Things to Do in Chatham: A Twin Lighthouse's Long Story, a Seal-Packed Wilderness, and a Working Fish Pier

Chatham Light: Twin Towers, Five Rebuilds, and a 1923 Split That Still Shapes the Cape

Chatham Light's history is more complicated -- and more interesting -- than the single white tower visitors see today suggests. The station began in 1808 as twin wooden octagonal towers, each about 40 feet tall and built as a pair specifically so mariners could distinguish Chatham from other lights along the coast; Congress funded the project with a $2,000 appropriation in 1808 on top of $5,000 approved in 1806, the towers were mounted on movable skids to allow repositioning as the harbor's channels shifted, and Samuel Nye became the first keeper under President Jefferson. The wooden towers deteriorated and were rebuilt in brick in 1841 by contractor Winslow Lewis for $6,750, and in 1857 both towers were upgraded with fourth-order Fresnel lenses.

The towers were rebuilt again in the late 1870s as iron-and-brick twin range lights -- sources disagree on the exact year, with some citing 1877 and others 1879, and this page states both rather than picking one arbitrarily. One detailed account attributes the confusion to two separate events getting conflated: severe coastal erosion documented by then-keeper Josiah Hardy Jr. prompted construction of new 48-foot conical cast-iron towers set farther back from the eroding bluff, while the old, abandoned brick south tower -- by then reportedly just 27 inches from the cliff edge -- collapsed into the bank in September 1879, after the new towers were already standing. That's a plausible reconciliation of the two dates, not a confirmed one.

The most consequential change came in 1923, when the north tower was physically relocated some 12 miles north to Nauset Beach in Eastham, where it still operates today as Nauset Light -- ending 115 years of twin-light operation at Chatham and leaving the single tower that remains active today. The Coast Guard automated the light in 1982, and it remains an active federal aid to navigation. The original lens and lantern from the earlier towers are preserved at the Atwood House Museum, the Chatham Historical Society's museum a short distance away.

Because it's active Coast Guard property, the grounds are closed to the public outside of scheduled tour times. As of this research, the U.S. Coast Guard Auxiliary Flotilla 11-1 runs free guided tours on Wednesdays from 1 to 3 p.m. through August, with an alternating Wednesday schedule in spring and fall; tower climbers must be at least 45 inches tall and wear closed-toe shoes. Parking at the lighthouse itself is limited -- the nearest option, the Chatham Light Beach lot on Main Street, has a 30-minute limit -- so most visitors park downtown and walk east along Main Street, where the tower is visible from the public sidewalk and overlook year-round even outside tour hours. Confirm the current season's tour dates directly with the Flotilla 11-1 website before planning a visit, since the schedule is subject to change.

Monomoy National Wildlife Refuge: A Seal-and-Tern Wilderness Reachable Only by Boat

Monomoy National Wildlife Refuge was established in 1944 to protect migratory-bird habitat and today totals 7,921 acres, including a 3,500-acre Monomoy Wilderness Area designated in 1970. Most of the refuge is barrier islands extending roughly 8 miles off Chatham's "elbow," reachable only by boat, plus a mainland Morris Island unit within Chatham itself. The refuge's own visitor center at 30 Wikis Way has closed permanently, but a seasonal information kiosk near the flagpole operates 10 a.m. to 4 p.m. from Memorial Day to Labor Day. The Wikis Way parking lot -- reached via Route 28 East to Morris Island Road, just past Chatham Light on Shore Road -- fills up fast, so early arrival matters; from there it's roughly a quarter-mile walk to the trailhead, which branches into the Morris Island Trail (just under a mile), a short Interpretive Trail, a Beach Trail, and a Right-of-Way Access Trail. Hiking the mainland unit is free; getting out to the offshore islands themselves requires a boat, and operators including Monomoy Island Excursions (out of Harwich Port) and Stage Harbor Excursions run seasonal trips, typically May through October.

