Interior House Painter Bourne MA

Bourne, Massachusetts
Town
Bourne Town Hall
Seal
Location in Barnstable County and the state of Massachusetts.
Coordinates: 41°44′28″N 70°35′58″W / 41.74111°N 70.59944°W / 41.74111; -70.59944Coordinates: 41°44′28″N 70°35′58″W / 41.74111°N 70.59944°W / 41.74111; -70.59944
Country	United States
State	Massachusetts
County	Barnstable
Settled	1640
Incorporated	1884
Communities	Barlows Landing Bourne Bourne Corners Buzzards Bay Cataumet Eustis Beach Gray Gables Monument Beach North Pocasset Patuisset Pocasset Sagamore Sagamore Beach Southwest Beach Sunrise Beach
Government
• Type	Open town meeting
• Board of Selectmen	Peter J. Meier, Chair Jared MacDonald, Vice Chair Melissa A Ferretti, Clerk Judith McLeod Froman Mary Jane Mastrangelo
• Town Administrator	Marlene McCollem
Area
• Total	52.9 sq mi (136.9 km)
• Land	40.7 sq mi (105.3 km2)
• Water	12.2 sq mi (31.6 km)
Elevation	42 ft (13 m)
Population  (2020)
• Total	20,452
• Density	503/sq mi (194.2/km2)
Time zone	UTC-5 (Eastern)
• Summer (DST)	UTC-4 (Eastern)
ZIP code	02532
Area code	508 / 774
GNIS feature ID	0619412
Website	www.townofbourne.com

Bourne ( BORN) is a town in Barnstable County, Massachusetts, United States. The population was 20,452 at the 2020 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 by Ezra Perry as a part of the town of Sandwich. Prior to its separation from Sandwich, the area was referred to as West Sandwich. It was officially incorporated in 1884, the last town to be incorporated in Barnstable County. It was named for Jonathan Bourne Sr. (1811–1889), whose ancestor Richard Bourne represented Sandwich in the first Massachusetts General Court and was the first preacher to the Mashpee Wampanoag on Cape Cod. 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 Cape Cod 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 the Cape. 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) are located within the town. Most of Bourne is on Cape Cod, Buzzards Bay and Sagamore Beach being the villages that are on the mainland side with Buttermilk bay forming the western edge of the peninsula (cape) and the Bourndale Road forming the northern boundary to the cape.

Bourne is 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 partially located in the town. The Air Force Space Command system PAVE PAWS northeast radar is located within Bourne’s borders inside Otis Air National Guard Base.

Bourne is home to an archaeological curiosity known as the “Bourne stone”, featuring markings whose origin and significance have not been conclusively established.

President Grover Cleveland owned a summer estate in Bourne Village, Gray Gables, that served as the Summer White House from 1893 to 1896. The building was destroyed in a fire in 1973.

Transportation

Roadways

The largest highways in Bourne are Massachusetts Route 3, U.S. Route 6, Massachusetts Route 25 and Massachusetts Route 28. Routes 6 and 28 enter the town concurrently from Wareham, bypassing Buzzards Bay to the north. At the Buzzards Bay Rotary the two routes split. Route 6 goes straight ahead and assumes its old alignment as a four-lane highway along the north side of the Cape Cod Canal, going through the village of Bournedale before becoming the Mid-Cape Highway, a four-lane limited-access highway beginning at the western approach to the Sagamore Bridge. Sandwich Road, the road parallel to Route 6 running along the south side of the canal, was formerly signed as Route 6W. Currently it is an unsigned two-lane state highway that is used as an alternate to Route 6. Sandwich Road becomes Massachusetts Route 6A east of the intersection with Cranberry Highway, a road that acts as a connector between Route 6A and Route 6 eastbound prior to the approach of the Sagamore Bridge. Route 28 splits off at the Buzzards Bay Rotary as a ramp headed to the Bourne Bridge and Route 25. Route 25’s terminus is just prior to the northern approach of the Bourne Bridge where the highway continues as Route 28 south. At the southern end of the bridge is the Bourne Rotary, where Sandwich Road intersects. Route 28 continues past the rotary as a four-lane divided highway, officially known as McArthur Boulevard. At the Otis Rotary, the intersection with the road leading to the main gate to Otis Air Force Base, Route 28A spurs off and heads towards Woods Hole in Falmouth. It is at this point that the highway goes from being a surface road to a true limited-access highway. Route 3, also known as the Pilgrims Highway, ends at the junction of Route 6, just prior to 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 in 2007.

Rail