Hyannis Harbor stands on the sandy Cape Cod peninsula, formed by glacial deposits more than 23,000 years ago, where the Wampanoags of the Algonquian Nation were among the first inhabitants and where Hyannis, one of Barnstable’s seven villages, was settled in 1639 by English farmers who soon turned to fishing. In the 19th century, wind-powered vessels dominated maritime commerce, and by 1840 more than 150 sea captains lived near the sheltered harbor. Today the harbor remains a year-round working center with fishing fleets unloading catches for local markets and ferries making daily trips to Martha’s Vineyard and Nantucket. Bismore Park, named for Ralph P. Bismore, a Barnstable High School graduate killed overseas while serving in the Army during World War II, overlooks the harbor and is home each May through October to seven artists’ shanties named for Barnstable’s seven villages. Begun in 2005 as part of Barnstable’s arts-oriented downtown revitalization effort, the shanties provide affordable temporary seaside studio space for Cape Cod artists to work and sell handmade or hand-crafted work, serving as an incubator for emerging and established artists. The program grew from 11 artists in its first year to more than 100 participants each season, with artists changing weekly and selected through a juried process. In 2012, downtown Hyannis was designated the Hyannis HyArts Cultural District by the Massachusetts Cultural Council, the first such district on Cape Cod and at the time the sixth in Massachusetts, encompassing cultural attractions, performance spaces, studios, galleries, walks, and locally owned shops and restaurants. In the spring of 2018, the artist shanty program expanded to the Harbor Overlook across from Aselton Park, linked to Hyannis Harbor by the Walkway-to-the-Sea.