What to See in Hyannis - Top Sights and Attractions

Playhouse in Barnstable, Massachusetts. Cape Cod Melody Tent is a South Shore Playhouse Associates-owned tent theater located in Hyannis, Massachusetts, in the county of Barnstable. Affiliated with the South Shore Music Circus, these are the only two continuously-operated tent theaters in the round in the United States. It is a seasonal venue that runs May through September. The Music Circus and Melody Tent are owned and operated by the South Shore Playhouse Associates, a not-for-profit organization. The seating capacity is approximately 2,300. It was originally known as Cape Cod Music Circus from 1950–1951.

David M. Holtzmann, a theatrical attorney who represented actress Gertrude Lawrence, owned both theaters from the late 1950s until his death in 1965, after which they were operated by his widow, Sondra. In March 1990, the South Shore Playhouse Associates purchased the Cape Cod Melody Tent and have since made numerous modern upgrades including a new vinyl tent with Cupola venting system, new seats, new stage and computerized lighting and sound systems.^[3]

Lighthouse. The Hyannis Rear Range Light, also known as the Hyannis Harbor Light, was a lighthouse and, for part of its life, one of a pair of range lights adjacent to Hyannis Harbor. The Range Rear tower was built in 1849 and equipped with a 5th order Fresnel lens in 1856. In 1863 the original birdcage lantern was replaced with a new cast iron one. In 1885, a front range light was added on the Old Colony Railroad Wharf, and the two lights together served to leading vessels to the wharf. The 20 foot Range Rear tower is shorter than most lighthouses, as its purpose was just to guide ships to the wharf. In the early 1800s, the railroad extended from its current terminus at the Hyannis Transportation Center, down what is now Old Colony Road to Harbor Road, where it ended in the 300 foot wharf that was a busy area for shipping coal, lumber, grain and fish.

Over time, as the channel into the adjacent Lewis Bay was dredged deeper, there was a shift of traffic into Lewis Bay and Hyannis inner harbor, and the wharf fell into disuse. The lights were discontinued in 1929 and the front range light has disappeared along with the wharf, although the outline of the wharf can still be seen in aerial photographs.

The lantern was removed from the rear light before it was sold. In 1987 a new, much larger lantern room was added to the top of the tower by local carpenter Theodore Ingemanson. The lighthouse is now privately owned but can be seen on Google Street view or directly from Harbor Road in Hyannis.^[4]

Historical landmark in Barnstable, Massachusetts. The Kennedy Compound consists of three houses on six acres of waterfront property on Cape Cod along Nantucket Sound in Hyannis Port, Massachusetts, in the United States. It was once the home of Joseph P. Kennedy, an American businessman, investor, politician, and U.S. ambassador to the United Kingdom; his wife, Rose; and their children, including U.S. President John F. Kennedy and U.S. Senators Robert F. Kennedy and Edward M. Kennedy. As an adult, the youngest son, Edward, lived in his parents' house, and it was his primary residence from 1982 until he died of brain cancer at the compound, in August 2009.

John F. Kennedy used the compound as a base for his successful 1960 U.S. presidential campaign and later as a summer White House and presidential retreat, until his assassination, in November 1963. In 2012, the main house was donated to the Edward M. Kennedy Institute for the United States Senate. As of 2020, Robert Kennedy's widow Ethel lives in their home adjacent to the main house.^[5]