The rear building at No. 156 is not actually in the rear yard of No. 156. Instead, through a masterfully gerrymandered property line, it is one of two out-buildings from the 158 Commercial Street parcel. The 1889 Sanborn insurance map of Provincetown showed both buildings as “Barns.” The 1912 Sanborn atlas labeled them as “Sheds.” At least as late as the 1959 Sanborn map, they were still part of the tax lot next door. The 360-square-foot structure now at No. 156 is currently used as a residence. Town records show it as having a bedroom, kitchen, and bathroom.
A 2014 photograph by the Town Assessor, from property card Key 1282.
Left: The 1889 Sanborn Fire Insurance Map of Provincetown, at the Library of Congress, shows the main house at the corner of Commercial Street and Atlantic Avenue (“Angle Street”) occupying a separate lot from the westernmost of the two “Barns.” The current Tax Map 7-2, by CAI Technologies, shows the unification of the lot.
¶ Last updated on 3 February 2020.
156 Commercial Street on the Town Map.
Also at 156 Commercial Street:
Thumbnail image: Sanborn Fire Insurance Map from Provincetown, Barnstable County, Massachusetts, 1889, Library of Congress, Digital ID hdl.loc.gov/loc.gmd/g3764pm.g038261889.