'Bourne' is a
town in
Barnstable County,
Massachusetts,
United States. The population was 18,721 at the 2000 census.
For geographic and demographic information on specific parts of the town of Bourne, please see the articles on
Bourne (CDP),
Buzzards Bay,
Monument Beach,
Pocasset,
Sagamore, and
Sagamore Beach.
History
Bourne was first settled in
1640 as a part of the town of
Sandwich. It was officially incorporated in
1884 as the last town to be incorporated in Barnstable County. It was named for Jonathan Bourne, whose father, Richard Bourne, served in the Massachusetts General Court at the time of settlement, as well as helping to found the settlement in Mashpee.
[1] The town lies at the northeast corner of
Buzzards Bay, and is the site of Aptucxet Trading Post, the nation's oldest store. It was founded by the Pilgrims in 1627 at a site halfway between the two rivers which divided the Cape from the rest of the state. It was out of this location that the
Cape Cod Canal was formed, in order to save time and lives by eliminating the need to sail around the hazardous eastern shores of Cape Cod. Because of the canal, Bourne is now considered the "first" town on the Cape, as all three bridges (the
Bourne,
Sagamore and the
Cape Cod Canal Railroad Bridge all are located within the town. Also, due to the Canal, the town is divided, the majority of land lying on the Cape.
Bourne is also the site of the
Massachusetts Maritime Academy, a maritime college located at the southern mouth of the canal on the western shore.
Otis Air National Guard Base is also partially located in the town.
Geography
The Bourne Bridge
The Sagamore Bridge
According to the
United States Census Bureau, the town has a total area of 136.8
km² (52.8
mi²). 106.0 km² (40.9 mi²) of it is land and 30.8 km² (11.9 mi²) of it (22.53%) is water. Bourne is bordered by Sandwich to the east,
Falmouth to the south,
Buzzards Bay and
Wareham to the west, and
Plymouth and
Cape Cod Bay to the north. The town lies approximately twenty miles west of
Barnstable, fifty-five miles south-southeast of
Boston, and equidistantly from
Providence, Rhode Island. The border with Plymouth and Wareham in Plymouth County constitutes the only landed border between Barnstable County and any other county (the borders with
Dukes and
Nantucket lie in
Nantucket Sound). Major localities of Bourne include Bournedale, Buzzards Bay, Cataumet, Monument Beach, Pocasset, and Sagamore, amongst others.
Bourne's geography was formed around its location on
Buzzards Bay and the
Cape Cod Canal. There are several necks (the local term for a
peninsula and islands along the shore, which create several small coves and harbors. There are also several small ponds and rivers, all of which (except the
Herring River, which feeds directly into the Canal) feed into Buzzards Bay. The largest of these,
Buttermilk Bay, lies along the border with Wareham. Also, because of the large parcel of land occupied by Otis A.N.G.B., the majority of settlement is either along the shores of the Canal or along Buzzards Bay. There is also a small neighborhood (South Sagamore) located between the Canal and the northern boundaries of the base. The town also has a town forest and a small portion of the
Shawme-Crowell State Forest (which is located along Otis's northern boundary). There are also many beaches along its shores, mostly along Buzzards Bay (although Sagamore Beach lies along Cape Cod Bay).
Demographics
The
Christmas Tree Shops store is a major tourist destination, as it is the first store after the Sagamore Bridge.
As of the
census2 of 2000, there were 18,721 people, 7,439 households, and 5,013 families residing in the town. The
population density was 176.7/km² (457.6/mi²). There were 9,648 housing units at an average density of 91.1/km² (235.8/mi²). The racial makeup of the town was 94.72%
White, 1.39%
Black or
African American, 0.53%
Native American, 0.71%
Asian, 0.01%
Pacific Islander, 0.99% from
other races, and 1.65% from two or more races.
Hispanic or
Latino of any race were 1.46% of the population.
There were 7,439 households out of which 28.2% had children under the age of 18 living with them, 54.6% were
married couples living together, 9.4% had a female householder with no husband present, and 32.6% were non-families. 26.8% of all households were made up of individuals and 11.8% had someone living alone who was 65 years of age or older. The average household size was 2.39 and the average family size was 2.90.
In the town the population was spread out with 21.9% under the age of 18, 9.4% from 18 to 24, 27.3% from 25 to 44, 23.8% from 45 to 64, and 17.6% who were 65 years of age or older. The median age was 39 years. For every 100 females there were 97.1 males. For every 100 females age 18 and over, there were 95.9 males.
The median income for a household in the town was $45,113, and the median income for a family was $51,603. Males had a median income of $40,217 versus $28,163 for females. The
per capita income for the town was $22,092. About 5.8% of families and 7.1% of the population were below the
poverty line, including 10.4% of those under age 18 and 4.7% of those age 65 or over.
