Samuel Smith Tavern Site

In Wellfleet, Massachusetts, within the Cape Cod National Seashore, this archaeological site preserves the remains of a late seventeenth-century tavern operated by Samuel Smith, owner of Great Island, which shelters Wellfleet Harbor. Reached by the Great Island Trail, the site yielded thousands of artifacts in excavations conducted in 1969 and 1970, including clay pipes, drinking-related objects, a harpoon, and a chopping block made from whale vertebrae. Together, these finds illuminate both the daily life of a tavern and the maritime character of outer Cape Cod. The site was added to the National Register of Historic Places in 1977.

Wellfleet, Massachusetts · United States