Bourne, Massachusetts

Bourne /ˈbɔrn/ is a town in Barnstable County, Massachusetts, United States. The population was 18,721 at the 2000 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 as a part of the town of Sandwich. It was officially incorporated in 1884 as the last town to be incorporated in Barnstable County. It was named for Jonathan Bourne Sr., whose father, Richard Bourne, served in the Massachusetts General Court at the time of settlement, as well as helping to found the settlement in Mashpee.^[1] 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 the Cape 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 Cape Cod. 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. All of Bourne is on Cape Cod, with Buttermilk bay forming the western edge of the peninsula (cape) and the Bourndale Road forming the northern boundary to the cape.

Bourne is also 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 also partially located in the town. The United States Air Force space command system PAVE PAWS northeast radar is located with in Bourne's borders inside of Otis Air National Guard Base.

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

Geography

According to the United States Census Bureau, the town has a total area of 52.8 square miles (136.8 km²), of which, 40.9 square miles (106.0 km²) of it is land and 11.9 square miles (30.8 km²) of it (22.53%) is water. Bourne is bordered by Sandwich to the east, Falmouth to the south, Wareham to the west, and Plymouth and Cape Cod Bay to the north. The town lies approximately twenty miles west of Barnstable, fifty-five miles south-southeast of Boston, and equidistantly from Providence, Rhode Island. The border with Plymouth and Wareham in Plymouth County constitutes the only landed border between Barnstable County and any other county (the borders with Dukes and Nantucket lie in Nantucket Sound). Major localities of Bourne include Bournedale and Buzzards Bay on the West side of the Cape Cod Canal, Sagamore, which straddles the canal, Bourne village, Monument Beach, Pocasset, and Cataumet on the East side of the canal.

Bourne's geography was formed around its location on Buzzards Bay and the Cape Cod Canal. There are several necks (the local term for a peninsula) and islands along the shore, which create several small coves and harbors. There are also several small ponds and rivers, all of which (except the Herring River, which feeds directly into the Canal) feed into Buzzards Bay. The largest of these, Buttermilk Bay, lies along the border with Wareham. Also, because of the large parcel of land occupied by Otis A.N.G.B., the majority of settlement is either along the shores of the Canal or along Buzzards Bay. There is also a small neighborhood (South Sagamore) located between the Canal and the northern boundaries of the base. The town also has a town forest and a small portion of the Shawme-Crowell State Forest (which is located along Otis's northern boundary). There are also many beaches along its shores, mostly along Buzzards Bay (although Sagamore Beach lies along Cape Cod Bay).

Demographics

As of the census^[9] of 2000, there were 18,721 people, 7,439 households, and 5,013 families residing in the town. The population density was 457.6 people per square mile (176.7/km²). There were 9,648 housing units at an average density of 235.8 per square mile (91.1/km²). The racial makeup of the town was 94.72% White, 1.39% Black or African American, 0.53% Native American, 0.71% Asian, 0.01% Pacific Islander, 0.99% from other races, and 1.65% from two or more races. Hispanic or Latino of any race were 1.46% of the population.

There were 7,439 households out of which 28.2% had children under the age of 18 living with them, 54.6% were married couples living together, 9.4% had a female householder with no husband present, and 32.6% were non-families. 26.8% of all households were made up of individuals and 11.8% had someone living alone who was 65 years of age or older. The average household size was 2.39 and the average family size was 2.90.

In the town the population was spread out with 21.9% under the age of 18, 9.4% from 18 to 24, 27.3% from 25 to 44, 23.8% from 45 to 64, and 17.6% who were 65 years of age or older. The median age was 39 years. For every 100 females there were 97.1 males. For every 100 females age 18 and over, there were 95.9 males.

The median income for a household in the town was $45,113, and the median income for a family was $51,603. Males had a median income of $40,217 versus $28,163 for females. The per capita income for the town was $22,092. About 5.8% of families and 7.1% of the population were below the poverty line, including 10.4% of those under age 18 and 4.7% of those age 65 or over.

Recent population trends

Sources: Massachusetts Institute for Social and Economic Research and U.S. Census Bureau, Population Division

Government

Bourne is represented in the Massachusetts House of Representatives as a part of three separate districts, the Second Plymouth, Fifth Barnstable, and a third district which includes portions of Falmouth and Mashpee. The town is represented in the Massachusetts Senate as a part of the Plymouth and Barnstable district, which includes Falmouth, Kingston, Pembroke, Plymouth, Plympton, Sandwich and portions of Barnstable.^[10] The town is home to the Seventh Barracks of Troop D of the Massachusetts State Police.^[11]

On the national level, Bourne is a part of Massachusetts's 10th congressional district, and is currently represented by Bill Delahunt. The state's senior (Class I) member of the United States Senate, re-elected in 2008, is John Kerry. The junior (Class II) Senator, Scott Brown, was elected January 19, 2010 in a special election to fill the vacancy created by the death of Ted Kennedy.

The town uses the open town meeting form of government, which is led by a board of selectmen. The town hall, like the police station, lies on the mainland side of the Canal. There are four fire stations located throughout the town, and seven post offices for the town's eight ZIP codes. The town's Jonathan Bourne Library is located near the Aptucxet Trading Post, just south of the Bourne Bridge, and is a member of the Cape Libraries Automated Materials Sharing library network.

Education

Bourne operates its own school department, with six public schools in the town. There are three elementary schools, Ella F. Hoxie, James F. Peebles, Bourndale Elementary School and the Otis Memorial Elementary School. All three serve grades one through four, with Otis and Bournedale being the only two schools to host kindergarten and pre-kindergarten classes. The town's middle school serves grades five through eight, and Bourne High School operates grades nine through twelve. The school's colors are purple and white, and their teams are the Canalmen and Lady Canalmen. Their logo includes the Railroad Bridge, one of the three bridges crossing the Cape Cod Canal, and the only one that looks different from the other two. Bourne's chief rival is Wareham High School.

