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If you look carefully at this old postcard of the Atlantic House you can see hammocks hung for the enjoyment of guests under the awning in front of the bar. |
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History Highlights
The Atlantic House
Laurel Guadazno
BANNER COLUMNIST
The first bar on the present site of the Atlantic House was built more than 200 years ago, in 1798, by Daniel Pease. Mr. Pease operated the bar under the name of Pease's Tavern, according to a catalog written by Reggie Cabral for an exhibit at the Heritage Museum. Daniel Pease came from Edgartown and served as Provincetown's first Postmaster, appointed on January 1, 1801. Pease operated the tavern until his death from cholera aboard a ship en route from New York in 1834.
After Pease's death the tavern was purchased by a new owner and renamed the Union Hotel. The change in the name from tavern to hotel may reflect the fact that in 1812 the hotel section was added. This makes the Atlantic House the second oldest hotel in town. (The Pilgrim House is the oldest.) At this time the Union Hotel served as a courthouse for the circuit judge who visited the town on a regular basis. People were tried and sentenced for crimes such as drunkenness, swearing on the Sabbath and spitting on the town's new plank sidewalks. The bar and hotel operated under this name until 1871, when, after the untimely death of the owner, the building was sold to Francis (Frank) Potter Smith.
Frank Smith was born in the Azores in 1835 and came to Provincetown, as most Portuguese did, aboard a whaling ship. He worked aboard various ships for 20 years before purchasing the Union Hotel and renaming it the Atlantic House. By all accounts it was a fine establishment under his management. Shortly after Frank Smith began operating the hotel, a local paper wrote: 'Mr. Smith is constantly adding to the list of his friends by his courteous and accommodating manners and unremitting attention to the wants of his guests. The house is kept scrupulously clean and nice. The furniture and bedding are only one year in service and are clean, fresh and nice. ... Mr. Smith is an accomplished cook and attends to that dept. personally - consequently his table is a little ahead of common hotel tables and cannot fail to please the most delicate palate.' One advertisement for the Atlantic House includes a photograph of proprietor Francis P. Smith and lists electric lights as one of the amenities of the hotel.
Frank Smith sold the business and retired to a home on Pearl Street in 1916. He died a short while later in 1918. A remembrance published on his death said, 'He won the love and respect of both the traveling public and his fellow citizens. The fame of his courtesy, uprightness and good fellowship spread abroad until his hotel became the most popular on the Cape.
The Atlantic House was run for a time by the Iris brothers of North Abington, according to Reginald Cabral, who purchased the hotel in 1950 with Mr. and Mrs. Frank Hurst. Before long Mr. Cabral became sole owner of the Atlantic House. So interesting and varied is the history of the Atlantic House that a book could probably be written about it. Under his management, the bar and inn became a popular night spot that hosted many famous artists, performers, and writers. Reginald Cabral ran the Atlantic House until his death on August 19, 1996. The Cabral family continues to operate the business.
[Laurel Guadazno is Visitor Services Manager for the Pilgrim Monument & Provincetown Museum. She also writes 'History Highlights,' heard regularly on WOMR, 92.1 FM.]
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Society seeks new life for Truro obelisk
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Aug 17th, 2000