There are 17 designated historic Dune Shacks within the boundaries of the Cape Cod National Seashore in the Province Lands. What was their original purpose? They may have originally been part of the survival huts that were built for shipwrecked sailors along deserted parts of the coast. Then as manned Life Saving Stations were established, the dune shacks may have been used for families visiting the working men. Thus, many of these dune shacks were built near the Peaked Hill Bars Life Saving Station.
Many of the shacks still in existence today were built in the 1920 and 1940’s when Provincetown was becoming not only a vacation place, but also an art colony. The remoteness of these shacks would certainly provide solitude and an amazing place to work and contemplate nature. This site gives you a picture of what many of them look like. They have no electricity, no running water and are not easily accessible.
The Peaked Hill Life Saving Station, itself not more than a dune shack, after it was decommissioned, was later used by Eugene O’Neill who loved the beauty and solitude that this area afforded . It was here that he wrote some of his best early works. The building was finally destroyed by a hurricane.
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