Where We Work - The Town of Barnstable

The Barnstable Land Trust (BLT) is located in southeastern Massachusetts in the county of Barnstable that is Cape Cod. Our heritage is the sea that surrounds us.

BLT works solely in the Town of Barnstable - one of 15 towns on Cape Cod. Our community is bordered by Cape Cod Bay on the north, Nantucket Sound on the south, the Towns of Sandwich and Mashpee on the west and the Town of Yarmouth on the east.

With 60 square miles of land area, Barnstable is the third largest town in the Commonwealth of Massachusetts. Within our boundaries are numerous ponds and freshwater streams that feed fragile coastal estuaries.

Our community is comprised of seven villages, each with its own unique community character and significant cultural and historical qualities. Four villages front on Nantucket sound: Hyannis, Cotuit, Osterville and Centerville.

Hyannis is the commercial hub of Cape Cod and the town's central business district. Town offices are located in the Hyannis Main Street Historic District, surrounding a working harbor that is home to a small commercial fishing fleet. The Cape's major shopping malls are located on the outskirts of Hyannis.

Main Street Centerville recalls a historic New England village. A newer business district and beautiful beaches are just minutes away.

Osterville and Cotuit are both primarily residential and are centered around the Three Bay area of Cotuit Bay, North Bay and West Bay. The shallow inlets and harbors of the Three Bay area are renowned for fishing and boating. Osterville's small business district offers a quaint New England village shopping experience.

On the northside, the villages of Barnstable and West Barnstable share a unique ecosystem known as the Sandy Neck and Great Marsh Area of Critical Environmental Concern. Barnstable village is the seat of the County government. It has a small business district, a working harbor and easy access to Cape Cod Bay. West Barnstable, the most rural of our villages, is primarily residential and sparsely populated owing in part to the Sandy Neck Barrier Beach.

The most rapidly developing village in the town of Barnstable is Marstons Mills. While primarily residential, Marstons Mills is centered around a duck pond, and its many cranberry bogs have kept it still rural in nature.

Cape Cod is a sole source aquifer. Our drinking water comes solely from rainwater that filters through our sandy soils into the aquifer below. Our kettle-hole ponds are expressions of the groundwater. It is the groundwater that provides the fresh water necessary to keep our coastal waters free of pollution. But our ponds and estuaries are in peril from an overload of nitrogen and phosphorous that cause algae blooms that threaten the viability of the water resources. Preserving land is one of the most important things that we can do on Cape Cod to keep development at bay and preserve our precious natural resources.