Yarmouthport is a part of the township of Yarmouth, which is
considerably spread out, from shore to shore, across the Cape. Not so
many years ago some stray bullets were found under the bricks of the
hearthstone of an old house that was being demolished. The find was
reminiscent of the story of Joshua Gray and his fellow soldiers of
Yarmouth. Joshua Gray was captain of the early Yarmouth Militia and an
officer in the Revolution, who marched with his men to help Washington
defend Dorchester Heights. The night before their departure, women of
the town worked in his home until sunrise moulding bullets for the
soldiers.
In great grandfather’s time Yarmouthport was the trading center in
this section of the Cape, and people came over from Hyannis to do
their shopping. Tom Baker’s mail delivery job was first held by John
Thacher, who rode horseback and made his rounds once a week. His pay
was $1 a day, and some citizens considered this an extravagance. Total
postoffice receipts in the town of Yarmouthport for the year 1795
amounted to $26.
The first daily newspaper on Cape Cod was founded in 1893 in
Yarmouthport. George Otis operated the _Cape Cod Item_. On the
same site the _Yarmouth Register_, weekly newspaper, continues to
record the local life, as it did 108 years ago.