Debra Lawless

Provincetown Debra Lawless

Between the Portland Gale of 1898 and the start of the Second World War, Provincetown, Massachusetts, was transformed from a rough-and-tumble whaling and fishing village into an anything-goes destination for free-loving artists and tourists. When the Great War curtailed European travel, droves of artists flocked to the town. Among those who came to land's end were painter Charles W. Hawthorne, who launched the nation's oldest artists' colony, and playwright Eugene O'Neill, whose premier play was produced by the fledgling Provincetown Players. Historian Debra Lawless chronicles the history of the town with tales of hearty sailors from Theodore Roosevelt's Atlantic Fleet, Prohibition-era bootleggers, Portuguese fishermen and a "madman" firebug intent on burning down the town during the Great Depression. Explore the quirky yet enchanting streets of Provincetown.