(2009)
Masthead dock.
At the turn of the 20th century, when this property was denominated 12 Commercial Street, it was operated as a summer boarding house by Sylvester Ellis, a contractor who specialized in moving buildings around town. There was a small recreation pier off its back yard, forerunner to the dock at the Masthead. Provincetowners knew this stretch of the West End as the Ellis Bathing Beach. In 1936, the Commonwealth of Massachusetts granted Romeyn P. Benjamin of New York a license to rebuild, repair, and maintain the pier. The bell out at the end of the Masthead dock is inscribed: “Cast by Henry N. Hooper & Company Boston 1856.” John E. Ciluzzi said in 2015 that his father, John J. Ciluzzi, recalled it as having been part of the Boston Harbor system. In 1855, the Hooper company cast the bell that hung in the Eastern School, 492-494 Commercial Street, until 1957, when it was moved to Ralph Carpenter’s Delft Haven complex.
For an overview of the Masthead Resort and Cottages, please see 31-41 Commercial Street.
¶ Last updated on 16 June 2018.