BOURNE – An overcast day and an unfamiliar route and suddenly we are in 1627 at the Bourne Historical Society’s Aptucxet Trading Post Museum Complex. Lots to see here spanning almost 400 years of Cape Cod history.
We focused on the Gray Gables Railroad Station, built for President Grover Cleveland during the years 1893 to 1896 for access to his fishing lodge overlooking Buzzards Bay. Forget Hyannisport: This was the first Summer White House on Cape Cod. The tiny Victorian train station was brought here to the museum complex beside the Cape Cod Canal and preserved for all to admire.
Nearby is the Joseph Jefferson Windmill, built for the celebrated actor Joseph Jefferson, the 1900 version of Brad Pitt. Jefferson, whose most famous role was Rip Van Winkle, was also an artist and his home, Crow’s Nest, included the full-size replica of a Dutch windmill for use as his art studio.
The windmill is now preserved at Aptucxet as an art studio with working artists demonstrating their crafts and displaying their wares.
Lots going on here in the summer, including the museum’s Second Annual Train Show and Sale comes up on June 25, 2016 from 10am to 3pm.