The offshore islands host South Monomoy's gray seal haul-out, the largest on the U.S. Atlantic Coast, with an estimated 30,000 to 50,000 seals using refuge lands and waters to rest, breed, and feed -- visible even without a boat trip from Chatham Light or the Fish Pier's viewing deck during the May-through-October season. The refuge's beaches also hold the highest concentration of nesting Piping Plovers in New England and the largest Common Tern nesting colony on the Atlantic seaboard, exceeding 17,000 pairs as of a 2022 U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service count.

That same seal population is the documented food source behind Cape Cod's rebounding white shark population, and the actual research infrastructure sits in Chatham, not just the sightings. The Atlantic White Shark Conservancy, a nonprofit headquartered at its Shark Center at 235 Orleans Road in North Chatham, has been the primary funder of the Massachusetts Division of Marine Fisheries' white shark research program -- led by state marine biologist Dr. Greg Skomal -- since 2013. The Conservancy also maintains the public Sharktivity app and the White Shark Logbook and Catalog, which it describes as the most comprehensive publicly available white shark data set for the Northwest Atlantic.

Chatham Fish Pier: A Working Dayboat Fleet, Not a Backdrop

Chatham Fish Pier, at 54 Barcliff Avenue Extension, was built in 1946 -- described at the time as the largest single investment the town of Chatham had ever made -- and rebuilt and modernized in 1980. A more recent renovation exceeding $1.5 million added the spacious observation platform visitors use today, with wire-mesh safety barriers and ADA-compliant elevator access. This is a working commercial pier, not a staged attraction: a dayboat fleet runs 3 to 125 miles offshore daily for haddock, cod, flounder, lobster, pollock, and other species, with boats typically starting to return "shortly after noon, depending on the tide and the fishery," according to local historical accounts -- their catch is iced on the pier and shipped out to fish markets in Boston, New York, Gloucester, and New Bedford. Historically, premium Chatham-landed fish were sold under the name "chathams" at New York's Fulton Fish Market, a specific, checkable detail that separates the pier's history from generic harbor-town color.

Seals -- sometimes a dozen or more -- gather below the pier while the fleet unloads, waiting for scraps, making this one of the more reliable seal-viewing spots in town even without a boat trip to Monomoy. The Boston Globe's 2015 feature "The old men and the sea..." documented the pier's living commercial-fishing culture, a real point of difference from more purely tourist-oriented Cape harbors. The on-site Chatham Pier Fish Market operates seasonally, roughly mid-April through late October, serving chowder, fish and chips, and lobster rolls at outdoor picnic tables. Visitor parking is limited to roughly 30 spaces in the upper lot (several reserved for handicap placards); on-street parking isn't permitted, so overflow visitors typically use Main Street lots (about a 15-minute walk) or a paid seasonal shuttle from the Eldredge lot.

The Cape Cod Baseball League: Chatham Anglers at Veterans Field

Chatham was a charter member when the Cape Cod Baseball League formally organized in 1923, and the Anglers still play at Veterans Field, 702 Main Street, built starting in 1925 as a war memorial and opened in the spring of 1927. Notable alumni who played there on their way to Major League Baseball include Thurman Munson, Jeff Bagwell, and Kris Bryant. The field has hosted CCBL All-Star Games against Team USA Olympic-preparation squads twice, in 1984 and again in 2000 -- the 2000 game drew an estimated 10,000 spectators -- and Chatham has won CCBL championships in 1967, 1982, 1992, 1996, and 1998.

For the 2026 season, the Anglers' schedule runs 40 games (20 home, 20 away), opening on the road at Bourne on June 13 before their home opener against Cotuit at Veterans Field on June 14; the league's All-Star Game falls on July 18 at Harwich, the regular season wraps August 2 at Yarmouth-Dennis, and a best-of-three postseason begins August 4. As with the rest of the Cape Cod Baseball League, admission to Anglers games is free, with donation buckets passed during games to help fund the league -- a genuine, low-cost summer evening for anyone in town. Confirm the current schedule and any weather-related changes directly with the Anglers or the league before planning a visit.

