The first Cape Cod Canal, also called “Jeremiah’s Gutter” (which means a waterway or channel), was used for whaleboats and other vessels to get from the Atlantic Ocean to Cape Cod Bay through Orleans and Eastham. It was named after Jeremiah Smith who came from a founding Eastham family of the late 17th century. The hand-dug canal was in existence from 1717 to 1849. (Click on blog link for other photos.)

“On April 26, 1717 a strong nor’easter battered Cape Cod. It was in this storm that the famed pirate ship Whydah sank with all of its treasure aboard. This storm also carved a channel of varying depths running roughly from Town Cove in Orleans west to what is today Boat Meadow Beach in Eastham. The channel would only be used by British vessels trying to recover the sunken Whydah treasure in 1717.” (capecod.com)

You can see where the canal wound through the salt marsh from the Cape Cod Rails Trail in Eastham. The first photo is facing Orleans while the 2 photo faces toward Cape Cod Bay. It’s amazing to think that there used to be a functional canal connecting the Atlantic Ocean with Cape Cod Bay in Orleans and Eastham!