The Penniman House: A Whaling Story

(From the collection of Cape Cod National Seashore) C aptain Edward Penniman steps outside his house on Fort Hill in Eastham, Massachusetts in the late summer of 1881. He can feel the chill of the winds blowing off the Atlantic Ocean. He can smell and taste the salt air. By habit, he scans the white-capped horizon in search of a whale's spout. Soon he would leave on his fifth voyage across the world's oceans, to hunt these "leviathans of the deep." The voyage could last for four years. Would his wife Gustie come along this time? Would any of their children accompany them? Where would he find his crew? Would this whaling voyage be successful? It was the whaling industry, or "whale fishery," as it was known then, that satisfied Captain Penniman's adventurous spirit and offered him an opportunity to earn enough money to support a family and to construct an impressive home in Eastham. Captain Penniman built his French Second Empire style house on Cape Cod in 1868. Today, over 100 years later, the Penniman House is a National Historic Site owned and interpreted by the National Park Service as part of Cape Cod National Seashore. The house holds the Penniman family's written records and artifact collections, which provide glimpses of the places and people that the family visited on their whaling voyages. Theirs is a true life whaling story representative of hundreds of other whaling captains and their families that traveled the globe to pursue whale fishery.

TABLE OF CONTENTS About This Lesson Getting Started: Inquiry Question Setting the Stage: Historical Context Locating the Site: Maps 1. Cape Cod, Massachusetts 2. Modern world map showing 19th-century whaling grounds Determining the Facts: Readings 1. Whaling in Southeastern Massachusetts 2. The Pennimans: A Whaling Family 3. Cultural Connections 4. The Penniman's House Visual Evidence: Images 1. Captain Penniman's House, French Second Empire style, built in 1868 2. Atwood-Higgins House, a typical Cape Cod home 3. Captain Penniman in his northwest parlor, circa 1890 4. Scrimshaw Putting It All Together: Activities 1. The Penniman House revisited 2. Preserving the Night Sky 3. A New Age, A New Way of Thinking 4. Community History Supplementary Resources

RELATED INFORMATION How to Use a TwHP Lesson Lessons on Related Topics TwHP Home National Register Home About the National Register How the National Register Helps Teachers Contact TwHP Cape Cod National Seashore The lesson is based on the Edward Penniman House, one of the thousands of properties listed in the National Register of Historic Places.

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