What is "cape cod"

named 1602 by English navigator Bartholomew Gosnold for the abundance of fish his men caught there. Cape Cod, in reference to houses reminiscent of New England architecture, is attested from 1916.

Cape Cod is a geographic cape separated from the mainland by the Cape Cod Canal. It extends into the Atlantic Ocean from the southeastern corner of mainland Massachusetts, in the northeastern United States. Its historic, maritime character and ample beaches attract heavy tourism during the summer months.

Cape Cod stretches from Provincetown in the northeast to Woods Hole in the southwest. Cape Cod, as defined by the Cape Cod Commission's enabling legislation, comprises Barnstable County. The Cape Cod Canal cuts roughly across the base of the peninsula, though the western boundary of the cape extends to include small portions of the towns of Bourne and Sandwich which lie on the mainland side of the canal.

Two highway bridges cross the Cape Cod Canal: the Sagamore Bridge and the Bourne Bridge. In addition, the Cape Cod Canal Railroad Bridge carries railway freight and limited passenger services onto the Cape. Cape territory is divided into fifteen towns with many villages.

A Cape Cod is a style of house originating in New England in the 17th century. It is a low, broad, frame building, generally a story and a half high, with a moderately steep, pitched roof with end gables, a large central chimney and very little ornamentation. Traditional Cape Cod houses were very simple: symmetrically designed with a central front door surrounded by two multi-paned windows on each side. Homes were designed to withstand the stormy, stark weather of the Cape. Modern Cape Cod architecture still draws from colonial designs.

Cape Cod is a peninsula in southeastern Massachusetts.

Cape Cod may also refer to:

• Cape Cod (house), an architectural style
• Cape Cod style, an 1800s lighthouse design once typical of Cape Cod that today only exists on the U.S. West Coast
• Cape Cod National Seashore, a federally protected seashore in Massachusetts
• " Old Cape Cod", a 1957 song popularized by Patti Page
• Cape Codder (cocktail), an alcoholic beverage
• Cape Cod Potato Chips, a potato chip brand