Atwood House & Museum / Chatham Historical Society

Special Event, Lectures, Rentals, Research, and Administration are year round. See website for details. The Chatham Historical Society was organized in 1923. Three years later, the society acquired the Atwood House – a gambrel-roofed house built in 1752. Except for the addition of essential electricity, the old Atwood House is unchanged from when it was built and is furnished throughout as it was

during the 18th and 19th centuries. Over the years, museum galleries have been added to the original structure without affecting its integrity. As a result of the major expansion and renovation to the museum completed in 2005, there are now eight galleries with permanent exhibits, plus a large special exhibit gallery that doubles as a meeting room seating up to 100 people. On the grounds are the mid-20th century Nickerson North Beach Camp, the Chatham School Bells display, a Wampanoag mishoon (dugout canoe), and the Chatham Light Display, featuring the lantern house from Chatham’s twin light with its original Fresnel lens, which flashes its beam whenever the museum is open. The reception room of the museum houses a unique gift shop featuring tasteful gifts, books, and fashion accessories that relate to our collections. It is not necessary to pay admission to visit the shop. In 1923, a group of citizens founded the Chatham Historical Society to preserve the history of Chatham; one of Cape Cod's earliest fishing villages. In fact, Samuel Champlain made landfall in Chatham in 1606! There is a stone marker commemorating this event near Stage Harbor. The Society's headquarters is the Atwood House& Museum complex - featuring the historic home owned by Captain Joseph Atwood which was built in 1752. The institution also features a comprehensive archives & research facility, A China trade gallery, A Chatham fishing gallery, The Stallknecht Mural Barn, The Joseph C. Lincoln gallery, and much more.