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Charlotte Collection

Charlotte

Overview

The storyline of the trap boat "Charlotte" is, essentially, the history of trap boat fishing in Provincetown as seen through the entity of a single trap boat, the trajectory of its working life and, eventually, its brief resurrection and then permanent demise. Trap boat fishing was an environmentally sound concept and had its origins in the methods used for snaring and netting a catch of fish as devised by the indigenous American Indian who successfully fished Cape Cod's waters long before the white man followed in his footsteps. Using a stationary net with complicated arrangements for loading and then capturing whole schools of fish in significant numbers, it did not depend on methods of disturbing the bottom of fishing grounds nor on long trips offshore to coastal shelves where certain species congregate. In their heyday, trap boats hauled fish out of the traps by the thousands of pounds and the durable and sturdy trap boats, loaded to the gunnels with their catch, delivered them to the ice houses which cut and prepared and froze the catch for delivery to the markets. Furthermore, trap boat fishing constituted a healthy way of life and allowed the fisherman to follow a reasonable daily schedule: whereas, dragging for fish often provoked a taxing encounter with nature and sometimes a very deleterious one for both man and the environment upon which he depended for a living. [More...]

Showing all archives in the Charlotte collection
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  • Summary of Trap Fishing Booklet
    Brief summary of Trap Fishing Booklet used as a Heritage Museum exhibition display.
    Collection: Charlotte
    Format: Photo
    Subjects: Atlantic Fisherman, Fish trade--Massachusetts--Provincetown, Fish trapping, Industries, Provincetown (Mass.)--History--20th century, Provincetown Heritage Museum, Weirs, and Del Deo, Josephine
  • Trapboat Charlotte
    Photo of the trapboat Charlotte as she lay at the West End breakwater in 1974 prior to attempts...
    Collection: Charlotte
    Format: Photo
    Subjects: Fish trade--Massachusetts--Provincetown, Fish trapping, Fisheries--Massachusetts--Provincetown--History, and Fishing boats--Massachusetts--Provincetown
  • Color photograph of the trapboat Charlotte after restoration
    Color photo of the restored trapboat Charlotte on trailer taken from the starboard bow.
    Collection: Charlotte
    Format: Photo
    Subjects: Archaeology, Boats and boating, Fish trapping, Fishing boats--Massachusetts--Provincetown, Industries, Provincetown (Mass.)--History--20th century, and Weirs
  • Trapboat Charlotte Archive
    Poster for the Preservation Party held on May 31, 1977 at the Moors Restaurant by the...
    Collection: Charlotte
    Format: Text
    Subjects: Boats and boating, Fish trade--Massachusetts--Provincetown, Fish trapping, Fishing, and Fishing boats--Massachusetts--Provincetown
  • Trapboat Charlotte
    Poster for display: Derelict at the Provicetown Inn, 1968-77 (Restoration of the trapboat...
    Collection: Charlotte
    Format: Photo
    Subjects: Archaeology, Barnstable County (Mass.) History, Cape Cod (Mass.) History, Fish trapping, Fisheries--Massachusetts--Provincetown--History, Fishers--Massachusetts--Provincetown, Fishing, Fishing boats--Massachusetts--Provincetown, Provincetown (Mass.)--History--20th century, and Weirs
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