Chatham Bars Inn: A 1914 Resort Forbes Named a "Hotel Icon"

Chatham Bars Inn opened in 1914, founded by Boston stockbroker Charles Hardy as a luxury hunting lodge overlooking Aunt Lydia's Cove, with then-innovative amenities including an onsite farm, soundproofed rooms, and baths with both fresh and salt water. During World War II, the Inn sheltered Princess Juliana of the Netherlands and her daughters in exile; past guests have included Henry Ford and William Rockefeller. The property underwent a major renovation starting in 2006 and remains family-owned, operating year-round.

The Inn holds Forbes Travel Guide Five-Star status again in the 2026 Star Awards, per its own press release. In 2025, Forbes went further, naming Chatham Bars Inn to its "Hotel Icons" list -- one of only six U.S. hotels honored, alongside fellow Lower Cape property Wequassett Resort & Golf Club in Harwich -- a designation reserved for hotels that have operated continuously for more than 100 years under the same name while holding a Five-Star rating. The Inn has also previously been named Condé Nast Traveler's #1 resort in Massachusetts.

Two National Register Historic Districts: Old Village and South Chatham Village

Chatham has real, National Register-documented architectural heritage beyond generic "quaint New England village" description. The Old Village Historic District, downtown, was listed on the National Register in 2001 through a joint application by the Old Village Association and the Chatham Historical Commission, and holds the town's greatest concentration of residential buildings spanning the 18th through 20th centuries. Its landmarks include the Atwood House Museum itself (347 Stage Harbor Road, built around 1752 and operated by the Chatham Historical Society since 1927, with 12 galleries and historic outbuildings), the Godfrey Windmill (an eight-sided smock-type gristmill built in 1797 and moved to its current spot in Chase Park in 1955), the Eldredge Public Library (completed in 1896 and separately listed on the National Register), and sea-captain homes including the David Howes House and the Molly Hinckley House, dating to around 1746. A practical walking-tour route starts at the Main Street traffic rotary at the top of the hill and covers roughly one to one-and-a-half miles in two to three hours.

The South Chatham Village Historic District, well south of downtown, was listed on the National Register more recently -- August 29, 2022 -- and stretches eastward from the Harwich town line along Main Street to Cockle Cove Road, with extensions onto Deep Water Lane, Forest Beach Road, and Pleasant Street toward the shore. Per Wikipedia, it comprises roughly 105 contributing structures spanning Cape Cod vernacular building traditions dating to the 1740s through Federal, Greek Revival, Gothic Revival, Italianate, Queen Anne, Craftsman, and mid-century styles; notable stops include the South Chatham Community Church and adjacent Bethel Cemetery (established 1780) and the Queen Anne-style South Chatham School (1903). Both districts consist overwhelmingly of private homes, so they're best seen from the public road rather than treated as a ticketed attraction.

The Chatham Squire: A Main Street Fixture Since 1968

The Chatham Squire, at 487 Main Street, has operated as a gathering place for locals and visitors since 1968 -- nearly 60 years as of this research -- with the rustic woodwork, antique memorabilia, and nautical accents of a traditional New England tavern. Beyond seafood and classic American food and a full bar, the Squire is known for live music from local musicians most nights of the week, and it runs an adjacent retail shop across the street selling its own branded merchandise. As of this research, it's open daily from 11:30 a.m. to 1 a.m. -- worth confirming directly if planning a specific visit, since restaurant hours change.

What This Page Doesn't Cover

This page focuses on what direct research could confirm: Chatham Light's layered rebuild history and current Coast Guard Auxiliary tour schedule, Monomoy National Wildlife Refuge's access points and wildlife, the Fish Pier's working fishing fleet and viewing setup, the Chatham Anglers' 2026 schedule at Veterans Field, Chatham Bars Inn's history and current Forbes recognition, the Old Village and South Chatham Village historic districts, and the Chatham Squire. It does not catalog Chatham's beaches, full events calendar, or every restaurant and shop in town -- those weren't researched for this page. A few things are stated as open rather than guessed: sources disagree by two years (1877 vs. 1879) on exactly when Chatham Light's iron towers were built, and the precise current schedule for Monomoy boat-tour operators and their pricing wasn't independently confirmed this pass. Hours, tour schedules, admission, and event details above change from year to year -- confirm current details directly with each organization, the Chatham Chamber of Commerce, or the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service before visiting.