DRAFT Cultural Landscape Report for Truro Highlands Historic District, Cape Cod National Seashore

Lowenthal, Larry; Lacy, Katharine

The Truro Highlands Historic District, part of Cape Cod National Seashore, is located in North Truro, Massachusetts. The acre complex occupies a portion of the Highland Plain, a windswept and open area fronting on the Atlantic Ocean and adjacent to the Highland Light. The various buildings and structures included in the district are located along Highland Road, which runs easterly through a northern portion of the site. The Highland Golf Course, operated by the Town of Truro, occupies most of the open area on both the north and south sides of the Highland Road. Although long seen as a magnificent natural setting, recognition of the value of Truro Highlands as a significant cultural landscape was less immediate. In 1974, National Register nominations were prepared for the Highland House and the Highland Golf Course, briefly citing the historical significance of the resort era. However, it was not until 1993 that a Determination of Eligibility was prepared for a proposed Truro Highlands Historic District encompassing both the golf course and the Highland House along with the other structures, facilities, and landscape features remaining from the resort era. A draft Historic Structures Report for the Highland House prepared in 1994 specifically identified the need for a Cultural Landscape Report for the Highlands area. Work on this Cultural Landscape Report for the Truro Highlands Historic District was begun in 1994, with the intention of providing historical information and an analysis of the site’s character defining features as a basis for the development of treatment and management recommendations for this landscape. The need for additional information has become particularly pressing in light of a Congressional mandate to relocate Highland Light, which is currently threatened by encroaching erosion of the coast, directly into the adjacent Truro Highlands Historic District. Through a cooperative effort between the National Park Service and the United States Coast Guard, the relocation of the light is scheduled to be done simultaneously with a rehabilitation of much of the historic district, including the addition of improved visitor facilities and parking. It should be noted that in the ideal planning sequence, a specific treatment for a landscape, such as rehabilitation, would not be recommended prior to the completion of an in-depth site history and analysis of character-defining features. However, in keeping with the character of Cape Cod, in this case our schedule was dictated by nature.

DRAFT Cultural Landscape Report for Truro Highlands Historic District, Cape Cod National Seashore

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