Review by Steve Desroches
A complete history of Provincetown would take so many volumes that it would outnumber the Encyclopedia Britannica. And throughout the years Provincetown has been documented in most every medium. But it still remains rather shocking how much of the town’s history continues to be lost. Be it indifference, gentrification, lack of resources, the AIDS epidemic, and more, so much has been lost to time. When trying to navigate the blur of real time many forget to document what’s happening now thinking it’s someone else’s job to do so or that it just doesn’t occur to them that the now will be important in the future. That’s why Ed Macri and Trevor Mikula’s new book Land’s End Inn is such a delight and should be a template for other property owners and history minded folks to do something similar to contribute to the historical record of Provincetown.
While people like David Dunlap, with his Herculean Building Provincetown project, and Lisa King, the administrator of the Facebook page My Grandfathers Provincetown, where she shares her unrivaled knowledge of Provincetown history, provide a macro perspective of the Cape tip’s historical legacy, Land’s End Inn is a micro snapshot of just one spot in town, albeit one with a gigantic history of its own.
Husbands Macri and Mikula purchased the Inn in 2022. Shortly after they were looking through a storage closet in the historic Inn atop Gull Hill in the West End and found “an array of martini shakers, candles, an original china set from 1904, and other sundries.” They also found a pair of banker boxes containing postcards, news clippings, photographs, and other ephemera as well as several unfinished manuscripts documenting the history of quite possibly the most magnificent guest accommodations in Provincetown. While far too many new property owners in the past, and unfortunately present, just willy-nilly fill dumpsters prior to moving in, Macri and Mikula recognized just how important their find was and assembled it all together in a delightful and compelling volume, heavy on photographs with text that weaves together the magical history of Land’s End Inn.
Built as a summer bungalow in a part of town then called “Way Up Along” by Charles Lothrop Higgins in 1904, upon his death in 1926 it was sold and opened as an inn, which it’s been ever since. It chronicles the life of the Inn through its various owners, including perhaps the most well-known David Schoolman, who owned it from 1972 until his death in 1995, and not only threw legendary parties, but also removed the vinyl siding that once covered it (gasp!). Land’s End Inn is a vital addition to anyone’s home library collection of Provincetown history as well as for anyone who’s ever been up to see the spectacular inn for themselves.
Land’s End Inn is located at 22 Commercial Street. To order a copy of the book Land’s End Inn go to landsendinn.com. For more information on the book and the inn call 508.487.0706.
