Barnstable County, Massachusetts

Barnstable County History, Geography, Demographics, Cities and Towns, and Education

County Seat: Barnstable
Year Organized: 1685
Square Miles: 396

Court House:

3195 Main Street
County Courthouse
Barnstable, MA 02630-1105

Etymology - Origin of County Name

After its county seat of Barnstable, which is named after the English town of Barnstaple

Demographics:

County QuickFacts: Census Bureau Quick Facts

History

Established as a County in the year 1685, the current boundary lines were drawn in 1707 and have not changed since that date. Although initially the counties of the Commonwealth were mainly judicial in nature, over time additional responsibilities were assigned by the state legislature. Subsequently, many counties served as subdivisions of the state government, serving as an adminstrative arm of the Commonwealth on a regional basis, but without legislative authority. This changed in Barnstable County with the passage of the Barnstable County Home Rule Charter, signed into legislation in July of 1988, which guaranteed certain rights of home rule for the county and established a legislative body with the power to enact ordinances. This increased Barnstable County's accountability to the residents of Cape Cod and provided for increased citizen participation and input in the function of County Government.

The County seat is located in Barnstable Village on Historic Route 6A, the Old King's Highway, in the Town of Barnstable.

Geography

According to the U.S. Census Bureau, the county has a total area of 1,306 square miles (3,382 km²), of which, 396 square miles (1,024 km²) of it is land and 910 square miles (2,357 km²) of it (69.71%) is water.

Barnstable County consists of the 15 coastal towns located on the peninsula known as Cape Cod. Bordered on the north by Cape Cod Bay, to the east by the Atlantic Ocean and to the south by Nantucket Sound, it is the easternmost point of land in the Commonwealth of Massachusetts. With over 550 miles of shoreline and more than 360 lakes and ponds, the maritime heritage of the region is deeply rooted.

Neighboring Counties:

North: Cape Cod Bay
East: North Atlantic Ocean
South: Nantucket Sound
Southwest: Dukes County; Buzzards Bay
Northwest: Plymouth County

Cities and Towns:

- Barnstable (County Seat)
- Barnstable Town	city	Incorporated Area
- Bourne	town
- Brewster	town
- Chatham	town
- Dennis	town
- Eastham	town
- Falmouth	town
- Harwich	town
- Mashpee	town
- Orleans	town
- Provincetown	town
- Sandwich	town
- Truro	town
- Wellfleet	town
- Yarmouth	town

County Resources:

Enter County Resources and Information Here

County Resource Guide

Counties: US Map

The history of our nation can be seen as a prolonged struggle to define the relative roles and powers of our governments: federal, state, and local. And the names we've given our counties, our most locally based jurisdictions, reflects the "characteristic features of our country!"

But age, size and colorful names of our counties isn't the only reason to explore counties' role in American history, or the history of county government itself. In fact, the story of county government reflects the larger meanings of American history.

Today's counties are the most flexible, locally responsive and creative governments in the US. They are the most diverse, varying in size, population, geography, and governmental structure. In their politics and policies, they express a 1990's political slogan "Think globally, act locally."

Penn Foster High School

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