Recent population trends
Sources:
Massachusetts Institute for Social and Economic Research and
U.S. Census Bureau, Population Division
Government
The Windmill at the Aptucxet Trading Post
Bourne is represented in the
Massachusetts House of Representatives as a part of three separate districts, the Second Plymouth, Fifth Barnstable, and a third district which includes portions of Falmouth and Mashpee. The town is represented in the
Massachusetts Senate as a part of the Plymouth and Barnstable district, which includes Falmouth, Kingston, Pembroke, Plymouth, Plympton, Sandwich and portions of Barnstable.
[2] The town is home to the Seventh Barracks of Troop D of the
Massachusetts State Police.
[3]
On the national level, Bourne 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.
The town uses the
open town meeting form of government, which is led by a
board of selectmen. The town hall, like the police station, lies on the mainland side of the Canal. There are four volunteer fire stations located throughout the town, and seven post offices for the town's eight
ZIP codes. The town's Jonathan Bourne Library is located near the Aptucxet Trading Post, just south of the Bourne Bridge, and is a member of the CLAMS (Cape Library Automated Materials Sharing) network.
Education
Bourne operates its own school department, with five public schools in the town. There are three elementary schools, Ella F. Hoxie, James F. Peebles and the Otis Memorial Elementary School. All four serve grades one through four, with Otis being the only school to host kindergarten and pre-kindergarten classes. The town's middle school serves grades five through eight, and
Bourne High School operates grades nine through twelve. The school's colors are purple and white, and their teams are the Canalmen and Lady Canalmen. Interestingly, their logo is one of the two main bridges in town; since both look alike, no one can say which one it actually is. Bourne's chief rival is Wareham High School.
Bourne High School's sports teams have been very successful in the recent past, including state championships in boy's hockey and girl's volleyball. Conference championships have been won by boy's tennis, soccer, and football. The baseball team recently performed very well in the 2007 MIAA State Tournament, losing to Cape-rival Harwich in the South Finals.
Additionally, Bourne is home to the
Upper Cape Cod Regional Technical School, located above Route 6W. The school serves Bourne, Falmouth and Sandwich on the Cape, as well as Wareham and Marion off it. The town also has three private schools: Saint Margaret's Regional in Buzzards Bay, a Catholic school which serves grades K-8; The Bridgeview School in Sagamore, a private
Montessori school serving Pre-K through 6th grades; and Beach Rose Waldorf School of Cape Cod, a
Waldorf school located just south of the Bourne Bridge, serving grades Pre-K through 8. The
Massachusetts Maritime Academy, a state maritime college, is also located in
Buzzards Bay at the western mouth of the Cape Cod Canal.
Transportation
There are no interstate highways at all on Cape Cod. As such, the largest highways in Bourne are
Route 3,
U.S. Route 6,
Route 25 and
Route 28. Route 6 enters the town through Wareham and splits in two along either side of the canal before becoming the Mid-Cape Highway, a four-lane divided highway beginning at the western approach to the Sagamore Bridge. Along the canal, it is officially labeled as US 6E & US 6W (although both routes are two-way). Route 3, also known as the Pilgrim Highway, ends at the junction of 6E and the
Sagamore Bridge. Up until 2006, the intersection was a rotary, which caused daily traffic nightmares during the busy summer tourist season. The rotary was removed, and final work should be done by 2007. Route 25's terminus is also in town, at the western approach of the
Bourne Bridge. At that point, US 6W and Route 28 (which is concurrent with Route 6 from there to the Wareham line) cross the bridge and create another four lane divided highway, officially known as McArthur Boulevard. At a rotary at the main gate to Otis,
Route 28A spurs off and heads towards Woods Hole in Falmouth. It is also at this point that the highway goes from being a surface road to a true limited-access highway.
The third bridge over the Canal is the vertical lift railroad bridge, which brings the railroad to the Cape. Although traffic along this railroad line no longer reaches the lower Cape, as it originally did, it still brings rail traffic to the base. There are no public air facilities in town; the town is roughly equidistantly located between the
Plymouth and
Barnstable municipal airports. The nearest national and international airport is
Logan International Airport in Boston. Additionally, there are ferry services to the islands in neighboring Falmouth.
References
1. Cape Cod, Martha's Vineyard and Nantucket Street Atlas. Easton, Mass.: Arrow Maps, Inc., 2004, p. 21.
2. Index of Legislative Representation by City and Town, from Mass.gov
3. Station D-7, SP Bourne
External links
★
Bourne official website
★
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