Bourne High School's sports teams have been very successful in the recent past, including state championships in boy's hockey and girl's volleyball. State finalists include girl's volleyball, golf, and boy's soccer. Conference championships have been won by boy's tennis, soccer, and football. The baseball team recently performed very well in the 2007 MIAA State Tournament, losing to Cape-rival Harwich in the South Finals. Bourne also perennially has a moderately successful ice hockey program.

Additionally, Bourne is home to the Upper Cape Cod Regional Technical School, located off Sandwich Road. The school serves Bourne, Falmouth and Sandwich on the Cape, as well as Wareham and Marion (off Cape). The town also has three private schools: Saint Margaret's Regional in Buzzards Bay, a Catholic school which serves grades K-8; The Bridgeview School in Sagamore, a private Montessori school serving Pre-K through 6th grades; and the Waldorf School of Cape Cod, a Waldorf school located just south of the Bourne Bridge, serving grades Pre-K through 8. The Massachusetts Maritime Academy, a state maritime college, is also located in Buzzards Bay at the western mouth of the Cape Cod Canal.

Sports

Bourne is home to the Bourne Braves of the Cape Cod Baseball League.

Transportation

There are no interstate highways at all on Cape Cod. As such, the largest highways in Bourne are Route 3, U.S. Route 6, Route 25 and 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 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 also 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.

The third bridge over the Canal is the vertical lift railroad bridge, which brings the railroad to the Cape. Although traffic along this railroad line no longer reaches the lower Cape, as it originally did, it still brings rail traffic to the upper and mid-Cape. Freight rail service is provided by the Massachusetts Coastal Railroad. The Cape Cod Central Railroad operates seasonal tourist excursions from Hyannis to Sagamore, with occasional special excursions to Buzzards Bay village. The nearest inter-city (Amtrak) passenger rail stations are Providence and Boston's South Station. Nearby are the Middleborough/Lakeville and Kingston/Route 3 stations of the MBTA's commuter rail system, providing direct service to Boston.

There are no public air facilities in town; the town is roughly equidistantly located between the Plymouth and Barnstable municipal airports. The nearest national and international airports are Logan International Airport in Boston and T. F. Green Airport outside Providence, RI. Additionally, there are ferry services to the islands in neighboring Falmouth.

Notable residents

• Thomas Akins, Mayor (unofficial), Beer expert, local folklorian
• Peter Gammons, sportswriter
• Mark Fayne, NHL
• Robert Kraft, Owner of New England Patriots

References

1. ^ Cape Cod, Martha's Vineyard and Nantucket Street Atlas. Easton, Mass.: Arrow Maps, Inc., 2004, p. 21.
2. ^ "TOTAL POPULATION (P1), 2010 Census Summary File 1, All County Subdivisions within Massachusetts". United States Census Bureau. http://factfinder2.census.gov/bkmk/table/1.0/en/DEC/10_SF1/P1/0400000US25.06000. Retrieved September 13, 2011. 
3. ^ "Massachusetts by Place and County Subdivision - GCT-T1. Population Estimates". United States Census Bureau. http://factfinder.census.gov/servlet/GCTTable?_bm=y&-geo_id=04000US25&-_box_head_nbr=GCT-T1&-ds_name=PEP_2009_EST&-_lang=en&-format=ST-9&-_sse=on. Retrieved July 12, 2011. 
4. ^ "1990 Census of Population, General Population Characteristics: Massachusetts". US Census Bureau. December 1990. Table 76: General Characteristics of Persons, Households, and Families: 1990. 1990 CP-1-23. http://www.census.gov/prod/cen1990/cp1/cp-1-23.pdf. Retrieved July 12, 2011. 
5. ^ "1980 Census of the Population, Number of Inhabitants: Massachusetts". US Census Bureau. December 1981. Table 4. Populations of County Subdivisions: 1960 to 1980. PC80-1-A23. http://www2.census.gov/prod2/decennial/documents/1980a_maABC-01.pdf. Retrieved July 12, 2011. 
6. ^ "1950 Census of Population". Bureau of the Census. 1952. Section 6, Pages 21-10 and 21-11, Massachusetts Table 6. Population of Counties by Minor Civil Divisions: 1930 to 1950. http://www2.census.gov/prod2/decennial/documents/23761117v1ch06.pdf. Retrieved July 12, 2011. 
7. ^ "1920 Census of Population". Bureau of the Census. Number of Inhabitants, by Counties and Minor Civil Divisions. Pages 21-5 through 21-7. Massachusetts Table 2. Population of Counties by Minor Civil Divisions: 1920, 1910, and 1920. http://www2.census.gov/prod2/decennial/documents/41084506no553ch2.pdf. Retrieved July 12, 2011. 
8. ^ "1890 Census of the Population". Department of the Interior, Census Office. Pages 179 through 182. Massachusetts Table 5. Population of States and Territories by Minor Civil Divisions: 1880 and 1890. http://www2.census.gov/prod2/decennial/documents/41084506no553ch2.pdf. Retrieved July 12, 2011. 
9. ^ "American FactFinder". United States Census Bureau. http://factfinder.census.gov. Retrieved 2008-01-31. 
10. ^ Index of Legislative Representation by City and Town, from Mass.gov
11. ^ Station D-7, SP Bourne
12. ^ "Registration and Party Enrollment Statistics as of October 15, 2008" (PDF). Massachusetts Elections Division. http://www.sec.state.ma.us/ele/elepdf/st_county_town_enroll_breakdown_08.pdf. Retrieved 2010-05-08. 

External links

• Bourne official website
• Bourne travel guide from Wikitravel