Provincetown Incorporated June 14, 1927

Recently being the Precinct of Cape Cod, Provincetown became incorporated as a town on June 14, 1727.The original name chosen was Town of Herrington but was discarded by the General Court. In Norman Dunnell's thesis, he suspected the name Provincetown grew from the long-standing concept for this part of Massachusetts Bay as a shared province. The act of incorporation provided that inhabitants of Provincetown could be land holders, but not land owners. They received a "quit claim" to their property. The land was to be used as it had been from the beginning of the colony - a place for the making of fish. All resources, including the trees, could be used for that purpose. (Dunnell 38)

In 1927, the General Court of the Province of the Massachusetts Bay ruled "That all ...lands on ... Caoe [Cod}," meaning all land northward and westward from Truro, "...[made into] a township by the name of Provincetown... (Acts of 1727. c.11, passed 14 June, published 11 July) (Ferguson)