SANDWICH MA

SANDWICH MA

Sandwich Town Bandstand

Henry T. Wing School Grounds

Built - 1983

Sandwich is a Cape Cod town considered to be one of the oldest towns in the United States being settled by European immigrants nearly 150 years before the American Revolution. It was named for the seacoast town of Sandwich in Kent, England. Quakers also settled in the town and established a meeting place in 1654 and of which is still one of the oldest continuous active meeting of Quakers in the country.

The town became an active industrial community in the 19th century with industries including the production of tacks, cards, shoes and glass. The Sandwich Glass Museum now displays remnants of the exquisite workmanship of the Europeans who had settled in the town. Sandwich also boasts the continuous restoration of the Hoxie House which was named for a 19th century resident, Abraham Hoxie, a whaling captain who circumnavigated the globe three times, and the Dexter Grist Mill.

The Sandwich Town Bandstand was built in 1983 on the grounds of the Henry T. Wing School and is the first one the town has had. Grattan Gill, Architect, had the bandstand built with donations of labor and materials and fund raising which keeps it in wonderful condition every year under the direction of the Sandwich Town Bandstand Committee. It has been determined that by the bandstand being paid for by donations of money, labor and materials, the town had saved around $6,500 to $7,000 on the construction costs of the structure.

A very special opening dedication concert took place on July 3rd of 1983 and from that time on, the Sandwich Town Band has played on the structure every Thursday evening during the summer months along with other local bands for normally large and appreciative audiences who are able to spread out their blankets on the spacious lawn area.

INFORMATION SUPPLIED BY:

Barbara L. Gill, Sandwich Town Archivist