Truro Highlands Historic District

Aerial image of Highland Light.

NPS Photo

Located on the Lower/Outer Cape in North Truro, the Truro Highlands Historic District overlooks the Atlantic Ocean and extends across 85 acres of a windswept landscape known as the Highlands Plain. The area includes Highland (Cape Cod) Light, Highland House, and Highland Golf Links.The Wampanoag, First People, inhabited the Cape Cod region for thousands of years prior to the arrival of European settlers in the 1600s. They gathered native plants for food and medicine, harvested fin fish and shellfish, hunted, grew crops, and practiced cultural traditions that recognized and respected nature’s bounty.

 

Truro Historical Society

Settlement, Tourism, and the Highland House

In the 1700s the Small family settled in the Truro Highlands area. Isaac Small and his family raised corn, livestock, and hay, and built a wind-powered gristmill for use in grinding corn into meal. In the late 1700s the US Government purchased 10 acres of land from the Smalls for construction of Highland Light Station. The location was ideal due to the prominent bluff, soils conducive for building, and for its ability to support livestock and a garden for the light keeper. Isaac Small was appointed first keeper of the light. Following his death in 1816, Isaac Small’s land was divided between his oldest sons.

James Small continued to farm the land, operate the gristmill, and in 1835 he built a large farmhouse on the property. During this time, writer/philosopher Henry David Thoreau began making visits to the area, frequently staying in the light keeper’s cottage. Thoreau’s writings captured the character of the area in the mid-1800s, prior to the site’s development as a tourist destination in the late 19^th and early 20^th century.

Following the extension of the railroad into Provincetown in 1873, tourists were drawn to the Highland area. The railroad made Truro an easily accessible destination for people wishing to leave cities for recreation, rejuvenation, and fresh air. The Smalls took advantage of this growing tourism trend by adding a two-story wing to the farmhouse and using it for many years as a hotel. Guests were met at the train station and shuttled by wagon to the Highlands. Family members served as unofficial guides of the property for interested tourists. In the late 1880s, several cottages were built to capture the growing tourist market. The Highland Golf Links was constructed during this time, and several other amenities were added, including a pool room, skating rink, indoor bowling alley, and informal ball field.

In the early 1900s the Smalls embarked on their greatest venture—construction of a large new hotel, the Highland House. Upon completion of the new accommodations, the resort could hold just over 100 guests at one time. They held the property until the 1940s. The property changed hands a few times, maintaining its status as a resort area. It was sold to the National Park Service in 1964.

Today the Highland House is maintained and operated as a museum by the Truro Historical Society and is open to the public during the summer months. In 2021 the historical society completed a $1 million dollar rehabilitation of the Highland House. Highland House Museum (trurohistoricalsociety.org)

 

Highland Golf Links

The traditional golf links is the earliest type of golf course. The term “links” was originally derived from the course’s location, the natural terrain of the Scottish linksland. A linksland commonly refers to a native sandy, hilly landform located next to the sea. Early links courses relied solely on the natural environment for their form and difficulty of play. Natural landforms determined the layout, design, and course routing. There were no manicured tees, fairways, or greens. Changing winds and extreme weather conditions contributed to the challenge of the game. Courses had little or no maintenance, and grazing sheep or other livestock kept the minimal turf in check.

Golf began to increase in popularity in America in the mid-1800s. Between 1896 and 1900, over 900 courses were constructed. The original design of the 1898 Highland Golf Links recalled the ancestral courses of the Scottish Highlands. Rolling landforms, views to the ocean, and naturally occurring hazards influenced the siting of holes. The use of native materials, namely sand and gravel, and the planting of native vegetation also indicate the links influence. The Highland Links is an important surviving example of early links style golf course design in this country.

The Highland Golf Links is maintained and operated by Johnson Golf Management, Inc. and is open to the public. | Truro, Massachusetts (highlandlinkscapecod.com)

 

Digital Commonwealth

Highland (Cape Cod) Light

Highland Light Station, also known as Cape Cod Light, was commissioned by George Washington, and established in 1797 as the 20th light station in the United States. The original 45-foot-tall wooden tower and keeper's dwelling were built more than 500 feet from the edge of a 125-foot-tall clay cliff. A new brick lighthouse was erected near the original tower in 1831. The present 66-foot-tall brick light tower, keeper's house, and generator shed replaced the previous structures in 1857. An enclosed walkway connects the tower and the one-and-one-half-story, L-shaped, Queen-Anne-style keeper's dwelling.

Erosion of the steep cliff throughout the years brought the present light station around 100 feet from the cliff's edge by the early 1990s. Using funds raised by the Truro Historical Society combined with state and Federal grants, Highland Light Station was successfully moved 450 feet back to safer ground. After the 18-day move, the light was relit on November 3, 1996, and is an active aid to navigation. While the tower is owned by the National Park Service, the optics are maintained by the US Coast Guard. In 2021 the National Park Service completed a $2 m rehabilitation of the tower.

Eastern National provides tours of the tower and a retail store in the former keeper’s house [link to HOME | highlandlighthouse]

The Truro Highlands Historic District showcases the power of partnerships between the National Park Service and preservation and education partners to maintain historic properties and share their stories with the public.