Preservation of the cranberry bogs of Cape Cod as rural historic landscapes
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2009
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MA in Historic Preservation
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To view a complete copy of this thesis please contact Goucher College Special Collections & Archives at archives@goucher.edu or (410) 337-6075.
Abstract
This thesis examined the endangered cranberry bogs of Cape Cod, Massachusetts,
to determine how this unique form of American agriculture can be preserved.
It found many obstacles to continued cranberry farming on Cape Cod, but it also
found that the nineteenth century bogs, once a pillar of the economy, have historic and
scenic qualities that make them a regional and local cultural resource.
It determined that most Cape cranberry bogs meet the standards for listing on the
National Register of Historic Places as Rural Historic Landscapes and that recognition
would insure that their historic and agricultural values are factored into government
decisions affecting them.
The thesis reviews the natural and historic context in which Cape Cod, became
the birthplace of cranberry cultivation and then saw its small, contoured bogs struggle to
compete with large-scale production elsewhere. It outlines the environmental laws and
perceptions that began to undermine cranberry farming in the 1970s as population
skyrocketed and the Cape began urbanizing. It also examines the impact of government
purchases of bogs for open space.
Approximately 1,100 acres of working cranberry bogs were identified for the
study through town assessors’ records, aerial photographs and site visits. Standards used
by the National Register were applied to sixty-three bogs to determine whether they
continue to convey historic integrity.
The study recommends that fifty-five cranberry bogs be listed in a regional
Multiple Property nomination to the National Register of separate but related rural
historic sites and districts.