DISPATCH: THE CRANBERRY HIGHWAY _ VOL. 1
New England can be described as dusty, like America’s attic. It’s most often associated with bucolic scenes of cobble stones, Vermont, and low tide. But, generally, along costal New England the idyllic corners are shared by lesser know communities that all seem a bit lost in time, slightly forgotten, and steeped in tradition.
Cape Cod is geographically comprised of three sections; upper, middle and lower. Upper Cape is first. It’s divided by a man-made canal constructed in 1909 to service Buzzards Bay and Cape Cod Bay.
On the far side of the canal runs the upper portion of MA 28, the Cranberry Highway. The highway is a main artery onto and throughout Cape Cod, leading across the Cape as far as Eastham.
Timothy O’Connell was raised in the area, and has recently been making photographs exploring the Cranberry Highway. The commercial fishing docks, old main streets, and communities on the fringe bring to mind classic American road trip imagery, but after the party.
He sees Cape Cod as, “...this boomerous fantasy. A blue-collar dream where people can pull themselves up from their bootstraps, work hard and get away from the bullshit. But these surrounding towns where people come from still look like 1985.”
On the far side of the canal runs the upper portion of MA 28, the Cranberry Highway. The highway is a main artery onto and throughout Cape Cod, leading across the Cape as far as Eastham.
Timothy O’Connell was raised in the area, and has recently been making photographs exploring the Cranberry Highway. The commercial fishing docks, old main streets, and communities on the fringe bring to mind classic American road trip imagery, but after the party.
He sees Cape Cod as, “...this boomerous fantasy. A blue-collar dream where people can pull themselves up from their bootstraps, work hard and get away from the bullshit. But these surrounding towns where people come from still look like 1985.”
*A true canal is a channel that cuts across a drainage divide, making a navigable channel connecting two different drainage basins.
In our first series exploring the Cranberry Highway, Tim looks along the canal and the town of Wareham. The town was first settled in 1678 by Europeans, and was part of Plymouth and Rochester. As of the 2000 census [most recent] there were 20,335 people, 8,200 households, and 5,338 families residing in the town. The local economy is heavily tied to the Cranberry farming and summer tourism. The median income for the town is about $40,000 for an individual and $45,000 for a family.
Wareham has always been the “Gateway to Cape Cod”, but in January of this year it adopted a new slogan - “It’s Better Before the Bridges.”
All Images ©Timothy O’Connell
Please check back for more Cranberry Highway soon...