The Greatest Beach: A History of the Cape Cod National Seashore

Ethan Carr

ISBN 10: 0820355585 / ISBN 13: 9780820355580

Published by University of Georgia Press, 2019

About this Item

In the mid-nineteenth century, Thoreau recognized the importance of preserving the complex and fragile landscape of Cape Cod, with its weathered windmills, expansive beaches, dunes, wetlands, harbors, and the lives that flourished here, supported by the maritime industries and saltworks. One hundred years later, the National Park Service-working with a group of concerned locals, then-senator John F. Kennedy, and other supporters-took on the challenge of meeting the needs of a burgeoning public in this region of unique natural beauty and cultural heritage.To those who were settled in the remote wilds of the Cape, the impending development was threatening, and as the award-winning historian Ethan Carr explains, the visionary plan to create a national seashore came very close to failure. Success was achieved through unprecedented public outreach, as the National Park Service and like-minded Cape Codders worked to convince entire communities of the long-term value of a park that could accommodate millions of tourists. Years of contentious negotiations resulted in the innovative compromise between private and public interests now known as the "Cape Cod model."The Greatest Beach is essential reading for all who are concerned with protecting the nation's gradually diminishing cultural landscapes. In his final analysis of Cape Cod National Seashore, Carr poses provocative questions about how to balance the conservation of natural and cultural resources in regions threatened by increasing visitation and development.Published with the generous support of Southern Highlands Reserve Publications.

Seller Inventory # 0109046

Bibliographic Details

• Title: The Greatest Beach: A History of the Cape Cod National Seashore
• Publisher: University of Georgia Press
• Publication Date: 2019
• Language: English
• ISBN 10: 0820355585
• ISBN 13: 9780820355580
• Binding: Hardback
• Condition: As New

About this title

Synopsis

In the mid-nineteenth century, Thoreau recognized the importance of preserving the complex and fragile landscape of Cape Cod, with its weathered windmills, expansive beaches, dunes, wetlands, harbors, and the lives that flourished here, supported by the maritime industries and saltworks. One hundred years later, the National Park Service―working with a group of concerned locals, then-senator John F. Kennedy, and other supporters―took on the challenge of meeting the needs of a burgeoning public in this region of unique natural beauty and cultural heritage.

To those who were settled in the remote wilds of the Cape, the impending development was threatening, and as the award-winning historian Ethan Carr explains, the visionary plan to create a national seashore came very close to failure. Success was achieved through unprecedented public outreach, as the National Park Service and like-minded Cape Codders worked to convince entire communities of the long-term value of a park that could accommodate millions of tourists. Years of contentious negotiations resulted in the innovative compromise between private and public interests now known as the “Cape Cod model.”

The Greatest Beach is essential reading for all who are concerned with protecting the nation’s gradually diminishing cultural landscapes. In his final analysis of Cape Cod National Seashore, Carr poses provocative questions about how to balance the conservation of natural and cultural resources in regions threatened by increasing visitation and development.

Published with the generous support of Southern Highlands Reserve Publications

About the Author

ETHAN CARR, FASLA, is a professor of landscape architecture at the University of Massachusetts–Amherst and an international authority on America’s public landscapes. He is the author of Wilderness by Design: Landscape Architecture and the National Park Service and Mission 66: Modernism and the National Park Dilemma. He is also the editor of Public Nature: Scenery, History, and Park Design and of volume 8 of the Papers of Frederick Law Olmsted, and LALH series editor of Designing the American Park.