Scargo Tower

 

Cape Cod Bay can be dangerous as evidenced by the destruction of two Scargo Towers.

 

The first Scargo Tower was wooden and built in 1874 by the pioneering Tobey family. They built the wooden tower in an attempt to draw tourists to their nearby Nobscussett Hotel, one of the early “luxury” hotels of Cape Cod.

 

The Nobscussett Hotel

The wooden tower was destroyed in a gale two years later. The family rebuilt it again of wood, but it burned in 1900. The present cobblestone tower was completed in 1901.

 

Built in 1901

 

Where did the tower get its name?

Legend tells of a young warrior who leaves for war but gives three fish in a pumpkin to Princess Scargo of the Native American Nabscussett Tribe. He asks her to keep them alive until he returns. The fish outgrow the pumpkin and the Princess asks the women of the village to dig a lake for the fish using clam shells. The resulting excess dirt formed the hill where the tower rests.

 

Overlooking Scargo Lake, the lake resembles a fish.

 

Postcard from 1930 - 1940

 

At first glance, the inside of the tower looks ominous but then you realize the bars and chain link fencing are there for your protection.

 

This unique tower and its breathtaking views has mysterious elements but also, on a clear day, you can see the whole of Cape Cod Bay from Plymouth to Sandy Neck in Barnstable to the Pilgrim Monument in Provincetown.

 

On a side note:

I found a weird event chronicled in the Cape Cod local papers from 1971.

In January, 1971 evidence of a large hole in the frozen Scargo lake proved suspicious. Two boys waiting for the school bus said they saw a large object crash and then pulsing orange lights in the water. The police, newspapers, and Air Force were called in, but because the water was too cold to continue searching for the object that made the hole, the matter was dropped. Divers tried again in vain to find anything in February, March, and in April. The murky waters of Scargo Lake proved any further searches futile, prompting the sighting to be lost in history. Since then, people talk of an odd humming noise coming from the lake.

 

Interesting!?

 

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