond, and the food is prized among tourists (and probably locals). Established in 1943, the eatery has been going strong ever since in the circa-1890 building. "Ralph Medeiros and his wife Adeline opened the Lobster Pot," per Wikipedia. "After Ralph died in 1965 Adeline remarried and kept the restaurant in the family until 1979. It was at this point that a second family would take over as Adeline sold the business to Joy McNulty."
The McNulty family has run the place ever since.
Next door is the Old Colony Tap, which was launched in 1937, in the building now occupied by the Lobster Pot.
In 1943, the bar relocated to its present location. "The structure first appears on the atlas of 1880 and was owned by E. Gayland," according to MACRIS. "In 1901-1907, it was the home of Mrs. Charles Baker. In the mid-20th century, the house was converted to use as a bar on the first floor and a studio above."
The bar provides a little bit old old P-town for locals and visitors alike. "This is the Old Colony Tap, the town’s oldest surviving dive bar, a place where the past clings to the walls and the music never quite stops," reads a line from this Ptownie article.
A little further along is Mad as a Hatter, which is a great phrase and, guessing from its web site, a very cool shop.
The shop has been providing "hats for people with heads" for more than four decades. As for the phrase, "mad as a hatter," of the various possible origins, the one I prefer is this one offered by Wikipedia: "In 18th- and 19th-century England, mercury was used in the production of felt, which was commonly used in the hat-making trade at the time. Long-term use of mercury products often resulted in mercury poisoning-induced erethism among hat-makers....[erethism] was characterized by slurred speech, tremors, stumbling and, in extreme cases, hallucinations."
I doubled back at this point, and of course had to make a photo of the adorable Respoke building.
Founded in 2016, Respoke built its business on the concept of crafting espadrille shoes with Hermes's Eperon D'Or scarf (this sentence barely makes sense to me, a fashion idiot). The store now carries handcrafted footwear, as well as ready-to-wear apparel, accessories, fine art, home decor and more.
As for the building (which is what I really care about), it dates to 1858 and was originally a fire station known as Relief Hose #1, per MACRIS.
Continuing to walk back toward my car, I passed the aforementioned Lands End Marine Supply.
Now part of the True Value hardware chain, the store has been around since at least 1940, as was discussed briefly above. The building dates to 1942.
Arnold's Bike Shop - "Where you rent the bikes" -- is located at 329 Commercial Street, attached to Shirts 'N' Stuff.
"Provincetown Bicycle Rentals by Arnold’s Bike Shop has been selling and renting bikes to local and vacationing bicycle riders since 1937," per the outfit's web site. The building dates to 1950 and was formerly Arnold's Furniture and Appliance Store.
The Governor Bradford is a restaurant/bar/entertainment venue that also features apartments, in a pretty large circa-1840 building. Naturally, I shot the place from the less-glamorous side.
Last, but certainly not least, is The Mayflower, a family-owned restaurant that's been in business since 1929.
The building rose around 1860, and also includes apartments.
Many of these establishments were closed for the season when I passed through Provincetown. These places will surely be hopping soon, if not already. Make sure to check back in two weeks for some cool photos of cottages in neighboring Truro.
