The Fort Hill Rural Historic District is a

historic district A historic district or heritage district is a section of a city which contains older buildings considered valuable for historical or architectural reasons. In some countries or jurisdictions, historic districts receive legal protection from c ...

encompassing two farmsteads with more than 200 years of history in

Eastham, Massachusetts Eastham () is a town in Barnstable County, Massachusetts, United States, Barnstable County being coextensive with Cape Cod. The population was 5,752 at the 2020 census. For geographic and demographic information about the village of North Eastham ...

. The district is a area of forest, fields, and salt marshes that was owned by the Knowles and Penninman families from 1742 to 1941. It has been part of the

Cape Cod National Seashore The Cape Cod National Seashore (CCNS), created on August 7, 1961, by President John F. Kennedy, encompasses on Cape Cod, in Massachusetts. It includes ponds, woods and beachfront of the Atlantic coastal pine barrens ecoregion. The CCNS includes ...

since 1961. The area is dominated by the rise called "Fort Hill", which provides extensive views of the area and has its own rich history. The district includes the

Edward Penniman House and Barn The Edward Penniman House and Barn is a historic site in Eastham, Massachusetts, on Fort Hill, which is currently protected by the Cape Cod National Seashore and home to ''Indian Rock''. The house was built in 1868 and added to the National Regi ...

, previously listed on the

National Register of Historic Places The National Register of Historic Places (NRHP) is the United States federal government's official list of districts, sites, buildings, structures and objects deemed worthy of preservation for their historical significance or "great artistic v ...

, and the Nauset Archeological District, a

National Historic Landmark A National Historic Landmark (NHL) is a building, district, object, site, or structure that is officially recognized by the United States government for its outstanding historical significance. Only some 2,500 (~3%) of over 90,000 places listed ...

. The district was listed on the

in 2001.

References

National Register of Historic Places in Cape Cod National Seashore Historic districts in Barnstable County, Massachusetts Eastham, Massachusetts Historic districts on the National Register of Historic Places in Massachusetts {{BarnstableCountyMA-NRHP-stub

See also

References