Eldia

The Universalist Society Meetinghouse is an historic Greek Revival meetinghouse at 3 River Road in Orleans, Massachusetts. Built in 1834, it was the only Universalist church built in Orleans, and is architecturally a well-preserved local example of Greek Revival architecture. The Meeting House is now the home of the Orleans Historical Society and is known as the Meeting House Museum. It was listed on the National Register of Historic Places in 1999.

Orleans Cove is the cove in the town of Orleans, Massachusetts Looking for a place to establish a settlement, Samuel de Champlain came ashore at Orleans Cove in 1605. Champlain liked the area, but commented that "too many people already lived there". Champlain went back north, landing in Nova Scotia at an inlet on the south shore of Baie Francaise, which Champlain named Port Royal. Some claim that this was the first permanent French settlement in Canada, although there is some evidence that Breton fishermen had settled in the Newfoundland area by this time. Orleans Cove was the landfall of various French transatlantic telegraph cables. The French Cable Station Museum is just inland from the cove. The French Cable Station Museum houses some of the original equipment used to lay the French transatlantic telegraph cables. The first French cable was laid in 1869 from Le Minou near Brest to St. Pierre and then on to Duxbury. In 1891, the French cables reaching the US were grouped together at the French Cable Station at Orleans Cove. These cables allowed for communication between North America and France.

Sea Call Farm is a historic farm in Orleans, Massachusetts, United States. It was listed on the National Register of Historic Places in June 2008.The property was actively farmed by William A. and Bertha Fiske during 1931–1950, after William's retirement from railway employment. It was one of many small market-garden farms in the Barnstable County, but now is "the only surviving agricultural ensemble in Orleans and one of the few in the Cape Cod region. Its significance is enhanced by the extensive collection of diaries, account books, and other papers that detail life on the farm...." It was acquired from the Fiske family by the Town of Orleans in 1987, for conservation.

The Nauset Archaeological District (or "Coast Guard Beach Site,19BN374" or "North Salt Pond Site,19BN390") is a National Historic Landmark District in Eastham, Massachusetts. Located within the southern portion of the Cape Cod National Seashore, this area was the location of substantial ancient settlements since at least 4,000 BC.The first written account of this area was by Samuel de Champlain in 1605, in which he described sailing into a bay surrounded by the wigwams of the Nauset tribe (see map, right). The account detailed the settlement's crops (e.g. corn, beans, squash, tobacco), housing (round wigwams covered with thatched reeds), and clothing (woven from grasses, hemp, and animal skins). De Champlain's map also depicts one of their fishing methods, using a conical weir constructed of saplings and grass rope, designed to capture fish swimming from the marsh into a pond. To farm the land, they used stone hoes and fire-hardened wood tools. About 150 people were living at the site around Nauset Harbor, and about 500-600 were living around Stage Harbor to the south in the area of present-day Chatham. Archaeological studies have since shown that these settlements were occupied year-round.After 1620, English colonists from the settlement at Plymouth visited Nauset many times to buy food and trade. In addition to goods for trade, however, the Europeans also unwittingly introduced diseases. Many of them died as a result, and their population declined drastically. In 1639 about half of the English from Plymouth relocated to the Nauset area, settling the town that is now Eastham. The district was added to the National Register of Historic Places in 1993. The area can be visited via the Fort Hill area of the Cape Cod National Seashore, off U. S. Route 6, where the Fort Hill and Red Maple Swamp trails wind from the top of the hill to the marsh and beyond.

The Cove Burying Ground is an historic cemetery located just south of MA 6 and Corliss Way in Eastham, Massachusetts, US. It is Eastham's oldest cemetery, dating to c. 1646. It was laid out not long after the town's first meeting house was built nearby. Although there are no graves marked with 17th-century markers, it is virtually certain that some of Eastham's early settlers are buried here. It was the town's only burying ground until the establishment in 1720 of the Bridge Road Cemetery. The cemetery remained in active use until about 1770. Families placed memorial markers in there in the late 19th and early 20th centuries.Three of the Mayflower's 1620 original passengers have marked headstones here. They are: Giles Hopkins (1607–1690) Lt. Joseph Rogers (1608–1678) Constance Hopkins (1605–1677)The cemetery was added to the National Register of Historic Places in 1999.

