Helltown, a cobbled-together winter shantytown of Portuguese dorymen’s huts at Herring Cove in the late 1800s, was a far cry from the tidy fishing village founded on Long Point in 1818. The houses from the Long Point village were floated to Provincetown in 1858 and eventually adorned with blue plaques. The Helltown shacks were far less elaborate. The fishermen of Helltown arose before sunrise to trek miles of frozen trails to Herring Cove. They warmed up around crackling stoves, donned oil clothes and woolen mittens, and at times braved nor’easters and gales to fish for cod and haddock. They eventually moved into rustic shacks, sleeping on makeshift beds. After hours at sea, they loaded their catch onto horse-drawn carts driven by Irish and Portuguese teamsters. The fish were packed on ice in Provincetown and delivered by train to Boston and New York. Helltown was well known; a Boston Globe headline from 1896 read, “Caught in the Gale: Fishermen All Reached Home, But Only After a Great Struggle.” Join us to explore the history and legends of Helltown and its courageous dorymen.

Stephan Cohen, a retired associate professor of education, modern dancer, and author of The Gay
Liberation Youth Movement in New York: “An Army of Lovers Cannot Fail” is a year-rounder who has
spent many a liberating summer at Herring Cove, or New Beach. He became interested in Helltown after
reading Provincetown classics such as Time and the Town by Mary Heaton Vorse. He is currently writing
a book about Helltown.