The Edward Penniman House and Barn is a historic site in Eastham, Massachusetts, on Fort Hill, which is currently protected by the Cape Cod National Seashore and home to Indian Rock. The house was built in 1868 and added to the National Register of Historic Places in 1976.

The Fort Hill Rural Historic District is a historic district encompassing two farmsteads with more than 200 years of history in Eastham, Massachusetts. The district is a 100-acre (40 ha) area of forest, fields, and salt marshes that was owned by the Knowles and Penninman families from 1742 to 1941. It has been part of the Cape Cod National Seashore since 1961. The area is dominated by the rise called "Fort Hill", which provides extensive views of the area and has its own rich history. The district includes the Edward Penniman House and Barn, previously listed on the National Register of Historic Places, and the Nauset Archeological District, a National Historic Landmark.The district was listed on the National Register of Historic Places in 2001.

The Collins Cottages Historic District is a historic district encompassing a summer cottage resort in southern Eastham, Massachusetts. It consists of a group of small cottages built by Lewis and Bernard Collins in 1928–29 on a parcel of land on the shore of Town Cove, and were typical of a type of accommodation offered to tourists of the time. The property is located northeast of the Orleans rotary, and is accessed via a section of the old state highway. The cottages continue to be operated as summer accommodations by members of the Collins family.The district was listed on the National Register of Historic Places in 1999.

Jeremiah's Gutter, also called Jeremy’s Dream was a canal located on the border of Orleans and Eastham, Massachusetts, the first canal to cut across the peninsula of Cape Cod. It connected Cape Cod Bay in the west to the Atlantic Ocean in the east. It was active for over 100 years, although it gradually fell out of use and was replaced by the Cape Cod Canal.

Sipson Island is an island on the eastern coast of Cape Cod, located on Pleasant Bay in Orleans, Massachusetts. It has a total area of 25 acres (10 ha).The Island has been privately owned since 1711. It was sold by the Nauset people to English settlers of the Plymouth Colony. In June 2020, the Sipson Island Trust, a non-profit conservation trust, purchased 22 acres of the island, which was put up for sale in 2018, and reopened it to the public for the first time in 300 years. Until its sale, Sipson Island was Cape Cod's last privately owned whole-island property.Funds were raised from private donations solicited by the Friends of Pleasant Bay and the Compact of Cape Cod Conservation Trusts. At its 2019 town meeting, the government of Orleans decided not to buy a $1.5 million permanent conservation easement that would guarantee public access.To reach the island, it is necessary to travel by private boat to the eastern shore. Access from the west is by kayak or paddle board. Sipson Island Trust allows only shallow-draft boats under 22 feet to land on the shore in order to protect the natural marine life on the island.

The Eastham Center Historic District is a historic district encompassing the main village center of Eastham, Massachusetts. This village center grew around the railroad station, which was built in 1870. The arrival of the railroad resulted in a shift of economic and civic activity from the old town center, a short way to the north. Prominent buildings in the district include the Town Hall (2500 State Highway), a Colonial Revival structure built in 1912, the Library (190 Samoset Road), built in 1897, and the Universalist Chapel (220 Samoset Road), built 1889. The main focal point of the district is Windmill Park, location of the Eastham Windmill, built c. 1680 and moved to Eastham in the 1790s; it is the oldest windmill on Cape Cod. The district was added to the National Register of Historic Places in 1999.

Eastham () is a town in Barnstable County, Massachusetts, United States, Barnstable County being coextensive with Cape Cod. The population was 5,752 at the 2020 census.For geographic and demographic information about the village of North Eastham, please see North Eastham, Massachusetts.